Currently you have to click on the 3D project to get to your art. It'd be better if your art was just on the front page, or split each of your different pieces into different 'projects'.
Personally i'd suggest getting your hands on either keyshot or the vray plugin for 3ds max in order to practice your rendering. How you present your assets is a huge part of what makes them either look average or pushes them beyond and makes them brilliant. It could really boost your portfolio!
I would have liked to see more details for each piece. For example, the Norn female looks great, but I wish you showed a closer shot of her face, the armor, or the maps.
I wish the robot showed a tri count. It's a good habit to do anytime you're showing off hi to low poly work.
One last thing, not even a big deal, but you might consider purchasing a paid version of carbonmade or another portfolio site if you're considering applying for positions with it. Even purchasing a cheap Wordpress/Blogger address and customizing it to fit your needs (like $5 a year) looks slightly more professional (but that's just my opinion).
On the front page, it looks like you only have one finished artwork. I just thought the picture didn't load all the way for a while. Might want to get creative on fixing that. Maybe seperate project pages, or categories?
Also, if you're going for realtime jobs you want to use an Engine or Toolbag 2. Vray/Keyshot don't show that you can make stuff that actually works. You do really need to work on your lighting and general presentation shots, though. Never use straight black backgrounds, try a soft vignette.
I'd also cut your modular environment bits down the bottom of the page, the texturing and modelling is sub-par. You also need to work on your topo, it's pretty consistently messy.
What studios are interested in working in and what style are you interested in doing? The reason I ask is because you said you are going to apply for environment art jobs, but you don't really show the ability to do environment work in your portfolio.
Yeah, I'd say those are valid. Another thing to keep in mind is that you should only have your very best, tip-top work on your portfolio, and like BARDLER mentioned, if you want to apply for a specific job, your portfolio should have art that pertains to that job, and usually only that job.
- First thing that stands out to me is the About me page. the moment I saw that block of text I left, I wanna see pretty pictures :P. Most employers don't have enough time to read through that much so I think you should keep it short and sweet with a bit about you, your skills and experience (previous work, education)
- Quality over quantity is maybe the most important aspect as you will be judged on your weakest piece. So I'd remove the last Image.
- "Norn Female in Heavy armor Guildwars 2 Concept art Provided by Arena net." I would not include this as its not your work. I say it and thought it looked good then realized you didn't make it when I read the text.
- I would not render wireframes with blue as they tend to clash with the texture and are hard to look at. Black or White will do fine
As Bardler said I don't see any environment pieces here, mainly characters and props. You might want to work towards getting some environments out and remember textures and presentation are in most cases the most important thing so spend some extra time to make them look extra good
- "Norn Female in Heavy armor Guildwars 2 Concept art Provided by Arena net." I would not include this as its not your work. I say it and thought it looked good then realized you didn't make it when I read the text.
Plenty of people have sample art tests or fanart in their folios. The modelling and texturing is all his, so I think it's fine. All that was provided was the concept art.
The real problem with this piece, though, is that so many people have this on their blogs and folios that chances are the person sorting through the portfolios has already seen this done, and potentially already seen it done better.
Once again gang, i was going to start applying to some jobs again soon, and I also want to ge tthis thing into tip top shape for GDC 2018. Last year was ....ok.... Anyhow, I aint showing up like no punk a second time. Lookin for some thoughts, prayer, concerns, confessions, on this folio anythign you think i can change etc etc. You know ...the hits. I'd like to do characters, but I also really like doing things that go ON characters, so I guess that means props? i'm not really sure.
I may be the wrong person to give advice since we're at a similar skill level I'd say. But I think our work suffers from similar flaws, and that's the texturing. On your Squig, the tongue, eyes, and the yellow circles on its head look like they should be shinier. I feel like it's skin doesn't have enough small color variation, tiny off hue splots all around instead of a purely monocolor piece might help but that could be my own way I'd approach something like that. But as far as the fundamentals it looks like you got em down.
Valiant looks like it suffers from the same things. Everything looks too similar, and not enough variation. When I looked up what it was modeled after it appears you probably could have designed the head to be a bit closer to the concept as well, and in all honesty I felt like there wasn't a real focal point for my eyes to be drawn to. I think the gloves look good though. I like the detail that they they have. I feel like you stayed too close to the macro level detail and didn't give me any small details. Which i understand you're going for a stylized look with your piece but even overwatch type characters have some smaller greebles to look at.
