Environment Artist Portfolio Critique - Ongoing

Donte' Hawkins

Hey guys! My name is Donte' Hawkins. I am looking forward to becoming an environment artist. For about a year I have been trying to put a portfolio together to showcase my environment art skills. I show 3D models, texturing, breakdown processes and snapshots of environments. Right now I am currently working on another new game environment. Any advice on what to showcase and what not to showcase? Feel free to give your critique and please explain why.

Link to Portfolio: http://dontehawkins.wix.com/portfolio

Thanks a bunch,

Donte'

beefaroni

I'm just gonna break down your site from a first user experience. 

First page: Huh, where's the art? Kind of a cool photo of yourself but there's not really any art. What does unity and unreal engine mean? Can I click on them? Nope. Huh.. Lets try projects?

Projects: Huh, still no artwork.. Weird.. I can't even click on anything in the first project? Why's it there? Oh cool, some photos from the second project. Wait.. they're like 800 pixels wide. Can't see anything.. Okay.....

Breakdowns: Alright, this could be interesting. So it's the process of modelling a skull? Where's the actual skull? Do I have to wait for this gallery to pan to the right just to see the final work? Okay, next..

3d Models: Huh, no images to send around? Just sketchfab. Okay. Kind of hard to quickly show this work to other people though. Probably won't.

Overall, you really need to simplify your site. Why is a project up there that's not even finished? Why would anyone care? Check out Tor Frick's site. It's literally a collection of images that you can easily click through to see artwork. You want to put good artwork in the viewers face as fast as possible. If you want to include breakdowns, you can put them on a separate page. But at the end of the day, artwork is king. 
http://www.torfrick.com/

With that said, I'll let someone else critique your work but my quick advice is that you really need to make small assets and make them a high quality before you continue doing any more environments. 

Brian "Panda" Choi

@TheUltimateDonGamer
Donte, right now your artistic quality speaks to art that would fit into a PS1 or N64 game, where you have VERY low polygon budgets and even more limited color palatte.

All your artwork exhibits this.  It could be better.  I don't see any of the art here readily fitting into a game.

I'll examine the sattelite:
https://sketchfab.com/models/087ce9bbfb2f4ffeaf5021e13bed02a5

The burgeoning questions on my mind:
1) Assuming this is a real-someone-can-touch-it satellite, Why is it stark red and blue?  What art direction is demanding this realistic looking satellite be that red and blue?  Why wasn't it metal, white, gold?  Admittedly, without a well reasoned context, I can't take the color palatte seriously.  It ends up looking more like a toy than a scale sattelite. 

2)  The medium patterns across the sattelite serve no function as far as I can say beyond just making it look visually less borning.  I just see indentations of squares and lines of red and blue.  Where are the solar panels?  Where's the access panel where an astronaut can do maintenance.  Where's the radiation shielding?  I'm looking at this satellite and I see nothing that says it operates like a satellite.

3) Technical issues:
- Normal edges are not smoothed where it should be along the cylindrical body.
- Material definition: everything receives and is reading as the same secularity.  There is no material definition; I can't tell what is oil, metal, dirt, plastic, etc.

Right now, the first baby step I can recommend is do one interesting, well-designed prop and get that done to fruition and polish.  To make it easier, choose an existing concept and get it made one-to-one.

It'll be just a baby step, but should get you on the right path as a recommendation.

low odor

I think the short of it is that you are not ready  for a portfolio.

I know that is  discouraging as fuck, but it is good to recognize where you are at so you can improve.

You need to look up tutorials on the fundamentals - modeling,  texturing, design- and use those as a guide. 

Here's a good place to  start: http://wiki.polycount.com/wiki/Polycount


Find an artist(s) that you admire and aspire to be like and emulate them- use them as a comparison 

Here's a good place to start:

https://www.artstation.com/artwork?medium=digital3d&category=environments

start posting  wips here on polycount...do it even  if no one give you the time of day...At the very least it will be a timeline of  your progress

Good luck

Donte' Hawkins

Thank you all for your great feedback and critiques! I appreciate it very much. I will take into account what fixes and changes I need to make.

