Portfolio critique - Environment artist

manuelfuentes13

Hi everyone, 

For the better part of this year I've been working on improving my portfolio as I try to get into the games industry as an environment or props artist, I know it is very difficult considering I don't live near any game studios and there is a lot of competition. All advice and comments will be greatly appreciated. 

Here is my portfolio https://www.artstation.com/manuelfuentes

And some of the main images from it :

RustySpannerz

So, there's a lot in your portfolio. I actually really like your illustration, especially the Neuromancer arcade one, but it really has no place in an environment artist's main portfolio page. Your arch viz is really cool, but the weakest by far is the vertical farm.

As for the environment art, my favourite environments are the Beyond Human and the Industrial Env. However, I think the lighting on the latter needs a total rework. There's far too much going on and my eyes have nowhere to settle. I would try a few different lighting setups. Try some with only the skylight and directional light and see if you can get good lighting with just that to start. A sunny day, sunset, dusk. Then add in lights to accent that lighting. Also, the big fans are just placed over the wall, hide this or at least get rid of the screenshot that points it out. And that advice could work on the sci-fi corridor too. Definitely try to be more subtle with your lighting, it's so important to the final result! 

The Beyond Human piece is really cool, love the overall composition. The modeling on the ships seems a little simple, but from a distance it's really fine. Also, I would get rid of that bright light on the tree in the first screenshot. 

Overall your work is good. if I were you I would work on something smaller for my next piece and really make every little detail perfect. Really spend time on the materials, the modeling, and the lighting. If you're aiming to work in AAA studios, you need to be able to create AAA art. 

manuelfuentes13

Thanks for the advice @RustySpannerz ! I recently received my first art test for a studio job and hopefully that leads to an interview but while I wait I have to keep on working on improving the portfolio in case they don't like the test, I think another main thing lacking in my portfolio is a couple of custom substances so I'll have to include that in my next piece, I'm not quite sure what to do for my next piece so I may end up doing another monthly challenge from the forums.