Junior Character Artist

Judy

Hello guys, I need help...

Over the past four months, I've encountered quite a challenge in my pursuit of opportunities as a Junior Character Artist. I've only had two interviews during this time frame, and while one company did offer me an art test, after completing it, I didn't receive a definitive response and was ultimately turned down. Could anyone provide me with advice on enhancing my job search strategy or how to effectively tackle art tests in these selection processes? I'd truly appreciate any guidance at this point.

Thanks!

Alemja

Hey Judy!

First thing to get out of the way is if you show your portfolio it can give us a better idea to tailor stuff specifically to you.

The next thing is to be kind to yourself as there are things that might not be in your control that are affecting your application. The state of the industry right now is pretty rough, so many layoffs in 2023 with possibly more to come. Games got a huge boost during the pandemic and now we're in a post-lockdown crash where people just aren't playing games as much as they used to. It was a great time for junior level people the couple of years before 2023 because budgets we're going up... However that has all changed now. It's going to be a lot harder to get in than it was. Don't let this discourage you, part of applying is a numbers game, especially when you aren't as established yet. Apply to every position you that fit the role you want, keep track of them in a spreadsheet or something like that so you can easily follow up on things. One of the good things that has stayed from the pandemic is a lot of places still offer remote, and that means more options. I've seen some people be a little more reluctant to have Juniors be remote because of the support they might need, but it's really a case-by-case and you won't know until you apply.
Another thing to keep in mind is that this is a slower time of year due to holidays and yearly budgets usually not being formed. Hiring generally starts to pick up more as we get a few months into the year, so keep your eyes open!

Judy

Hi! 

Thank you very much for your words. I feel somewhat more at ease. I am on the lookout for any job notices, but I get rejected by every company I apply to. I have no intention of giving up, but it is frustrating. I guess it happens to many juniors. Thanks again. Regarding my portfolio, I will try to edit my post, but I'll leave it here anyway: https://www.artstation.com/judyarts .

Thanks again.

neilberard

This is just my personal opinion and I don't do character art anymore. I think your Saori model is pretty strong and if you were to have two other pieces at that level it would help quite a bit with your job prospects. As @Alemja mentioned, the job market is tough right now, but should pick up in a few months. With Coconut crab girl, I'm not a fan with how the human part was executed. I think it's worth revisiting the anatomy of the torso arms and face as well as texture quality. I would also ditch Vampire Lucy and Dragon. Good luck with your job hunt!

idli

Have you tried nDreams? They are an amazing studio, make sure you write your incentive when applying, I worked with them in the past they have given mne first opporunity and they really invest in their people! Perhaps you get some luck with them- keep it up!

Alemja

Hey sorry for taking so long, here are my thoughts on your portfolio:

• I like your Coconut Crab girl piece, it is a very cool and interesting concept but I agree on the anatomy of the humanoid part maybe needing little bit more of a touch up.
• I would like to see the texture sheets and wires for this piece
• Your Saroi piece is pretty good, however what stands out to me is the very high number of polygons and texture sheets used for the character. This is ok if you're interested in anything that uses high res models, however for games there needs to be an understanding for working with limitations. I'm willing to give it more of a pass because of the amount of detail you're trying to capture with the realism.
• However I don't think I can say as much of the same for the Vampire Lucy piece, which I believe is the weakest of what you have. You captured the shapes very well here, and if you told me it was your try at a low poly handpainted model I would believe you.
• However that is not what is here, the budget is very high and there a large number of texture sheets, which I don't think work as well here. You aren't seeing as much of a gain in silhouette or in texture quality. You could probably make her with 20K triangles and a single 4K texture sheet (or lower for both) and get the same results
• The Wyvern: your best piece, a lot of love was put into this one and it's a lot of fun to look at. My only critique would be to show your wires and texures if you have them. Completely fine if it's just a sculpt, however be sure to keep in mind as an artist with little or no professional experience, we want to see that you know every part of the process, so you have to show that work. Having a few sculpts is totally fine, just be careful and make sure that is not your entire portfolio if you want to be in games.

I hope this helps!

NikhilR

Judy said:

Hi! 

Thank you very much for your words. I feel somewhat more at ease. I am on the lookout for any job notices, but I get rejected by every company I apply to. I have no intention of giving up, but it is frustrating. I guess it happens to many juniors. Thanks again. Regarding my portfolio, I will try to edit my post, but I'll leave it here anyway: https://www.artstation.com/judyarts .

Thanks again.

