I need an advice in the beginning of my career

runolite

Greetings! I know most of you guys doing 3D here, but I don't know where else to ask this question.

I need some advice and a fresh look on my skills. 

I've been studying architecture at university and doing digital painting as hobby in free time but a year before I got my Master's diploma (I graduated a month ago) I understood that I don't want to pursue an architecture career. So now I want to get into game industry but I really unsure about what should I do with my portfolio, is my skill enough, or should I practice more (I'm not speaking about breaking right into AAA obviously, just some beginner job to pay my bills and get some experience). So basically I have a portfolio (mostly focused on environments) and I don't know what to do with it. I don't know is it good and I can apply for some jobs, or bad and I should work on it more (and if so, what should be my area of focus, what should I work on to improve)?  Where to seek for jobs (I live in Australia and afaik there are not many game art jobs here, so I'm thinking of freelance)? Is doing environment(background, etc) artworks enough or should I do all sorts of stuff including characters, creatures, etc. to be employable? I've been thinking of becoming some background artist, or environment concept artist, or doing some illustrations for card games but I'm not sure is my portfolio fits any of these positions.

I know some of there questions might sound dumb, but I was doing illustrations only for myself and never participated in art communities ( so I really don't know what the situation in this field is about. 
Here are some of my works. I will be very appreciated for your advises and thoughts about what should I do with my life.

Alex_J

Fantastic art! Have you applied for any jobs? I'd sure as hell hire you if I needed a concept artist. I like the way you have a mix between that bold comic book style and realism.

Somebody else can probably give you real advice, I just wanted to compliment your work.

Goat Justice

Concept art isn't my specialization, but I can offer some basic breaking in advice. 

- Look up a handful of game studios career pages and read over any postings for concept artists. Hopefully  you can pick out some common themes in the sort of work that's in demand. Even if you don't apply for a studio job, that sort of work is likely also in demand from freelancers. 

- Look up portfolios of working concept artists. if you can find examples of professional work you'll get an idea of what's typical. Portfolios also give an idea of what these people are showing to potential employers to get hired. 

-My guess is that you'll need to do more than just environment mood shots, but I don't know for sure. Even if its not necessary, like you said it opens more opportunities for different types of work. Some other types of concepts I've encountered are:

• Characters/Creatures
• Callouts of props (shown from multiple angles and used by modelers as reference)
• Callouts of vehicles/weapons (often indicating how various parts move)
• Armor/Clothing sets (usually at least a front and back view)

Wish I could offer some critique on the work itself, but it's outside my wheelhouse. I will say, though, that I really like your use of color and the variety of palettes in the pieces you posted.