Portfolio Feedback

knightfallows

Hi people,
First of all I hope I've posted this in the right part of polycount.
I'm feeling confident enough with my work right now to start applying for game art jobs where I am in the UK, specifically environment or prop art.

Was just looking to see if some people could give some feedback on my artstation portfolio:

https://aknightfallows.artstation.com/projects



I've got another two projects in the works, one is small diorama the other is a sculpting piece as well as more university work, specifically some materials I created in Designer.

Thanks in advance.

BagelHero

Hey, I looked into a few of your threads and you're making great progress overall. A few points so far that stand out when your work is lined up like this;

I don't think it's worth the initial appearance of having more projects, when two of them are, well... rectangles. The alarm clock and air conditioner aren't super great in terms of material definition, and they're... just fine as props. They're not bad props but I really think they should either be a part of a scene with more props, or they're not really worth including on your folio as single projects.

Additionally, looking at your portfolio right now I get the overall impression you're afraid to make things glossy. A lot of your materials are suffering and seem quite flat due to the lack of reflections and lighting information. Stands out a lot both in the scene AND as materials. You want that contrast between light-catching glossy areas and diffuse rough areas, or everything just looks kind of washed out. Your metals kind of leave something to be desired too, could be the same issue. It's very noticable on the alarm clock, since the concept kind of works directly as a paintover for the areas you haven't defined well enough; metal and glass isn't reflective or glossy enough, rubber isn't rough enough.

And a quick callout on your rdr scene specifically-- looking nice so far. A few things stood out;

• For your snow, the mat seems like it might be missing some nuance. Check out this breakdown/example, think what you're going for is slightly different but the required elements should be the same: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/J2wBz

• Your glass is kinda suffering throughout the scene with the gloss problem I mentioned. IDK if its more of a technical issue with lack of reflections, or the map itself not being as glossy as it needs, but you're only really getting the look of it even existing on really sharp angles. Looking at some RDR2 prop work on artstation, my brain expects a level of reflection and contrast more like this on, say, your lamp (from rdr2):
  
  Your material graph work for the grunge in your thread, for example, seems cool but it's a bit like the base definition isn't there for it.

Sorry for the kind of specific crits, overall I'd say you're definitely getting close. It's nice to see a portfolio that has some focus, you definitely look like a prop/environment artist and you seem like you have the right priorities and a good work ethic. Looking forward to seeing more from you.

knightfallows

Hey that's great feedback, mate. Thank you. Definitely agree with a lot of the points you've made.

Ashervisalis

I would like to see a few complex meshes and a few more styles. Something sub-d, with nice curves and pieces connecting and stuff.

knightfallows

I think you and the person before you are hitting the nail on the head. in regards to what I have. Looking at what I have it is a lot of boxy shapes and I would benefit from  getting more complexity in my prop work. Going to keep that in mind with what I am working on now.