Donte' Hawkins

Some updates and changes made to my portfolio. I have made some progress over the past month and have more updates to include in the future! Any critiques are welcomed!=)
Portfolio: http://dontehawkins.wixsite.com/portfolio

Brian "Panda" Choi

Hey Donte

I commend you on committing to improvements, but from what you've updated, it still looks to be the same quality from before.  As harsh as that sounds, the tomb and the red skull seem to both suffer from bad design (I'm assuming you're working off your own concept and idea), and a lack of a clear render target.  They don't look done.

If you look at your work, would you be comfortable saying it fits into any of the games you've seen played this year?

As a baby step, I would recommend choosing a concept art that you feel comfortable recreating exactly, and make that into a 3D asset.  I think I've said the same above in my last post in this thread.

Good job on putting your artwork first on your website.  If you want to push the website design further, I'd recommend choosing a better font for "junior Environment Artist."  it just doesn't read well.  And I'd truncate your website banner to something wtih less vertical space so you have more real estate for your art on the home page when someone opens it.

Donte' Hawkins

Hey Brian.

Thanks for the critique.

I am constantly working on my portfolio and will continue to work on my presentation and quality of assets.

Thanks.

Brian "Panda" Choi

@TheUltimateDonGamer   Why don't you post any of your WIPs on Polycount?  Are there people in you life giving you incisive feedback?

Cglewis

I would definitely do what @Brian "Brian "Panda" Choi said:

@TheUltimateDonGamer   Why don't you post any of your WIPs on Polycount?  Are there people in you life giving you incisive feedback?

Find some cool concept art of a prop or a weapon or something small and create a WIP thread and post every time you work on it so people can guide you from the start and hopefully you'll make something hella dope! 

Donte' Hawkins

@Brian @Cglewis Hey guys. I'm really new to this polycount stuff. There is really no mentor for me, so I guess posting WIPs on here makes the most sense.

Thanks for the advice guys

Cyph3r

Hey Donte,

I'm gonna echo a few points some others have mentioned. But here are my thoughts.

1. The site design itself looks very, err, geocities? Is probably the best way I can describe it I think. It just looks very early-internet and feels awkward. I'd recommend looking at other artists portfolios and you'll see many of them are very modern/sleek. I'd aim to mirror something like that. It's not a huge point, nor indicitive of your 3D skills, but first impressions definitely count and your site design is the first thing any visitors see. 

2. You've got a resume page, great. However you state your objective as "Become an environment artist who creates stunning environments, 3D prop and modular assets"... Awesome! So if that's the case I'd recommend stripping out irrelevant info from this page. I.e we don't need to see that you worked at Ikea for a few months in 2013, it just looks like you're trying to pad out this page to make it look more substantial but I think it's to your detriment. 

3. This then leads me to ask why do you have a separate download link to your game art resume? Why isn't that your main resume listed directly on your portfolio aiming to land you a game art job?

4. Finally, and this is going to sound harsh, but your 3D assets just aren't doing you any favours. There are errors on the unwrap, the designs are uninspiring and even though you have mentioned the use of Substance Painter, I don't see how? 

I think you need to go right back to the beginning with this whole thing, pick a concept (or look at the monthly noob challenges here on Polycount) and try making something with an active WIP thread. Everyone here will be more than happy to guide you through!

Donte' Hawkins

Thanks @Cyph3r , I'll keep these ideas in mind.

Sheers

As of right now, your portfolio isn't solid.  As stated by another member, try focusing on a single prop and perfecting it as best as you can.  Even if it's a well modeled bullet or burning barrel, it can be that golden ticket.   Like @Cyph3r said, take part in the Polycount Challenges! I did my first one in June and it changed my outlook on my work.  It's taught me to work smarter, absorb feedback, and iterate,iterate,iterate,iterate. Nothing is done in a few revisions.   

