Advice on portfolio/landing first job (Character Artist)

kmyung

Hello there polycounters,

I was wondering if I could get some advice on my portfolio and advice on getting your foot in the door. I've applied to a (hefty) sum of companies, including associate and internship positions but I've just been getting radio silence from them. I've seen a lot of forum posts/videos on what to do (and not to do), and taken advice from some professionals on my portfolio (they just tell me to keep going or apply some fixes here and there to my models, which I've done), but it's starting to get really frustrating. It seems all the advice is the same at some point, and it feels like I'm approaching/doing something wrong.

I've been constantly working on my models as well, and by no means do I think I'm amazing, but I do think I'm at a place where I'd at least be able to land an associate/intern position, but nada. 

Here is my portfolio:
http://kmyung.com/

Thank you ahead of time!

Spag_Eddy

I'm in the same boat and I feel your pain, homie. It's frustrating as hell living in the "hub" (aka L.A.) for 3D artists and feeling like you're in a Silent Hill movie when it comes to career prospects. You aren't alone in the struggle. It is by far the most deflating experience I personally have ever been through and has lead to much self-doubt. That said, it won't be like this forever. You just have to stay positive, be confident in yourself, and take every opportunity you can to keep improving your skills and getting better until that fateful opportunity comes knocking your way. It will come.

If nothing else, I have found that wine helps. And kittens.

Popol

There's just one thing to do : improving your portfolio.

Right now you have one good character (Demon hunter) and two medium ones. So yeah, you need to add more high quality stuff like the Demon Hunter. As simple as that, and yeah, I get that this kind of advice is a bit frustrating.

NikhilR

  I think there's more than just the one thing i.e improving your portfolio, else every character artist working in every studio would evenly matched gods, there'd be no difference between character artists working for naughty dog and those working for clash of clans.

  What matters is what studio you want to work for, tailor your work to that, or have an assortment (which you clearly do) and seek work on a broader scale.

  That said you may also look for work in indie studios and smaller teams that are more suited to your current portfolio.

   I mean of course would be great if your portfolio had more top notch characters which also means that you would charge a top notch rate that most smaller studios can't afford given their budget and requirements.

   Also a lot of industry work is budget specific, so sometimes you'll find that you may be paid higher because of how relevant your skill is at the time.

  And I wouldn't classify your work as one being high quality and the other being medium, it really depends on the use case and besides they are different styles of work.

  I think they are all great in that sense.

  I mean if you were applying to naughty dog then yes all of them are medium... to Naughty dog for their current projects, unless they have other projects that are more suited to the quality of your current characters at your current rate.

  Its why I try to work of reference and if I'm making an interpretation I state that clearly.

  This is purely from an aesthetic standpoint, though your breakdowns and maps are well made. 

  Are you trying to apply to any specific studios?
Also USA is a big place, apply perhaps to studios in other parts of the country, work there for a bit as you continue to add to your portfolio and experience as you keep applying to studios in LA.

slosh

You work is decent.  Demon Hunter is pretty damn solid.  One thing that I see is that you are dangerously riding the middle of the road in terms of style.  Demon Hunter is your most realistic piece but not quite realism.  The other two are stylized but not fully stylized.  It's a dangerous place to be when you are looking for jobs.  Studios that do outright realism won't hire you cuz they won't be sure you are capable.  Studios that do outright stylized won't hire you cuz you don't have fully stylized pieces.  Do you see what I'm getting at?  It's important to know what kind of studios you really want to apply to and focus on what would impress them.  

NikhilR

slosh said:

You work is decent.  Demon Hunter is pretty damn solid.  One thing that I see is that you are dangerously riding the middle of the road in terms of style.  Demon Hunter is your most realistic piece but not quite realism.  The other two are stylized but not fully stylized.  It's a dangerous place to be when you are looking for jobs.  Studios that do outright realism won't hire you cuz they won't be sure you are capable.  Studios that do outright stylized won't hire you cuz you don't have fully stylized pieces.  Do you see what I'm getting at?  It's important to know what kind of studios you really want to apply to and focus on what would impress them.  

I faced this problem too (atleast I think I did) then I found a studio that wasn't as narrow minded, in the sense that they didn't have to be as they have work that needs realism as well as stylised and cartoony work, having an artist with that versatility is a huge asset to them and they can budget accordingly.
So they liked the fact that I have variety in my work.
 I think it really depends on the studio.
Freelance has always been great too with the variety of work.

