Job description clarification

mneivandt

Hello, 

I'm  confused and would really like some clarification.

When looking for what criteria and skill set is needed when looking at job description in the game industry I see many having a point of a "Foundation In Traditional Art" or "Art fundamentals Required".

Do a google search on this and google is confused as much as I am.

I have some ideas of what this means concerning games; Composition, lighting, colour theory, form, silhouette that sought of thing.

However when really thinking about it "Art fundamentals" would mean different things to different disciplines. So for example,  a character artists would understand one of the major fundamentals would be anatomy. A concept artist would agree that perspective would be a fundamental skill but a character artist wouldn't need to worry about it so much.

As most of you pros would understand by reading the above I'm very new and have no idea lol. 

So, this what I'm asking. For an environment artist position, what would the employer mean by giving the point of "Foundation in traditional Art".

I feel so ignorant and also embarrassed by asking this but I really must know. So I know what to focus on to improve.

Thanks in advance.  

sharsein

A lack of fundamentals will show in the quality of your work. You might know Maya and Zbrush inside and out, but if you're a character artist who doesn't understand perspective, you won't understand how your photo reference is impacted by lens distortions and imperfect camera angles, and that's going to make it hard/impossible to nail down likeness. If you don't know how to create a good composition that tells a story, create interesting shapes, and use lighting/color effectively, your environments are going to be boring even if you're using perfect megascans assets. 

mneivandt

Okay so it seems I just over complicated things. The "traditional "art fundamentals...okay I think I get it....are the key building blocks of what your creating. As  mentioned earlier is pretty much correct. However different subjects whether environment, character or concept etc, have different fundamentals associated with them e.g, gesture and anatomy for character/concept artists. I tend to over think things a lot. 

Eric Chadwick

No that's ok. In practice, all the various fundamentals will impact most any art discipline.

That's why they're called fundamental. The foundation you build upon, and continually refer back to (and keep learning about, it never really ends!)

These resources might help you
http://wiki.polycount.com/wiki/Concept_Fundamentals

mneivandt

Eric Chadwick said:

No that's ok. In practice, all the various fundamentals will impact most any art discipline.

That's why they're called fundamental. The foundation you build upon, and continually refer back to (and keep learning about, it never really ends!)

These resources might help you
http://wiki.polycount.com/wiki/Concept_Fundamentals

That resource will help immensely. It never occurred either to check the wiki on Polycount. Two lessons learned today Thanks for clearing things up for me Eric, much appreciated.