Zi0

Look for modeling and texturing tutorials, look at websites like digital tutors for instance and update your skills like other already said.

Donte' Hawkins

@Sheers @Zi0 Thank you guys for the critiques and advice!

Kid.in.the.Dark

Keep practicing dude, really love the attitude to improve yourself and to absorb creative criticism... it's already a huge step towards being a better artist. Listen to everything said here, there's nothing left for me to comment on besides complimenting on the positive attitude.

Donte' Hawkins

@Kid.in.the.Dark Appreciate it!
@JoshuaG My best friends are really great so far!

Donte' Hawkins

Here we go again! Critique time. Any thoughts? Any ideas? Any improvements? Feel free to add your thoughts.

Portfolio: http://dontehawkins.wixsite.com/portfolio

Thanks,

- Donte'

xChris

Scrap everything, make a new prop to focus on, and don't stop until you reach the quality you'd see get shipped in a AAA game.

i.e. https://www.artstation.com/artwork/ZxkkX

jfitch

While what xChris has said is a little harsh, I'd have to agree to a point. Your effort is awesome, but the level of quality needs to reach a higher level of polish. Look at the kind of games you want to work on, and do everything you can to try to reach that level. 

As for the site, I'd highly recommend getting off wix--your resume says you can code in html/5 (which btw I would remove from your resume unless you want to develop websites), so use it! Get your own hosted server and domain name, and go waaay more simple. That or I'd recommend simply using an artstation page! They're clean and easy to use. 

xChris

It may sound a little harsh, but in a production setting it might take a little too much time to give dishonest feedback. I think your early on in your career where you should take any advice you can get, and work on your craftsmanship towards one piece so that it can get your foot in the door of a studio sooner rather than later!  

Donte' Hawkins

@xChris @jfitch I don't mind the feedback, as long as it is constructive. Thank you both for your feedback. I will keep these ideas in mind and continue to work on my craft

jfitch

xChris said:

It may sound a little harsh, but in a production setting it might take a little too much time to give dishonest feedback. I think your early on in your career where you should take any advice you can get, and work on your craftsmanship towards one piece so that it can get your foot in the door of a studio sooner rather than later!  

Completely true, good point. And Donte, it's great you're taking the feedback to heart. That's one of the most important things. 

Donte' Hawkins

It's been a while, but I'm getting there

https://www.artstation.com/doncreations

Nosslak

It looks a lot better than your older stuff on your site, but it's still not great. Here's some quick points:

1. Remove your three texturing projects, they're just not good.

2. The grave looks alright but it doesn't make much sense. Number one usage of a grave is hold a dead body, but there's not enough space in front of it for one. You could have made the scene darker and have the candles being lit and illuminating the grave, could've used some molten wax and maybe a flower-bouquet as well to make it more interesting.

3. Candyland is probably most interesting piece but the general proportions are weirdly inconsistent and the same goes for the texturing styles. If you were to plonk down a character and drag him around you'd see what I mean (look at the windows for instance).

You need to look a lot closer at the art that other people are posting here and try to make sure your own stuff at least lives up to that standard or preferably it should surpass them. Unfortunately right now I'd say you neither have the quality nor the quantity to get hired.

Doxturtle

Merry Christmas  

I think what is letting down your work a lot is presentation, the difference between a 'meh' and a 'wow' piece can come down to lighting and presentation. Take a look on artstation at how others present their materials for example:

https://www.artstation.com/hawk33
https://www.artstation.com/joshlynch

Your tombstone is nice but you've got a lot of hard edged seams for something that looks baked. Make sure you are properly applying your hard edges so that you get rid of any seams (I usually do all my UV unwrapping and then use a script to place the hard edges wherever there is a UV seam). If you are using Maya this one works nicely:

https://jonathonstewart.blogspot.com/2012/10/script-harden-edges-of-all-uv-borders.html

Donte' Hawkins

@Nosslak Well, quite obviously there are some things I need to continually work on. Thanks for the critique!

@Doxturtle Merry Christmas! Thanks for the examples and UV tips.