Just my two cents though. Overall I think you're on a good track.
It's hard to say, since you were working off a concept. But you know, small lines and indents to break up perfectly flat surfaces. Maybe some bevels on the edges. And on surfaces that are perfectly flat that's where texturing detail comes in. The closest thing I can think of that comes kind of close to your model's style is Bastion from Overwatch. You can see he has small details but not enough to make him busy and he still has plenty of areas for eye relief as well. But the nice thing about it is that even though the model comes off as fairly simple, you can look at it for a long time and still find little things that you didn't notice before. Once again, I guess it depends on how much you want to push the concept from being exactly what was drawn vs something that may work a bit more interestingly from different angles. Though I think you could have had a few more beveled edges instead of keeping things so blocky and still kept really close to the concept. I'm assuming this was the main piece you used for reference?
yeah, that was the reference. I defneetly see what you're saying. I don't think I was creative enough regarding that. I haven't really time for a style yet, as I don't think im really skilled eniugh to do any style justice, but nwxt time for sure
I getcha, I was just trying to find something that best reflected something similar to what your piece was. Another thing I'll comment on is that you should think about changing the background for your turntable type shots to something brighter. Helps understand the silhouette. I feel like dark shots should really be used for your presentation shot and then the other ones should be for full readability of the model. I also think that watermarks and stuff + all the dead space is a bit much, particularly in this picture: I think if anything, just have the black bars against the bottom and top but don't go beyond the borders of the actual texture sheet. Here's a way I did a turntable of one of mine: I think it helps with the cleanliness of the image, I tend to think too much riff-raff doesn't come across as professional.
ah ok, so you're saying square up that image and get rid of some of that text then? , and maybe change that background? I was trying to be consistant between all myp ieces, but I'll have to take that into consideration now.
Actually, you have a better skill than mine, so I will not judge the quality of your work :-)
Although, your website is very difficult to read. Most of employers are very busy. They do not want to struggle to find the image that they want to see. Why don't you create some kind of art gallery type site? such as
I think be consistent per piece, anything backgrounds purely on the B/W spectrum tends to be harsh. I think the background color for your Squig was fine. Just repeat it for the turntable shots and I think it'd be just fine.
They always say you are judged by your weakest piece. For me, your mummy bust and SC2 Immortal feel weak, particularly the texture work on these compared to your other pieces. The other 4 pieces look fine to me (Not an expert). Could maybe do with the textures variation pushing a bit on them. Most of the textures feel like they have no imperfection (with the exception of the robot) which just doesn't happen. I think the squig is great but could maybe use a bit more skin details (either wrinkles or blemishes) So, in my opinion, the first 2 I mentioned need to be massively improved or replaced sorry if this seems a bit harsh.
@lloydj14 All good amigo. I was thinking the same thing honestly, Just wanted to see if anyone out there thought for a second that they might be worth keeping, but at this point they're both so old ya know. Question about the Bust, I was liking the sculpt, do you think thats worth salvaging? or Should I just trash the whole thing?
Take what I'm about to say with a very large pinch of salt as I don't have any industry experience and don't do characters. You could probably redo the textures and it would be a lot better but something about the eyes or hairs feels a bit off and plastic. But The Sculpt feels clean I cant comment on anatomy or anything like but you probably want to get someone else opinion before you make a decision on that one. Sorry cant be of more help there.
@lloydj14 Righ on amigo! I think everyone has something to add, I appreciate your concerns. For now i'll probably end up taking it down until I can do something cool with it.
Replies
PS great stuff on your site man.
will marmoset toolbag work? I usually use that, but i was trying something different with these
I wish the robot showed a tri count. It's a good habit to do anytime you're showing off hi to low poly work.
One last thing, not even a big deal, but you might consider purchasing a paid version of carbonmade or another portfolio site if you're considering applying for positions with it. Even purchasing a cheap Wordpress/Blogger address and customizing it to fit your needs (like $5 a year) looks slightly more professional (but that's just my opinion).