One thing I do is send the studio some work samples tailored to the work they are hiring for. They usually have a section for this
Or course if they do still go to my artstation and see that I have other work that doesn't apply and use that to justify not hiring me, then well their loss I suppose.

kmyung

@Spag_Eddy
Hey man. It has led me to so much self-doubt as well, but thanks for the words. The same goes for you. Keeps things hopeful I prefer beer and dogs haha, but the concept is the same. I wish you the best man. 

@Popol Definitely am working on more characters. Find it strange to keep applying with the same portfolio that gets you nowhere, but thanks! Working on a soldier, and then I'd be getting rid of my little Time Wizard. (Definitely my weakest piece, since it was one of my very first models).

@NikhilR I'm actually applying to companies across the US. My plan is that I'd like to get some experience for a couple of years, and then move on to companies that I greatly look up to. Thank you for your advices, I've definitely heard differing opinions about the whole style thing, but it is something I need to reconsider. I agree that it highly depends on the studio, and it does seem to work great for freelance. 

@slosh I have heard so many differing views on this that It'd be interesting what other people thought about it as well... I had a Blizzard recruiter tell me that if I want to get into the company I'd have to tailor all my projects for it, but at the same time he PERSONALLY recommended me not to since I'd be limiting my other opportunities. Then I've had other artists agree with what you're saying, and others that tell me I need more variety on my work... I feel style is a strange thing as well- if you have the capabilities to create a high quality model then you can create a high quality model regardless of style in my opinion. Companies don't seem to recognize this, or they just play it safe by selecting someone whose current work already matches theirs. I understand the logic in that, but at the same time not a huge fan of it...? I think it starts to pigeonhole companies into constantly creating games that have no different visual aesthetic from their other titles.

Thank you all for taking your time to respond. It's giving me some things to consider.

Biomag

kmyung said:

I understand the logic in that, but at the same time not a huge fan of it...? I think it starts to pigeonhole companies into constantly creating games that have no different visual aesthetic from their other titles.

That's a thought that should be erased from your mind. It's not your job to define the art style and look of a game. When a company sets out to hire 3D artists they typically already have these things figured out and look for those who can implement it. Also keep in mind that there is a reason companies are known for their visual style and it is part of their brand value. There is a reason why all main Assassin's Creed games are based on realism and they only experiment with different art styles in smaller games. Look at Blizzard games - you recognize them through out the different IPs they. You know when you see a Naughty Dog game. Most fans probably don't want Call of Duty to become stylzed either.

This is something you should worry about when you hire your own team, not something an employee has to concern himself with. If you want to work for a company that switches styles then look for it and apply there and tailor your portfolio to them. But keep in mind that most projects go on over years, so if you are easily bored working in the same style, you might be forced to go freelancing to be able to switch more often.


The typical advice is - pick a company and tailor your portfolio to them - most of the times there will be others who have a similar style and might be interested in you as well. The reason for this logic is that you will hardly be able to master both realism and stylized as a beginner and that is the shortest way to get to a level that is employable. Later on you can branch out, just keep in mind that your portfolio also represents your eye for quality and therefore you will always be judged on your weakest piece.

kmyung

@Biomag It's simply an opinion I hold as a consumer? Don't agree thoughts need to be erased from my mind.
As I said I understand why companies do it and it makes sense why they do it, but I myself am not a huge fan. 

Going to have to disagree that all Blizzard games look alike. Diablo 2 is nowhere near the visual aesthetic of World of Warcraft. And then you've got the Lost Vikings... It's just in more recent times that they found high success with their stylized games (mainly off of WoW) that they decided to stick to that aesthetic to the rest of their games in one way or another.

Same goes for Naughty Dog (Crash Bandicoot/Jak/Uncharted)- you're just sampling their latest titles.
It's also not like employees are mindless drones? People, games and companies are ever-evolving things throughout the process, and I think the more differing ideas you have the better the end result. You get to test what works, and what doesn't.

Thank you- I do think I will most likely stick with the more realism characters as I find a little bit more joy off of seeing those completed.

Biomag

Looking at games from over a decade ago instead of the more recent trends isn't really going to give you an impression of what companies are looking for when it comes to hiring right now. The industry changed and got a lot bigger. Companies and their stakeholders  getting more risk averse because of the huge costs each game comes with. As a consumer my opinion differs a lot from my view point as someone who works in the industry. These two things are not really related. My wishes as a player don't effect in any way my approach to my career.

Being a mindless drone isn't the same as understanding the reality of projects. In a team of several hundred people your opinion gets lost in the bureaucracy that comes with this size. Especially talking about something as huge as a style change. Your job as a junior character artist will most probably have no impact on the style of the game. The things you will have to deal with and where your creativity and knowledge and different opinions will matter are most likely in a completely different area. That's why I am saying that you should focus on the things that you will have to be thinking about and not about the mindset of the industry.