Small three piece portfolio review for an environment artist
Hello,
I'm currently building my portfolio in the hopes of landing a job as an environment artist for video games. I've been learning how to create props for a while but am now transitioning to creating environments since it's what I ultimately enjoy the most and I have a lot of time on my hands to learn everything as of recently. I've only been learning environment art / UE5 for a couple months, but have scrambled together a quick project to show off what I've made so far. I get the impression that the work I've done is still lacking in quantity and quality, but I figured since I have three projects finished that I'm proud of, one of which being an environment piece, that I'd start to apply for jobs today. No reason not to, right?
This is my portfolio:
https://www.artstation.com/ethanrichards01
For my next project I'm looking towards dedicating a lot of time to complete a full environment scene that showcases organic sculpting, foliage creation, along with props and buildings with a focus on composition, lighting, and a range of different material surfaces. What would you like to see that would shape my portfolio together into something more impressive? What do you like? Dislike? Do you think there's a shot in hell that I'd be able to get hired with what I have? How does my portfolio compare to others looking for their first 3D job?
Thanks for the help ☺️
Also, my mom says that I should replace my ArtStation banner to reflect my environment art instead of my prop art, but I think it just looks so good. What do you think?
Replies
Something I heard from a professional working for Marvel Games attending a webinar was "never take advice from family" and he put it like this, advice from family is never a bad thing however your family wants to be as supportive as possible and that's great, but if they aren't in the field themselves, look for as many opinions as possible.
I also heard from a Career Development Manager at an online school I attended and when I showed her my portfolio, she told me straight up, "I see why you aren't getting hired". My work was in quantity and not focused on quality enough, I thought if I displayed that I was doing the work and displayed insight into my workflow (with Blender mostly). But she opened my eyes and mentioned that I need to keep practicing with personal projects but not spit them out in quantity. But push them as far as I could with tutorials online and maybe other resources.
I think the Artstation banner should be a reflection of what your goal is, if your goal is to become an environment artist, display your best most recent work & keep updating, otherwise I would find a tool that can canvas multiple images into the right resolution & display your best work .
Keep pushing, this is a hard field to enter but the rewards are great!
I think you probably do just need a good superstar environment art piece. At present there isn't really anything on your portfolio that indicates a capacity for environment art. The diorama is well presented and a good start, but it is, in essence, a technical showcase of something that is basically canonical in environment art (world-space blending). You haven't developed anything new nor have you demonstrated application of the technique as part of a larger piece of work, so it doesn't really warrant the place of importance it currently holds in your portfolio.
Your gun models indicate attention to detail and presentation, and generally you demonstrate a capacity for reflection that I think is really important. Your materials are essentially monotone. I know that kind of smooth, untextured (as in, shallow tactile detail) look is in vogue right now for weapons but it would be worth doing something a bit more technically complex to show your skills.
Find that magnum opus project. Tailor it artistically to what you're passionate about, and technically to the kind of job you want. I tend to go into all my pieces with at least those 2 goals pinned down - The emotional idea I want to communicate, and the technical skill I want to learn.
If it helps at all, for reference the state of my own Artstation is what landed me my first (and current) role.
I agree with these two. Also, @rexo12 i love the train and telescope :)
I didn't see that this thread got any replies until just now, thank you to all who shared your thoughts! :)