Junior character artist portfolio needs critique

jaysonmtl

Hi,
Im an aspiring junior character artist
I would love some critique from the polycount community.
Anybody else from Montreal willing to help out with some contacts to land a job interview

http://jasonkibbe.wix.com/character-artist

thanks

Jason

bfalwcon

Very fine work jaysonmtl. Those characters are looking very nice. It would be awesome to learn how you do things.

kodde

Where can I download your resume as a PDF?
Maybe add a link to your LinkedIn profile?
Not a must, but I'd consider registering a proper domain. Doesn't cost a fortune.

You're work looks promising. I'd be surprised if it didn't get you some attention.

slosh

Nice work Jason. As a jr artist, your work looks great! I think you should be able to land something with that. In the meantime, keep cranking new stuff out!

BARDLER

Damn good portfolio for a JR. I think something that would really benefit you is some better lighting and presentation. All your characters are really flat lit which is killing any form you have sculpted in. Take at look at some of Kime's characters, http://www.pseudo-pod.com/, and notice the nice rim light, nice core shadow, and just how much all of his forms really pop because of it. Go read up on some photography lighting setups and just replicate it in Marmoset 2, and the nice thing is you can parent your lighting to your camera so as you rotate around you will always get the same lighting.

On a side note you shouldn't be baking AO into your textures for a PBR workflow. The AO should be put into a separate slot in Marmoset 2 that will mask your indirect lighting. Once you have a good lighting setup the AO mask will work a lot better.

kodde

I agree with BARDLER. I think you could improve on lighting in general. Try to use more of the entire luminance range. Took the liberty to do a little comparison. Not all there is to it, but it does show something I think. The middle picture is Mike Kime's "Velbor" and the right portrait photo is from Marianna Santikous Flickr.

Hope it helps.

Heather.Hughes

Not art-related, but your website's about page could use some attention as well. I would add your resume there as a download. Maybe add links to social media as well (if you have a running blog with in-progress work or something similar - promote yourself and show you're still improving!). Also, the capitalization is not consistent and some of the "skills" wording could be adjusted for better impact. Little things like that can matter, no matter how good your artwork.

DKeymer3d

Work wise this is a very good portfolio. It is very varied in style and theme. My immediate reaction is that some of your images take a while to load. You might also want to test how well your website holds up on other devices other than a PC.

A very minor critique is that the layout, styles and presentation of your images is inconstant. I'd recommend going back and making the layout of all your images the same.

Your "about" page needs more attention. If I was an employee id want to see:
Downloadable CVs (pdf and doc essential)
Linkedin profile link

jaysonmtl

bfalwcon: thxs, yea I should maybe have a quick breakdown for the creation process
kodde: thxs a bunch, youre right about adding a resume and linkedin link and getting a domain all these things dont take much time to do. I see what you mean with that comparaison I gotta work on that.
slosh: thxs for the kind words, in meantime il hunt for work and keep on trying to get better and do fun projects!
@:BARDLER: Thxs BARDLER I agree I need to work on lighting presentation for both rendering and image presentation. For baking AO in diffuse youre so right, I really gotta get used to the new way of texturing with PBR!
Heather.Hughes:thxs ! yes youre right even little attentions matter It may be small attentions but they just might do the difference!
DKeymer3d: thxs, yea I see what you mean some images might clash because presentations are different.

I got a quick question for everyone regarding character modeling: For future models should I create them based off of a concept art or should I design them myself? or just do both?
Reason im asking is because I imagine for most game companies you will be creating characters given by the concept artist. Do employers value more a character artist that can design his own characters or one that is better at working from concept art?

Thxs again for the tips its very helpful !

Jason