I would advice contacting artists that currently work at the companies where you have been rejected starting with the companies where you received interviews and art tests.
They would be able to provide the most relevant feedback specific to the studio's needs.
 There are several reasons why the hiring process falls through which very often has nothing to do with your portfolio and while I don't share the same perspective of many others here about how much a portfolio is scruitinized there are some key issues that I would advise about.

The Saori model isn't matching the concept in every respect, unless this is your intent, I did notice many differences between the concept art and your model when it came to details and the rendering doesn't match,

 actually wait, is the concept a 3D model? 

Ah concept is in 3D... this makes things more complicated since you have a direct 3D art to 3D art comparison. 
Is there a link to the demonstration for that model? 
If your intention was to match the instructors work, I believe it would be best to reach out to them for feedback on this piece.
Personally I would never choose to replicate 3D art, unless I'm clear if I intend to match or or make an interpretation of it.
It is much harder to get away with a interpretation based on 3D art especially the quality bar set by YCF CG's model.

Does your saori model use hair cards, or is it xgen rendered?
I've only seen his demos on youtube, his final renders seem to be heavily post processed.
If you are considering the game industry, I would advise using a real time renderer.

 I don't think you should set aside Vampire Lucy its a good piece that should appeal to studios that do stylized and cartoon work.

The Tropical Frilled Wyvern is a good piece and certainly looks better now that it is painted. 
It is a sculpt though so can't really assess it for game readiness, though that can become more apparent with your other pieces.

I think your crab girl is your best piece and best matches its concept art. Its also the most creative and has a lot more personality.

 While I understand that the order of your pieces is by date, I would suggest placing them in this order,
#1 crab girl 
#2 dragon 
#3 Vampire Lucy character 
#4 Saori - I still think that choosing to make this character considering it was referenced from a 3D model that sets the standard for what is possible creates complications though I would ask for more feedback on this aspect.

I do see a 5th model in your cover image, I would showcase that as a WIP also.

I see you are located in Barcelona, Spain, so it might help to attend local networking events to more directly market what you current have in your portfolio. 

Alemja

Oh, I didn't notice that the Saori character was based off an existing 3D model, and an equally high-res one at that. Yeah that now puts it lower in my book because we have a direct comparison to pull from, the flaws are more apparent. I don't often see people remaking other 3D models, and my initial gut feeling is that it's not a great thing to do unless it's something like game fanart where you're up-rezing or down-rezing a character.

Judy

neilberard said:

This is just my personal opinion and I don't do character art anymore. I think your Saori model is pretty strong and if you were to have two other pieces at that level it would help quite a bit with your job prospects. As @Alemja mentioned, the job market is tough right now, but should pick up in a few months. With Coconut crab girl, I'm not a fan with how the human part was executed. I think it's worth revisiting the anatomy of the torso arms and face as well as texture quality. I would also ditch Vampire Lucy and Dragon. Good luck with your job hunt!

Hello! Now that you mention it, it's true that the anatomical part is not correct. It was a model I created for my 3D course, and I no longer have any documents for it. However, I could look for a way to fix it. Regarding the comments about removing images from my portfolio, I understand the idea, but at the moment, I can't leave my portfolio empty. However, I appreciate your honesty, and I will consider removing artworks that are not beneficial for me in the future. Thank you.

Judy

idli said:

Have you tried nDreams? They are an amazing studio, make sure you write your incentive when applying, I worked with them in the past they have given mne first opporunity and they really invest in their people! Perhaps you get some luck with them- keep it up!

Oh, thank you! I'll take note! Although I haven't searched for it on the internet yet, I am from Spain and I don't know if now is a good time to hire junior remote workers. Unfortunately, it doesn't sound appealing to companies. Thanks anyway, I'll give it a try, and thanks for your words.

Judy

Alemja said:

Hey sorry for taking so long, here are my thoughts on your portfolio:

• I like your Coconut Crab girl piece, it is a very cool and interesting concept but I agree on the anatomy of the humanoid part maybe needing little bit more of a touch up.
• I would like to see the texture sheets and wires for this piece
• Your Saroi piece is pretty good, however what stands out to me is the very high number of polygons and texture sheets used for the character. This is ok if you're interested in anything that uses high res models, however for games there needs to be an understanding for working with limitations. I'm willing to give it more of a pass because of the amount of detail you're trying to capture with the realism.
• However I don't think I can say as much of the same for the Vampire Lucy piece, which I believe is the weakest of what you have. You captured the shapes very well here, and if you told me it was your try at a low poly handpainted model I would believe you.
• However that is not what is here, the budget is very high and there a large number of texture sheets, which I don't think work as well here. You aren't seeing as much of a gain in silhouette or in texture quality. You could probably make her with 20K triangles and a single 4K texture sheet (or lower for both) and get the same results
• The Wyvern: your best piece, a lot of love was put into this one and it's a lot of fun to look at. My only critique would be to show your wires and texures if you have them. Completely fine if it's just a sculpt, however be sure to keep in mind as an artist with little or no professional experience, we want to see that you know every part of the process, so you have to show that work. Having a few sculpts is totally fine, just be careful and make sure that is not your entire portfolio if you want to be in games.

