Environment Art Grad Programs

brettmarshalltucker

Hello, everyone!

I am a fine artist working in Brooklyn at a studio where we make sculpture out of Lego bricks. While I was incredibly lucky to score this job, it isn't what I want in a career. I have a BFA in sculpture but I work in my free time learning to make 3D assets using Maya, Substance and Unreal. I also know Blender and ZBrush pretty well and Unity somewhat. I've picked up some unpaid freelance work over the 10 months that I've been into this and have learned a lot but I feel as though there is so much that I don't know and can't really learn from tutorials and small groups with poor communication. I've learned everything I know from the lynda.com tutorials, which are amazing, but don't replace the classroom environment.

Now that you know where I'm coming from, help me find what I'm looking for! My research has found many programs, all of which seem to focus on coding and game development principles. I would love to find one that focuses on asset creation, texturing, destruction, physics and maybe even effects and things like that. While I don't mind learning how to code, I don't want to go into the design aspect as much as I want to learn about the art. Since I already have a degree in Fine Arts, there is potential that I could get a job with a strong enough portfolio but you can't beat the networking and problem solving that come with school. It would be worth it to me to spend two or three years really nailing down what I know and learning how to best apply it.

Location doesn't matter. I'm from WV and have moved to KS, ME and now NY in pursuit of my work and am never afraid to follow it elsewhere. Please hit me with any recommendations for schools, programs or general advice about why this is or isn't a good plan.

Thanks!

beefaroni

This isn't a good plan.

brettmarshalltucker said:

I feel as though there is so much that I don't know and can't really learn from tutorials and small groups with poor communication. I've learned everything I know from the lynda.com tutorials, which are amazing, but don't replace the classroom environment.

It sounds like you may have problems with problem solving when the answer isn't directly given to you. I don't believe going to school is a good idea. Have you searched in other areas other than Lynda for tutorials? There are plenty of great tutorials on Gumroad from current AAA artists who are showing the latest techniques required to land a job in the industry. That is way more than the majority of grad school teachers will provide.

Brian "Panda" Choi

This sounds like we're gonna have to determine how much being face to face with people matters (or in another way, do you need to live in a hot place to be hot)

Well, there is something that beats problem solving in class: problem solving on the job, but I think we recognize that as a catch-22.

Show us your artwork.  We'll get a better sense of where your portfolio is at to make a determiniation.

brettmarshalltucker

beefaroni said:

This isn't a good plan.

brettmarshalltucker said:

I feel as though there is so much that I don't know and can't really learn from tutorials and small groups with poor communication. I've learned everything I know from the lynda.com tutorials, which are amazing, but don't replace the classroom environment.

It sounds like you may have problems with problem solving when the answer isn't directly given to you. I don't believe going to school is a good idea. Have you searched in other areas other than Lynda for tutorials? There are plenty of great tutorials on Gumroad from current AAA artists who are showing the latest techniques required to land a job in the industry. That is way more than the majority of grad school teachers will provide.

I understand you comment but I would not say problem solving is a weakness of mine. I went through art school and work in an art studio. Problem solving has been part of my daily life for the better part of a decade. And it really is different when you can solve a problem but not know for sure if the product of that solving is up to industry standard because you have little to base it on. I watch people model a lot and look at model on sites like TurboSquid to get an idea of how things should look but being in a classroom seems like a good way to learn things to the standard that my work should live up to. That is my main point of contention against grad school, though. I am confident in my abilities to create an appealing portfolio on my own. The school environment would teach me things I can't learn elsewhere so I have to determine if it is worth the time and cost. And I will definitely check out Gumroad too, then. Thank you for your input!

brettmarshalltucker

Brian "Panda" Choi said:

This sounds like we're gonna have to determine how much being face to face with people matters (or in another way, do you need to live in a hot place to be hot)

Well, there is something that beats problem solving in class: problem solving on the job, but I think we recognize that as a catch-22.

Show us your artwork.  We'll get a better sense of where your portfolio is at to make a determiniation.

That's true! I enjoy being face to face with people when learning but do not need someone to constantly check to see if what I'm doing is good or correct. Definitely not worried about being in a happening area because I live in Brooklyn now but rarely go out, haha. The internet is the hottest place anyway. And that is true as well. It's more being at a point where I know my work isn't something that will be what causes the problems due to poor modeling or optimizing, etc. These are things I'm picking up on but being in school would teach me that directly. Doesn't justify grad school on its own, though.

My portfolio can be viewed at www.brettmarshalltucker.com. It is still in progress as I have just started getting in to environment art. I am currently working on a piece with Unreal that I think will better showcase how my work can be used as game art so some of the things on there don't reflect that so well. I will probably make an ArtStation account as soon as I have that finished.

Thank you!