Portfolio Covers

I've been preparing an art teaching portfolio during the winter break. Making a cover can be a fun but  daunting task: too much color and you might come across as cliche or unprofessional. Too much black and white, and you may look stern or too rudimentary.

After searching pinterest.com for quality watercolor images, I played around in photoshop and made this cover first.

 

Then I realized that the cover wasn't memorable enough. Anybody could have made this and submitted it with their materials. I needed something personal, flashy, eye-catching, while showing my personality and talents. I decided to watercolor my portrait. Not too bad for a first attempt, but I have some learning to do. I love the pen and ink combo.

What do you think? Would you hire this person or should it be a little subdued?