The author doesn't understand spec work at all. The reason we hire people on spec, is because an artist's portfolio usually gives you very little indication of

The author doesn't understand spec work at all. The reason we hire people on spec, is because an artist's portfolio usually gives you very little indication of whether they will do a good job of executing the project at hand. If an artist has good samples of the exact type of work I will be hiring them for, spec isn't needed. It really has nothing to do with a perception of artists as cheap talent.