Abandon the career?
Its time to ask myself some difficult questions and wondering if other people are in the same situation or has been?
But I am thinking of abandon the career path on which I have been striving for the past 8 years now.
8 years ago I started studying 3D artist for games and since then I have had a lot of various smaller experiences and studies ( latest study where focused towards CGI). As professional experience I have only had a shorter one on 2 years as a general artist in which my contract was ended this October, it was fun people to work with but didn't gave me so much experience as I hoped.
At the moment I'm struggling to find jobs but I'm highly skeptical to land anything in the near future.
Never felt that I am good enough and everywhere I see people delivers incredible things. And some of these are just young students .. its kinda a motivational killer for me as I turn 30 next year.
I try work as much as possible on portfolio stuff but it takes time, right now working a scene that contains a lot of work for one person. and I still have to do other things like job search and daily chorus. so I sit here behind the computer to late nights everyday.
Also decided to reserve some time for working with 2D practicing concept and so on.) So basically I have no free time at all, no social life and rarely leaves my apartment. Its always work on my mind and worrying about life and future, Living to work and working to live.
I know that this is a struggling career and I have asked my self what else would I like to work with and I cant think of any to be honest. It was fun to work with games, and the sense of working "artistically" and "creative"
So I was wondering what advises you could give me and general thoughts about this.
Cheers.
Replies
It's also probable you need to re-orientate your portfolio to show a focus. You have 3 mobile environments, 2 console-level props and 2 offline renders. Unless you're going for a generalist, I think it's going to confuse employers. And like I said, the quality has to be better than what the next person is doing.
Mobile:
https://www.artstation.com/artist/gut3d
AAA:
https://www.artstation.com/artist/pookie
Hardsurface:
https://www.artstation.com/artist/rmlambert/albums/54930
I personally wouldn't worry what students are doing. Do what makes you happy.
Your game art stuff is where you should be focusing, and regarding the pieces themselves: the computer terminal is actually pretty good, I think it's your best piece. You just need more like it. The mushrooms are cool but need to be incorporated into some kind of environment like Jordan mentioned above. It needs to grab people's attention. You do a pretty decent job of presenting them however, with a non-distracting background. I think for the some of the game work you've done you need to remove the animations as they are not your specialty, and hurt your overall focus. I have more thoughts but that's it for now. Good luck man!
I agree upon that I have a lot of variation on my portfolio in a good and bad way scenario and need to find a direction.
You are not the first to highlight my computer asset but I am unsure If I liked the process of working with that at all.
the technical workflow sort of speak and the realism approach. I had more fun working with the mobile game and my floating tavern with the hand painting textures approach to it.
I am on Art station on a daily basis and the first thing that draws my eyes are stylized, handpainted and 2D work.
I was raised by illustration books and various artist . So I have always looked up to 2D people. in which I have started to actually spend some time practicing it. and I have had a lot of fun with that, to that extent that I am wondering If 3D is actually something I want to work with?. And thinking on applying to a 2D education next year.
But I have no clue how that industry is doing or even if I ever land a career as it. maybe it will only be in a hobbyist level.
That way I can still harness the 2D spectrum as a hobby level.
It feels when you are working on a higher production level and especially AAA quality there is a ton of programs and technical spectrum you need to work with.
Modeling in maya > Sculpt in Z > Learn new X program on the market> Bake> Test it in engine and going back and redo assets again.
It quickly becomes a lot technical.
Right now substance is the new shit on the market and I cant keep up with all the new programs appearing , Currently working on a scene containing a lot of work for one dude and learning Ue4 along the way. And that is taking time to do and I am not even half finished and still have to focus on the daily chorus
Hey RipNic,
Man, this personally hits home pretty hard for me because I’m about in the same boat. I graduated Uni over 6 years ago and am creeping up on 30 myself. And I understand the struggle seeing students crank out amazing work when you’ve been working non-stop on craft.
When it comes to your situation I think the best thing you can do is check out the job market in your area and try to cater towards that. For my experience, the automotive scene is really booming so even though my folio is game art focused I have some hard surface models that could pass as automotive. And you could possibly reach out to the folks you worked with and see if they might have any thoughts on the best approach for your situation. Have you thought about internships? Through searching google I stumbled upon this, but not sure if it’s paid:
https://apply.king.com/vacancy/3d-game-artist-intern-stockholm/1867/description/
I’ve got the exact same situation going on regarding non-stop work. I work my full-time job and either come home to work on either freelance or different art, and then repeat the cycle. And I think it’s good that you’re wanting to practice more 2D, because when you’re working towards art you really enjoy it really makes constantly doing art much better.
