Indie Vs Personal Art.

sketch81

Hey PC,

I'm currently working as a 3D Artist for an indie games company, looking to improve my skills and add to my portfolio. I'm not a pro, but I have adequate skills and seem to fall into a ditch whenever I'm given a task to model or create something more difficult. Is this ditch just a learning curve or do I need to go back to the drawing board?

Going back to the drawing board would mean I create personal art and receive criticism on polycount. This would give me the confidence I need to take the next step in becoming a professional 3D Artist.

Any thoughts are welcomed.

Thanks

whipSwitch

Kinda seems like you answered your own question.

Dan!

(hah whipswitch beat me to it) It sounds like you answered your own question but, I don't see why getting critiques and being a member of a community of like-minded artists would be a bad thing. Never stop learning IMO.

Kevin Johnstone

You should never walk away from the drawing board, understanding that is one of those steps that helps us become a professional. Everything new is a learning curve, you just need to roll up your sleeves and try again, and again, and again.... eventually you will get it right; much much later you will get that being uncomfortable and failing is when we learn more.

It's like climbing a wall though, until you get over it, you don't really appreciate what all the grunting and groaning was about. Same principle when you start working out, that first month is just pain and boredom, but another couple of weeks and you notice your body is starting to change.

Just keep at it and accept that it takes time, lots of time.

Snader

If you're working in the industry, doesn't that pretty much mean you're already a professional?

I think what you're asking is "should I give up this job to work on my skillset?" - is that what you're asking?

A bit more info would be useful, but right now I'd say just keep working on the job, and try tackling the stuff you find too hard. Figure out what parts are too difficult, and spend some of your free time on tackling these subjects. Just keep pushing yourself.

crazyfingers

Kevin hit the nail on the head.

I'm in the same position as you are! I recently joined a small indie group and I'm working on figuring out semi unique 2D environment art for a small little 2d fighting game with lots of parallaxed plains. So there's a bit of headache figuring out technical aspects as well as juggling learning a new discipline at the same time. But it's actually been a really fun experience now that things seem to be swinging.

Best advice i can give is reference the heck out of your art. Find the best art you can in a few styles the team really likes and really try to hit that benchmark, but don't be afraid if it's taking its own unique turn! Let the team give plenty of feedback early on and even suggest reference images of their own for you.

Don't be afraid to let your unique strengths as an artist come through as well. This is one of the most exciting things about working on a small team and having such a large impact on the style is you can be a little different and it'll actually help you guys stand out. Some wacky new elements in the art is SO important to indie success and doing artwork you enjoy and can pump out is important to the completion of the game.

This is indie game art, the benchmark isn't super high, so take solace in that. But that's no excuse for not raising the bar and pumping out great stuff!

sketch81

Thank-you for the insight and I really appreciate all the comments.
I'm not employed in the games industry, but I'm working as a volunteer 3D Artist for a small indie games developer. This is a non-paid job, with the possibility of payment and royalties in the future.

I don't like being a quitter and I also don't want to carry my bad habits over to a game company when I finally get employed. Bad habits such as “stressing out” because I don’t know if something is correct or me not working in a professional manner when the going gets tough, is really affecting my productivity.

Since no artwork can be displayed for criticism and is only discussed in house, it’s difficult to know if you’re modeling or texturing correctly. These above reasons got me thinking that I may not be taking the right path and thought it might be best for me to go back and do personal artwork.

I know It sounds like I need a therapist, but I’d like to be honest with where I stand in my professional development.

I’m grateful for everyone’s comments and I thought this issue may have crossed other artist’s minds as they developed.