Stuck in a rut. Help me improve!
Okay, here's my problem:
I graduated game dev school back in '13 with flying colors, (my Capstone won an award at an expo) and I've been contracting and teaching since. Did a little architecture here, a little video editing there, some illustration over there; that sort of thing. However, now it's 2015 and I feel like I'm still not exactly where I want to be career-wise. I network like no one's business, organize industry events, do game jams, and more, but I still haven't been able to snag a "real" job, and going back to school isn't feasible financially. As far as the job search goes, it feels like there's something I'm missing that's causing me to get form rejection after form rejection. My mother thinks it's because I don't have a bachelor's degree. :poly131:
Personally, I think my portfolio needs work.
I'm looking for some project ideas or affordable schooling options to help me plug the holes in my portfolio, gain some competitiveness, and get back on track. There are so many things out there that I can do, that it's hard to figure out what I should do.
Here's the portfolio:https://chloejanowski.carbonmade.com/
Any ideas?
I graduated game dev school back in '13 with flying colors, (my Capstone won an award at an expo) and I've been contracting and teaching since. Did a little architecture here, a little video editing there, some illustration over there; that sort of thing. However, now it's 2015 and I feel like I'm still not exactly where I want to be career-wise. I network like no one's business, organize industry events, do game jams, and more, but I still haven't been able to snag a "real" job, and going back to school isn't feasible financially. As far as the job search goes, it feels like there's something I'm missing that's causing me to get form rejection after form rejection. My mother thinks it's because I don't have a bachelor's degree. :poly131:
Personally, I think my portfolio needs work.
I'm looking for some project ideas or affordable schooling options to help me plug the holes in my portfolio, gain some competitiveness, and get back on track. There are so many things out there that I can do, that it's hard to figure out what I should do.
Here's the portfolio:https://chloejanowski.carbonmade.com/
Any ideas?
Replies
1 - pick up a game with a strong mod scene or Steam Workshop support
2 - make art content for that game
3 - repeat until your work matches or even surpasses the art quality of the original assets of the game.
As soon as you can do that, employers/art directors will know that you can work within a production team.
2D + 3D is a lot of work. You should only focus on one as a job and from there, you should go even smaller.
2D: Concept artist, texture artist,
3D: Character artist, prop artist, environment artist, Special Fx, lighting artist
Your artstyle for your work is also holding you back. You need to match the artstyles that are already used in the game industry.
I think what both Prior and Jordan said are both pretty valid points. Finding an art style for a game that you really enjoy is definitely a good place to start to build a foundation. And as Jordan said 2D+3D is a lot, and I'm totally guilty of having my portfolio set the exact same way though, it's definitely a tricky balancing act.
It's nice to be able to show that you can do multiple different skills, but in most cases you'll want to be more of a specialist than a jack of all trades. And from what it looks like your 2D outweighs your work in content on your site. Personally, if you enjoy illustration and concept art more I would focus more towards that.
Also, although your Photo section has some nice photos not many studios are going to hire you off your photography skills. I think photos and other art you're working on that doesn't pertain to your folio is a great place for that blog page.
Bottom line figure out what you're most passionate about and start to build upon those skills. You can find great amount of reference for improvement all over the internet!
Last thing! I noticed you don't have a specific, "resume" page or even a place to download your resume. If carbonmade lets you have more than 4 header pages it'd probably be best to make a Resume page, make a downloadable PDF of your experience and throw all the accomplishments you've got on your "About" page there.
Good luck and I hope this helps!
With regards to 3d, The only thing I see about your knowledge of normal mapping skills is that you can press a couple buttons in Crazybump or the Photoshop filter. You'll be hard pressed to compete with current-generation standards when it comes to AAA graphics and art until you really step up your art game. Need current-standard stuff. PBR, Marmoset, ZBrush or hard surface skills, etc. "Trying" normal maps with buton-click methods show a lack of competency with today's expectations.
I'm on my 8th AAA title having been in games for 10 years and my resume is half as long as yours. Yours is bloated and over-exaggerated. That throws a red-flag when we're looking for candidates. Trim - trim - trim.
Lose the blogs. These can typically do more harm than good. The abstract pixel art only leads to more confusion about what you want to do for a job.
Lose titles like "Lead Artist" and "Art Director" for hobby / contest / school projects. It makes you look self-absorbed and reaching. Hobby projects that are "on-hold" are pointless to list. No one has heard of it.
From your own OP, you need to figure out what you want to do before you can figure out how to do it.
But most importantly, you need direction. What do you like to do the best? If you don't know, then I suggest you try some tuts and see what shoe fits. When an employer hits your site they should know what position you should fill before they click on anything. I'm currently overhauling my portfolio and site to correct the same issues, so you're not alone.
-Established art styles sound good! That's kind of what I was going for with the casual game icons and the Banner Saga landscape. Any ideas of what other styles I should be pursuing in future projects? My dream job would be making fantasy or historical games, but I have a lot of fun with the cutesy mobile stuff too.
-2D definitely comes more naturally to me, but it seems that the jobs in my area are more 3D environment art heavy. Would it be wise to just throw myself fully into 2D all the time, or should I also keep working on my 3D as a fallback? The 3D things in my portfolio were all made a few years ago, and I've been looking up ddo and Substance tutorials to get caught up.
-The Photo art section was one I was thinking about cutting anyway, and the blog is relatively new, so I have no qualms about cutting those.
I think if you want to do 3D, it needs to be a priority. Otherwise, I'd recommend the 2d/UI stuff.
As Ott was saying, your 3d work lacks a basic understanding of the game art pipeline (high to low baking, etc). Substance or DDO won't help with that and may complicate things even further.
I've been licensing my art through various avenues since I last posted to get extra money and exposure, and it's starting to come together, but I'm not giving up on the elusive "real job". Haven't updated the actual resume yet, but I have added some new pieces!
Here's the link to the updated portfolio:
https://chloejanowski.carbonmade.com/
You want to do relevant work in games? Start evaluating your portfolio versus those shown here:
http://fengzhudesign.blogspot.ca/
http://www.inspirefirst.com/2013/12/11/creative-illustrations-ashram/
Good luck.
TIP: garish colors = bad