Semi-stylized portfolio with some tech art in it needs honest review

DeianSM

Hi everyone!

It's the first time for me posting in these forums but I've been reading them for quite a while now. 
I've spent the last 6 months working on this portfolio :
https://www.artstation.com/deiansm
and I would love some honest feedback from you guys!
I'm going to try my luck and see if I can get hired in some video game studio (AAA or not doesn't actually matter to me) and this is the portfolio that I'm going with!

I tried to show that I'm comfortable working with both stylized and more realistic approaches althogh I've heard from multiple places that generally it is better to focus on only one style and then apply to those companies fitting that particular style. Maybe mine was not the best choice but I really had fun doing all the pieces and I would love to work on similar stuff.

Another thing I tried to showcase are some procedural materials (substance designer), procedural generation tools (Blender's geometry nodes system) and also shaders (UE node-based, love working with these). All of the above from my understanding are tech art related things that I think could add value to my work altough I don't really hope to be hired as a Tech Artist without previous experience in the industry.

Generally I think the portfolio is pretty decent but the truth is that I don't know anyone in the industry that could give me some useful feedback and from where I come from (North-Eastern Italy) there aren't really any valid video-game studios.

Thank you very much for your time guys!

jStins

Hey, you have some nice work there. I love the Illustrated 3D house! The stylized river fantasy environment is also lovely. The stylized PBR material studies are nice as well, but it'd be great to see them applied in context in a simple environment. The other pieces, I'm not so sure... 

K'n-yan's minion is fun, but lacks the strong foundation of structure and anatomy to really work as a standalone piece. There's also a bit of a style discrepancy between the exaggerated, simplified shapes and the detailed PBR shading. The procedural aspect is cool, but to me that really only shines when you can show how all that setup can be used to then create a lot of variants efficiently. (Something that comes across much better in the river fantasy environment!)

The Med-kit and ax both kinda fall into this uncanny valley between realism and stylized for me. The edge wear on the med-kit is so uniform that it almost feels like an intentional outline effect, but I don't think it was intentional? The geometry also lacks a level of mechanical and construction detail to push it to believable / realistic. 

The ax just feels inconsistent. Stylization is often about degrees of simplification and exaggeration. The shapes on the head of the ax are very simplified and exaggerated, but then comparatively muted on the handle. If you look at the concept there are some dents an dings in the chain on the back that should definitely be in a the normal map, if not modeled into the geo/silhouette. Wraps on the handle should have more volume and curves in their silhouette. Stuff like that...  

I think you're good to apply with what you have, but I'd remove the minion, med-kit and ax. Fewer pieces yes, but a better overall impression of the quality bar you're able to hit. 

If I were, to guess, I'd guess you enjoy stylized work quite a bit more than realism so lean into that!

tgm79

I really liked your stylized environment pieces, that is definitely your strong side. If I was a studio lead and needed a stylized environment artist I would definitely consider you. Focus on that. The med kit and the axe, while well made, are not very inspiring. As for the minion, it is kinda mediocre, in a sense that it's between looking real and fake. Overall I think you are very good! Keep going!

DeianSM

Hey guys! First of all, thank you so much for the feedback you gave me! I've decided to listen to you and removed all the more realistic works from the portfolio. Since it seemed a bit lacking after removing them, I decided to add a model of an airplane that I've wanted to make for a while and also took the opportunity to experiment with volumetric clouds. Finally I decided to completely remove the section containing the materials created in Substance Designer and slightly adapt them to create a stylized spooky environment. Anyway, I believe this will be the final portfolio that I'll use from now on to try to get hired  
I hope you like it! (As usual any feedback is greatly appreciated!)
https://deiansm.artstation.com/

Alex_J

Maybe put the gifs as first item? To me they are the most attention grabbing. The extra technical work you've done makes the art much more impressive and the gifs show that off immediately without having to do an extra click.

DeianSM

Alex_J said:

Maybe put the gifs as first item? To me they are the most attention grabbing. The extra technical work you've done makes the art much more impressive and the gifs show that off immediately without having to do an extra click.

Do you mean that I should slide at the bottom all the techincal stuff like shaders and geometry nodes and keep the gifs above? Or do you talk about the youtube video at the start which requires a click to be played? I dont like the need of that extra click too but i just cant upload a good cinematic video on artstation without the paid subscription  

Alex_J

@DeianSM

that's correct. Rather than a "must click to play" video first, have the gif which basically shows same thing but autoplays first.

Your art is a lot more than just a static image, all the technical work you've done is best showcased being in motion. It's a major difference compared to static screenshot IMO. But video requires that major commitment of clicking a mouse button one time .

Besides that I think it's all great art, shows good taste and some technical skills, it's clear you have great passion for the craft. If somebody doesn't want to hire you I think they are doing themselves a disservice. Of course you want to go to the right team which can utilize your skills of course.

Fabi_G

Hey! 
I like it overall, but I think you can push it further visually. Since the end result matters/will be judged, not how it was produced, I would prioritise aesthetics over tech. A good way to switch the roles, in my opinion, is to do overpaints now and then as if it was someone else's work (could be shown as thinking/iteration process). At some point, it might be also good to work destructive and make conscious edits by hand.

Based on your latest scene, here are some points that could be improved, imo:

• Balance contrast, focus on readability. Use masks to blend or modulate surfaces, add highlights in some areas and reduce contrast in others (roof and cobblestones have high contrast).
• Less straight and repetitive, more crooked, more varied. Look for style reference (Tim Burton movies?)
• Different scale for variation, put in detail modules to break up large areas.
• Ground models, use grouping
• Ensure that details are consistent (cobweb lines finer than anything else). Cobweb outside seems a bit weird imo.
• Then there is also narrative, composition and lighting. Currently looks like regular day? Maybe that was intention? Can increase depth by using overlapping elements of foreground, midground, bg, ....

Here is an overpaint:


Much success!