As for your folio, I think your work is pretty solid! My biggest drawbacks on your stuff is on your resume page because there’s a bunch of production stuff. Could you pack that in with your CG stuff? Or possibly have it CG/Production work? Just because it’s Game Art, CG, and then Advertising hiding on the resume page.
Also, looking through this thread I’m honestly really glad that you said that you enjoyed creating the floating tavern piece. Because I think that’s your most interesting and best looking piece! Mainly because it looks like a finished piece where your computer looks nice but its just a floating prop. I would say the biggest thing your portfolio could use is just more interesting props such as your tavern.
And if you really like doing 2D stuff, polish up your folio with some 3D stuff while working on some 2D on the side. That’s basically what I’ve been doing, but the 2D I do on the side is pixel art.
Worst case scenario, find a job that helps pay rent & bills and work on your portfolio and 2D stuff on the side. That will kick your motivation pretty hard to improve as an artist if you’re going to a job you hate everyday.
Lastly, try to enjoy creating. I know that can be difficult when you’re constantly working on improving and getting your portfolio in rough shape. But, if you can find that balance I think you’ll be in a good spot. Sorry for so much to read through and hope something from this helps!
I live in stockholm so does the majority of the Swedish gaming hub, and also a ton of students trying to find the jobs.
Our biggest companies are Starbreeze,Avalanche and Dice. and as well a vast majority of different studios from big to small.
As it comes with internships in Sweden unless stated it is not paid and I have never seen a paid internship here.
I have a friend that works on King actually and I have talked to him a lot and I have also applied to king as well but it was turned down.
Based from my friend the people of king values 2D knowledge more then a 3D and technical knowledge, they all just want to paint and dont care about technical stuff.
For the past month I have applied to like 30 different companies here in Sweden / Finland/Norway, Denmark.
When it comes to the resume I didn't felt comfortable to add it to my portfolio, they where experiences but experiences I was not proud of.
And you should add you best work to a portfolio.
People say that my computer is my strongest skill. But I dont know if I liked working with that.
For example If I have more stuff like that I could apply to the Big studios like Dice . but I dont care about dice and its titles they are games I dont enjoy so can I think in that perspective? If you dont like the games then when why apply to the company?
As I stated. The mobile game, the tavern and the various 2D stuff I have created, illustrations to twitch banner I have made for a friend .
They have all been fun projcts to work with. And atm I am working on a stylized 3D level , but unsure If I should strive to complete that ?
Thanks again for the feedback.:)
PS.
There is one thing that I love and that is Warhammer.
Have been a loyal fan for it the past 15 years so I would totally love to draw and work with warhammer stuff. Dont know if that is a utopia feeling .
There is one company here in Stockholm that works on a warhammer tile and I have made some friends there. but they are not in need to hire.
And they are also a smaller studio meaning they don't produce the same game and styles to every game.One game was a stylized platform, another was cell shaded, another Realism medieval, and now a realism warhammer game.
Since you live in Sweden I would suggest you have a look at Ubisoft Massive in Malmö. They are currently looking for 700 people, but seem to have trouble finding the amount of people they need. Or so it was said on Swedish Radio the other day.
I am currently a bit in the same boat. I graduated from games art studies, and am still trying to get a job in the industry. However from what I've heard and seen, it is harder to get your foot in the industry, than it is to stay in it.
I'm going on 30 myself, and have no industry experience. I work full time in another industry, and try to learn as much as I can when I'm at home, while also working on the stuff I need to do to improve. It is hard work, but I am sure that there will be a break somewhere.
I've contemplated quitting many times, especially when people have told me to just delete my portfolio, however, this is what is making me happy and so I will continue to do it.
Since you say you like Warhammer, then start tailor your portfolio towards that style and continue to apply to places that does Warhammer. The better you get at that style, the better your chances will be to get a job in it.
Be so good they cannot ignore you. Apply enough times that they know your work when they need more people, but not so many times to piss them off.
Just keep on working if it is what you want to do.
unfortnually I have applied for massive aswell and got turned down
Sometimes they are willing to give you information as to what you need to improve on.
Also, just because you've gotten a no from a studio once doesn't mean it is a no forever. Keep on improving and trying
and from all the companies that I have applied to , few have even responded. and even fewer given me feedbacks .
