Quarter-life crisis

zetheros

Hey guys,

So I'm a pretty amateur artist, looking for advice. This is a long post, so, really, you don't have to read this if you don't want to.

This might be one of those posts where I look back to in embarrassment, but I can take the crits; so don't hold back, and I suppose it's better to ask, than not knowing.

My situation:
1. I've used the internet to learn art since 12, and have been 'living in a basement' for basically my entire life. Currently I'm 22, and still living with my dad. With time passing as quickly as it is, I'm going to be 30 tomorrow.

2. I'd like to get a job and move out ASAP, hopefully related to game dev/movies/digital art. I have two years, but I'd rather move out now. That brings me to:
2a. Should I specialize, or generalize?
2b. I've basically 'completed' nothing. My entire portfolio is WIP, and honestly pretty shameful imo. Basically nothing is retoplogized, rigged, textured, posed, and rendered, simply because I'd start on a new project before I get the zbrush hi-poly out into modo. Should I keep making new things using the knowledge gained, or complete the projects I have?

3. Should I just drop art altogether? It's what I enjoy doing most, but sometimes the desperate drive to become better is a bit like pulling out mouse-sized serrated kitchen knifes from under a toenail, and seeing there are about 1000 more of these to pull out. I mean, I have the potential to become a decent 3d character artist, but the competition and the amount of time dedicated is one of those 100% or nothing deals. If I am to change career decisions, it would be now.

So... that's about it. How's everyone's day going?

Shrike

Id say its really good for 22, theres no going back now but it needs work. Keep on trucking out new things for 4-5 months, work a lot on texturing, check more anatomy, show your portfolio here, take another month for polish and update renders, throw out the too old stuff, working on critique and start searching a job. You seem to be already specialized on characters so that question is answered too.

Theres like this joke where 2 criminals flee prison, they have to climb 8 prison walls, and after the sixth one, the one guy says "Fuck this, im tired, lets go back"

zetheros

Thanks @Shrike , I guess I'll keep at it then. Scott Eaton has some pretty amazing anatomy tuts that I've been looking at.

Burpee

Shrike said:

Theres like this joke where 2 criminals flee prison, they have to climb 8 prison walls, and after the sixth one, the one guy says "Fuck this, im tired, lets go back"

Nice one!

Your stuff ain't bad a all !
Keep walkin toward your dream @zetheros ,it'll worth it at end ! 

PyrZern

I actually like your sculpts. If you don't want to go back to them and do retopology for lowpoly, maybe at least pose them out of t-pose, set up lighting and do nice render then call them done ?   Then your future projects just aim to go through highres -> lowpoly -> texture and all.

MrHobo

If you feel like youre not getting anything done then you need to take a step back and really look at how youre spending your time. How much of it do you REALLY spend working? Are you REALLY interested in working on stuff?
If you are really interested and if you're with family and its not a bad situation, dont be in such a rush to get out before you land a job. If you have the 2 years of not having to worry about rent or food or when/if the next paycheck is coming then use them. If this one of those "Im 22 and still with my family, this is awkward" situations then thats something youre going to need to deal with. Once again I dont know your situation but if youre in a good spot and family is being supportive, then do what you can to help out and keep working.

Take that time buckle down and bust ass on your portfolio work. Right now you have a few things in your portfolio that look like they could be taken to completion. Xathanoc MK.I, the woman (But the head and body are going to need a rework) and the lobstertail helmet seem like the best bet. Finish them, polish them, post them here and everywhere else you can think of, get feedback, take what you learn and apply it to the next character. Rinse and repeat.

And lastly... Come on man 22 is young. 30 is not around the corner. Dont be dramatic. There are guys around here who didnt break in until they were 30. Everyones different. Assess what you truly want, what its going to take to get there and if you're ready to deal with that then work and work and work. Remember, this is a hyper competitive field. Being decent is not going to get you very far. 

In the end you really need to decide if you want this for a career or not. 
To get some perspective check out this podcast-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_s5n7IUMB8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=becWoUrbIcQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYbUGocC9UY
Theres a fourth one coming up soon with Jacque Choi that should be very interesting.
Also check out this thread 
http://polycount.com/discussion/89972/getting-into-the-game-industry-inspiration-of-a-different-kind

MMKH

I think we all experience our own quarter-life crises eventually. For example, at this point I am just trying to find my own niche and do something different from everyone else, because it doesn't seem likely that I will be able to catch up to or match the "level" that other pro artists are at in a short time. Personally I spent a lot of time trying lots of different art styles trying to figure out which one I like most, and thought it would help me find more work being more well-rounded. However, recently I'm just deciding on sticking to low-poly models instead of doing too many 2D variety of stuff. I'm moving into just being a freelance artist full-time instead of chasing dreams to be an indie game developer, as it's much more manageable IMO.

I'd say from this point on, just start now, make a reasonable plan, do what you can and don't worry about the things you can't change. Budget your time to what's most important, reallocate time spent on non-essential activities and even break bad habits so you can get things done. Don't overthink or overwork yourself though, keep your life in balance. I hit the gym regularly and try to eat well which helps my mood and health overall, which makes it easier to work and live. I'm going through the same thing so I know how it feels. Best of luck to us all.

Budd

Monet started painting in his 30's and Van Gogh in his late 20's , it's never too late!

zetheros

Wow! Thanks everyone for the incredible feedback. Especially @MrHobo for the podcasts; I'm listening to them now while I'm finishing up a sculpt. It's uncanny how similar artists can be. It was like hearing myself talk on a podcast.

I'll just have to buckle down and really put in the effort, apply, model some more, apply some more. There's no turning back now...

The exercise helped. When you stay at home long enough, sitting in a chair, you can literally feel your body wither away after a few months of doing nothing else. I went about 120km on bike today, looking for an internet cafe... everything's in Chinese. I could have passed a dozen, but found a neat fruit desert place.

Thanks again for the comments everyone. Like @MMKH said, best of luck to us all!

MMKH

Yeah, sitting for too long is not very good. Standing while working could help with productivity and keeps you healthier. Personally I am trying something new where I put 2 storage boxes on top of my desk, and put my monitor, speakers, keyboard and mouse on top of those. It so happens that everything is at the right height when I stand, so now I have converted my workstation into a standing one.

zetheros

Hey guys, finally got around to listening the forth character artist podcast
For those who are also in my situation, I hope this post helps inspiration-wise; there's a lot of good advice in this thread, and you can improve fairly quickly if you put your mind to it.
So here's the work I've done over the past month. I've just working from top to bottom. My WIP thread is here.
From this:


To this:

I also set up my artstation! You can see the highpoly renders, and the lowpoly of the head on sketchfab there. I think I'll redo the lowpoly though; there are a lot of normal map errors, and I'm not too happy with the retopo.