Nice work though, Amouseinmask
Also, if you're going for realtime jobs you want to use an Engine or Toolbag 2. Vray/Keyshot don't show that you can make stuff that actually works. You do really need to work on your lighting and general presentation shots, though. Never use straight black backgrounds, try a soft vignette.
I'd also cut your modular environment bits down the bottom of the page, the texturing and modelling is sub-par. You also need to work on your topo, it's pretty consistently messy.
Good luck.
I really appreciate y'all taking the time, means a lot to me.
Ok, so let me see if i can understand and stream line these critiques.
1. For real time jobs, its important to use Real time renderers.
2. Dont use straight black backgrounds.
3. Work on the presentation.
4. the front page, needs to go directly to the work.
5. re work the retopo.
That sound about right?
- Quality over quantity is maybe the most important aspect as you will be judged on your weakest piece. So I'd remove the last Image.
- "Norn Female in Heavy armor Guildwars 2 Concept art Provided by Arena net." I would not include this as its not your work. I say it and thought it looked good then realized you didn't make it when I read the text.
- I would not render wireframes with blue as they tend to clash with the texture and are hard to look at. Black or White will do fine
As Bardler said I don't see any environment pieces here, mainly characters and props. You might want to work towards getting some environments out and remember textures and presentation are in most cases the most important thing so spend some extra time to make them look extra good
Plenty of people have sample art tests or fanart in their folios. The modelling and texturing is all his, so I think it's fine. All that was provided was the concept art.
The real problem with this piece, though, is that so many people have this on their blogs and folios that chances are the person sorting through the portfolios has already seen this done, and potentially already seen it done better.
i raise this thread from its long dead slumber!
Once again gang, i was going to start applying to some jobs again soon, and I also want to ge tthis thing into tip top shape for GDC 2018. Last year was ....ok.... Anyhow, I aint showing up like no punk a second time.
Lookin for some thoughts, prayer, concerns, confessions, on this folio anythign you think i can change etc etc. You know ...the hits.
I'd like to do characters, but I also really like doing things that go ON characters, so I guess that means props? i'm not really sure.
https://www.artstation.com/pmiller
Valiant looks like it suffers from the same things. Everything looks too similar, and not enough variation. When I looked up what it was modeled after it appears you probably could have designed the head to be a bit closer to the concept as well, and in all honesty I felt like there wasn't a real focal point for my eyes to be drawn to. I think the gloves look good though. I like the detail that they they have. I feel like you stayed too close to the macro level detail and didn't give me any small details. Which i understand you're going for a stylized look with your piece but even overwatch type characters have some smaller greebles to look at.
Just my two cents though. Overall I think you're on a good track.
i try to push my materials with each project, i'll keep it mind next time for sure.
when ou say small details for the Valiant, you mean just breaking up the surfaces with something to look at, yea?
again thanks.
Once again, I guess it depends on how much you want to push the concept from being exactly what was drawn vs something that may work a bit more interestingly from different angles. Though I think you could have had a few more beveled edges instead of keeping things so blocky and still kept really close to the concept. I'm assuming this was the main piece you used for reference?
I haven't really time for a style yet, as I don't think im really skilled eniugh to do any style justice, but nwxt time for sure
I think if anything, just have the black bars against the bottom and top but don't go beyond the borders of the actual texture sheet.
Here's a way I did a turntable of one of mine:
I think it helps with the cleanliness of the image, I tend to think too much riff-raff doesn't come across as professional.
Actually, you have a better skill than mine, so I will not judge the quality of your work :-)
Although, your website is very difficult to read. Most of employers are very busy. They do not want to struggle to find the image that they want to see.
Why don't you create some kind of art gallery type site? such as
https://www.artstation.com/lazarosinep
I think you might be looking at my old site, I totally forgot to change the original Post. I'll do that now, the new on is
@samnwck
Ok i think i follow what youre saying. I'll take a look into it, Thanks for the words amigo!.
All good amigo. I was thinking the same thing honestly, Just wanted to see if anyone out there thought for a second that they might be worth keeping, but at this point they're both so old ya know. Question about the Bust, I was liking the sculpt, do you think thats worth salvaging? or Should I just trash the whole thing?
Righ on amigo! I think everyone has something to add, I appreciate your concerns. For now i'll probably end up taking it down until I can do something cool with it.