Is this the stylized level? Because, if it is I think you definitely should finish it!
http://polycount.com/discussion/184883/ue4-stylized-dungeon#latest
And if it's a huge scope to finish the project you could at least get a section of it polished up to get something on your portfolio for it. I think it's coming along really well and I'm diggin' the arch way designs!
To answer your main question, I don't think you should abandon your career. I think your stuff is pretty solid and if you wanted to do stylized work you just need more of it. And if you love WarHammer I don't think it would hurt to do some fan-art for it, learn the techniques they use and after studying it apply it to your own work.
I definitely understand the struggles and the intense self-doubt you can feel when you're applying and not finding work. Just gotta remember that it's a fiercely competitive industry. Something I try to live by is that no matter how hard I know I'm pushing myself towards improvement, there's someone working 3x as hard to get the same work I am.
Keep on keeping on and looking forward to seeing more of your work!
you didn't include a link to your portfolio or any other relevant work in the first post. Can't tell you how to get better or advise on moving forward without knowing where you're at right now.
https://christoffereklund.artstation.com/
I would use the resulting scene as a barometer on where I stand as far as being hired at a studio, how much farther I need to go if I don't meet studio quality and/or whether I should consider making 3d art as a hobby and consider looking into another career
I think as we're all 3d artists here, it hurts to consider leaving something we're passionate about, but people change career paths all the time. Take myself for example, my "dream" was to be a music producer/engineer and I tried doing that for 5 years with no results. I abandoned it and tried doing game art and ended up loving it more than working on music. For some reason, working on game art just clicks with me way more than working with music ever did. And I never expected this to happen, but now, I'm very happy that I made the decision to stop doing music.
These things I have had really fun with .
http://art.ngfiles.com/images/494000/494068_ripnic_ravens-kin.jpg
http://art.ngfiles.com/images/494000/494069_ripnic_this-will-destroy-you.jpg
http://art.ngfiles.com/images/497000/497933_ripnic_security-bot.jpg
I also had more fun with this with the stylized theme and handpainting textures to it then doing a super realisticly computer.
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/0rQ44
I allready have a project in the making , should I paus it ? and reset my brain and select something new with a fresh insight ?
Or should I continue with it?.
Thanks again for the feedback
One of the best portfolio advice I got was to only have things I want to do in it. If I didn't want to be an environment or prop artist... then I shouldn't have it in my portfolio. If I didn't want to do 2d illustration... why put it in front of the employers as something I can do for money?
You mentioned earlier that you wanted to do Warhammer. Maybe look at doing something from that universe for 1-3 months?
Once you've done that maybe you want to try doing an illustration, to see what you rather want to do? since you mention that you like illustrating too. But gear your portfolio towards where you want to be, more than what you can do.
If you want to be a modeller - have models, if you want to be a texture artist - have textures, if you want to be an illustrator - have illustrations, if you want to do environments - have environments etc.
And as Alexk said. Everything worthwhile is going to be hard. And if you go through life trying to pick the easy way, or doing A just because it is easier than B, it is not going to be a fun life. Basically what you need to figure out is not only what you enjoy doing (so that you can spend 8+ hours doing it per day for the rest of your life.....) but, probably even more vital, is to figure out what you can live with being frustrated with (so that you are willing to try to get over the obstacle instead of giving up, learning something new instead of giving up etc).
Can you stand having to redo retop and edge loops to make them better? to repaint textures for the 5th time? to re-draw your illustration for the 7th time because the client couldn't decide? to crunch with 14 hour days to get those models done in time?
can you go through that, AND STILL wanting to pursue it because it is what is making you happy?
Or are you doing it because you think it will be an easy thing to do? or because someone else told you to do it? or to impress someone?
Just rhetorical questions, but I read somewhere that passion = suffering... What are you willing to suffer for to be able to do?
Suffering through long hours at work in order to release an awesome game on time? suffering through getting your clothes covered in paint because you love painting? Getting blisters on your fingers because you love playing the guitar?
And as @Tidal Blast mentioned..... some things that you enjoy working with at home, might not give the same enjoyment at work. Because of the way work is structured. If you love building environments as an example, can you stand having to do everything as someone else says, the way someone else imagines it? Following along on the daily meetings, having to redo something because the game is now going in a different direction than what was previously thought?
sorry for the long reply. I can go on and on about this.....but probably just going around in circles
Just my 2 cents
TLDR:
If it is what you want to do, then go for it. no matter how hard someone has told you it is. If it what you really want to do. how hard the road to get there shouldn't matter, rather the obstacles on the road to getting to the goal should just spur you on to wanting put in the effort to get past them.......