New Personal Projects?
polycounter lvl 11
Just curious as to how some of you begin working on personal projects. Do ideas just spontaneously pop up in your head, do you sit or lie down and just think about what to model/create/draw/whatever, do you just surf the web and get ideas??? Whenever I feel like creating an environment(mostly for practice) I end up just aimlessly searching the web for concept art that I can reference off of. ![:\](https://polycount.com/plugins/emojiextender/emoji/twitter/confused.png ":\")
Replies
For my current project, I'm building the first level of a horror game I dreamed up a few years ago, and finally have the know-how to go ahead with it in Unreal. Again, influenced by my undying love for Silent Hill. =]
Very rarely ideas will come to me when I get the chance to shut everything off and just sit down and close my eyes. Let my mind wander, and run with some stuff I think about. Try it sometime, it's amazing effective if you're in a creative bind.
I don't have a specific system that I use to select my projects, but I generally have projects in mind for several months before I actually get to a point where I feel comfortable working on them. Some of those projects have been sitting there idle for over four years now. Some are more recent. Some are based on quick doodles or speed sculpts that I've done and would like to take further. Some are based on images I find that inspire me and contain things I think are really cool.
Jesus, I have like 5 unfinished things I've been meaning to get back to, and like another 30 personal things I still want to start.
as for subject matter, concept is important but execution is even more important. so you could really just take a mundane object and put some small twist to make it your own and then focus on execution.
I don't really care about the folio much. I just do what I want to do. I feel it's more fun to work on something I really want to do, rather than "oh I must do a space marine because this is missing in my folio, but I don't really care about space marines much" - it becomes too much like work that way.
i agree with this. i didnt want it to sound like that.
i dont make stuff that i dont like either for my personal portfolio other wise there would have been at least one orc in my portfolio. unfortunately i hate orcs, elfs or anything of that nature so i would never make them.
that being said, what i really meant was more like showing a flexible skillset in your portfolio. you dont want your portfolio to be filled with just guns, or just vehicles or just human heads or just stylized hello kitty characters etc.
just my 2 cents.
why do you need to be flexible if you're kickass at what you're doing? There's many top notch artists who just stick to a very narrow subject matter. The point is: just be good at what you're doing!
Simple because very creative people fall in love with new ideas all the time and never finish anything, so are left with nothing to show. Whereas the mediocre complete lots of 'okay' ideas which leads to more options and improvement.
Just something to think about when you look at that colossal WIP folder...
Wow...I must be VERY creative. :P
the point is to come up with new subject matter and keep yourself interested in the work while you are at it. replying to the original poster, my suggestion is a way how to come up with new ideas.
i imagine it could get boring making the same type of shit again and again and actually become more like work. of course there are great artists with just one type of thing in their sites that they do very very well but that is not the point of the thread. being good at what you do applies to everything i would imagine.
Currently, it's more about having the energy to keep working on the project I'm currently SLOWLY making my way through. Like...really slow (damn crunch time).
it can be movies or a new game that im playing, cool vehicles or random pics i see on google while looking for other stuff
And this is how I organize my reference images. It's a bit of a mess I know but maybe it will help.
O_O
^THIS!!^
Trust me guys it's not as big as you might think.
I only have 6GB worth of Reference images and my Texture Library is only 9GB.
@Lonewolf-i can haz your talent?
Using other people's concepts are a tricky thing. It can sometimes be read as fan art. Which I think unless you're trying to work at that company then it's mainly just a practice exercise instead of creating a new portfolio piece. Again I tend to get inspired first then mash up my own ideas. Different things work for different people. I know Gannon just starts making a prop that he thinks is cool and builds a scene around that. That works for him. Maybe email the Concept Artist and get permission to make that in 3d. Plus it gives you another person to contact for artistic advice if you get stuck on the scene.
I try to compact everything so these are the only folders I have at the moment, got to add more just no time to find inspirational artwork.
I don't save every image I see just the ones I like the most.
On topic:
Just find things you like best and mash It up making variations, selecting the best one & adding your own flare 'as It were'.:thumbup: