Feedback Portfolio - Need Guidance

Kumataro

Hi!

I would like to ask for your honest feedback on my portfolio.

My goal is to have a portfolio at least to be able to apply for a junior position somewhere. I already tried even for no experience required positions and got ghosted.

I know my portfolio is weak at the moment but I need some words of wisdom to where I should steer the ship and what skills I should master. I would like to know if it reflects the things that I'm doing right and red flags that might drive recruiters away.

A little background of my career: I've enrolled in a 2 year "master course" in an awful institute where they couldn't keep a single teacher more than a few months, making this a 3 year course to "compensate" for the lack of structure. Because of that I feel my foundation is not strong, plus the rapid evolution of workflows and basically all I learned during those years are almost obsolete. I tried for a couple more years to keep myself afloat with online courses, videos and endless tutorials but doesn't feel I'm getting anything solid

I transitioned my basic knowledge from 3dsmax to Blender which feels like a good choice for a low budget artist. I also use Zbrush for detailed-heavy sculpting, although I don't know if I should just keep sculpting there overall instead of Blender, I normally don't bother when is something organic and small.
Recently I discovered Quixel for texturing, I feel I should try to master it instead of using Adobe Substance Painter "free versions" *wink wink* because of the impossibility of connecting to their library of materials and such.

I love modelling, sculpting, retopology, basically I like all the process of making whatever concept art I get on my hands ready for a game engine or 3D printing, I don't mind if they are characters, props or scenes. If I had to define myself with a title, it would be 3D artist? 3D modeller? I don't know which one is the correct one with my profile and skills.

Thank you so much for your time and feedback 💙

https://www.artstation.com/alex_aylagas

OssennaAsterisk

Hi Alex,

I would start by asking what role it is you would ideally be looking to go into. from what i can tell you are interested in 3d game art and 3d modelling for 3d printing? these two are very different, so i would recommend tailoring your portfolio for one of those whilst you are looking for your first job in the industry, be as focused and specific as possible. As a character artist in games, i'll give advice based on what i know.

I can already tell you have a good ability to sculpt. I especially like Torchic, Paw Patrol and Gargoyle, these projects have really solid forms and silhouettes. I would recommend following a games industry workflow for your projects, and only showing fully textured and finished pieces in your portfolio.

A typical games industry work flow is: zbrush sculpt > retopologise and UV unwrap (topogun, maya etc) > bake (substance painter , marmoset) > texture in substance painter > render in UE5 or marmoset. if you want to get into games art, this is a really important workflow to follow.

I see you sculpt in blender a lot and get good results, but to be more prepared for industry i would move all sculpting to zbrush. you can continue using blender for any other parts you like though.

When rendering shots for your portfolio, i would recommend using a 3 point lighting set up in your chosen renderer. I usually use UE5. a well composed, still beauty shot of your model with a nice lighting set up will look more appealing than a video showing the model rotating. when it comes to rendering dont rush it- this part can really make or break a piece.

I know it is a lot and overwhelming at first, but keep doing what you're doing and just introduce these steps into future projects when you feel ready. There is lots of potential in your portfolio and no reason why you cant get the role you want if you keep going for it! More than happy to help if you have any questions

Sasha

scottycharly

1) Don't focus on charatcer.  There is two reasons for that: Charatcer artist is not an entry level position. Character will be judge more harshly as the bar is higher. Instead focus on props by producing some very nice and realistic game ready assets. 

2) Learn Painter. You already have some decent modeling skills but your lacking texturing skills. You should improve your painter skills as it is the industry standard. The software is expensiv but you can get it on Steam for a one time fee instead of the monthly price asked by Adobe, plus it will probably be some kind of sale in the upcomming holyday season. 

3) Reduce the quantity, improve the quality. You need one very nice piece to get noticed. I know some artists the were hire with one piece on artstation, but it was high quality and professional looking. You don't need more.

Good luck with all that!

Alemja

Agree with some of the above points. I would like to add focus on character if it's what you're interested in, but understand that Junior positions are very uncommon, especially with recent layoffs. The best time for Juniors was during the pandemic hiring spree and things have changes a lot since then. You will need to be at least mid-level in quality for most positions, and that is honestly if you're lucky, it's best to see what senior people are doing. I would find an artist who's work resonates with you and see the quality that they have, try to match it on your future work.

+1 you must learn Painter, connection to the material library is not required, you can make plenty of your own materials, I don't use it that much tbh. Quixel has fallen out of favor and while I'm sure it has the odd usage here and there, Substance is the defacto industry standard.

I see you have an understanding of polyflow, but the optimization could greatly be improved. Many areas are too dense for the simplistic shapes that you have.

If you want to work in games you have to show your low poly models, and your UV/textures. A lot of your work looks light high poly sculpts or statues, fine if you want to make figures or 3D prints but absolutely not fly if you want to make games. Game art is ultimately a merging of art meeting technical requirements and limitations, you have to show that you know how to do all parts of the process and that you're efficient with your models and textures.

I hope this is helpful and I wish you the best of luck!

Kumataro

Thank you so much for the feedback!
After reading your advices I'm super pumped and motivated, I see a road ahead and all I need to improve. 💙

Honestly, answering the question of what is my goal I would say I want to work for a game studio, if possible for someone like Larian or one that produces high fantasy games. I'm a big DnD, Pathfinder and Final Fantasy player.

So for that I'll do some research to find those actual artists, study their work and at the same time work on my topology optimization, textures, renders and deliver quality over quantity.

Thank you so much ^^

coolguyslims

Something small that I've heard people talk about in other projects is that you shouldn't include a game's title card in your thumbnail or the name of the game in your post's title unless those assets were made for that production. Your post titled 'Laundromat Props - Overwatch 2' comes off that you produced those assets for that game, rather than as fan art. It also includes the title card of the game in the thumbnail. It's misleading and undermines the people who can post their professional work earnestly.

If you changed the title to 'Laundromat Props - Overwatch 2 Fan Art' and added the text 'Fan Art' to the thumbnail (or removed the Overwatch 2 title card all together) it would be a little more honest.