3D Artist looking to Specialize, but HOW and WHERE?
Hi there y'all!
I guess this kind of posts have been talked over and over, andsorry for that, but here I go again:
So I've been working as 3D Artist now for almost 3 years now (including an internship), although the work experience has been in a couple indie-ish small studios. You know, like where you do lots of different stuff and cover several aspects of the production. I've been mostly using 3ds Max/Maya, Substance Suite, Adobe Suite, Zbrush, Unity and UE mostly.
The thing is that lately I wanted to start getting into some bigger studios to keep learning and growing while getting better, and I found myself in a point that I felt I wasn't good enough for the level they need. I made it through some interviews but in the end never passed any art test.
So after some time of reflection, I decided I should recycle myself and start trying to specialize and focusing on one particular area to get THICC and STRONK on that, pushing my portfolio to get those Junior / Mid opportunities in bigger studios.
Aaaand here's when 2 facts come into play. The first is that I feel I'm getting "old" and also feel I'm getting late to this train of pushing my portfolio and getting into studying to reach those Junior / Mid roles (i'm 28 years right now).
The second question that I make myself is what should I specialize into, Character or Environment art? I know the first one is extremely competitive and less looked after, while the other may offer more flexibility as a professional. Being honest with myself, I came to conclude that I really love both disciplines, but maybe Character Art is 50.1% and Environment is 49.9%. So I'm currently focusing hardcore on anatomy in Zbrush, to see if I can bring believable characters to the table, then I would consider going for Character Art.
The last thing then is, when the time comes, I would enroll a program to git gud. I'm considering CGMA or Think Tank for this, although I'm not sure which one would be better. I guess it depends on the instructors. Any advice on this? I'd appreciate any recommendations you could give about these two. Heard really good stuff from both of them.
I'd really appreciate some perspective on all these things, as I'm starting to get lost and messy.
Oh, so you can have a better idea of the point I'm in right now:
www.artstation.com/eddzero
Sorry for taking it too long and thank you in advance.
Cheers!
PS: I've been following PolyCount since I started getting into 3D when I was 20, and since then been really grateful for the help and resources I've found here! Thx community 
Replies
Character vs Environments, only you can answer that. The only insight I can offer is think about the whole picture of what is required to do that job of the various tasks. Characters is more straight forward as it's self contained focused work. Environments can vary so much, focusing on small and large things at the same time. Which one can you imagine doing as a 'job' and the other as a hobby at home?