I hope this helps!

Hii, don't worry about the delay in your response.
Regarding the comments about my Coconut Crab models, it was a piece created during my master's course, and I haven't improved it since then. It's true that the human part needs some refinement to make it more believable, perhaps I'll work on it in the future. Saori was a complete challenge. I downloaded an online course, paying for it, where an Asian man provided a tutorial on creating a 3D character. After my master's, I didn't feel 100% prepared or equipped with the necessary knowledge. At that time, I valued animation for films more than video games.

I have always been indecisive until a few months ago when I was advised to have a clear focus to create a more concise portfolio about what I want to do and where I want to work. Nevertheless, I kept some models, despite being for 3D animation, to show that I can model in 3D. I fear that the portfolio might remain empty while I create models for video games, and I might miss job opportunities just because it looks empty.

The Wyvern is the first piece I did without assistance. Initially, I created a low-poly mesh, but I realized I couldn't see the details I needed for rendering, so I increased the subdivisions. Consequently, it stopped being suitable for video games. Now my goal is to create models exclusively for video games, and all I need is a tutorial or video explaining a workflow to know how to organize myself. It's worth mentioning that my master's is more focused on sculpture and 3D animation than video games, perhaps why I have a mix of knowledge and so many doubts about the procedures for video games.

Thank you for the comments and advice; I truly appreciate it since I don't have a close group of people who can advise me professionally. And excuse my English; it's not my native language, and I used a translator at some point.

Judy

NikhilR said:

I would advice contacting artists that currently work at the companies where you have been rejected starting with the companies where you received interviews and art tests.
They would be able to provide the most relevant feedback specific to the studio's needs.
 There are several reasons why the hiring process falls through which very often has nothing to do with your portfolio and while I don't share the same perspective of many others here about how much a portfolio is scruitinized there are some key issues that I would advise about.

The Saori model isn't matching the concept in every respect, unless this is your intent, I did notice many differences between the concept art and your model when it came to details and the rendering doesn't match,

 actually wait, is the concept a 3D model? 

Ah concept is in 3D... this makes things more complicated since you have a direct 3D art to 3D art comparison. 
Is there a link to the demonstration for that model? 
If your intention was to match the instructors work, I believe it would be best to reach out to them for feedback on this piece.
Personally I would never choose to replicate 3D art, unless I'm clear if I intend to match or or make an interpretation of it.
It is much harder to get away with a interpretation based on 3D art especially the quality bar set by YCF CG's model.

Does your saori model use hair cards, or is it xgen rendered?
I've only seen his demos on youtube, his final renders seem to be heavily post processed.
If you are considering the game industry, I would advise using a real time renderer.

 I don't think you should set aside Vampire Lucy its a good piece that should appeal to studios that do stylized and cartoon work.

The Tropical Frilled Wyvern is a good piece and certainly looks better now that it is painted. 
It is a sculpt though so can't really assess it for game readiness, though that can become more apparent with your other pieces.

I think your crab girl is your best piece and best matches its concept art. Its also the most creative and has a lot more personality.

 While I understand that the order of your pieces is by date, I would suggest placing them in this order,
#1 crab girl 
#2 dragon 
#3 Vampire Lucy character 
#4 Saori - I still think that choosing to make this character considering it was referenced from a 3D model that sets the standard for what is possible creates complications though I would ask for more feedback on this aspect.

I do see a 5th model in your cover image, I would showcase that as a WIP also.

I see you are located in Barcelona, Spain, so it might help to attend local networking events to more directly market what you current have in your portfolio. 

Judy said:

Hi! 

Thank you very much for your words. I feel somewhat more at ease. I am on the lookout for any job notices, but I get rejected by every company I apply to. I have no intention of giving up, but it is frustrating. I guess it happens to many juniors. Thanks again. Regarding my portfolio, I will try to edit my post, but I'll leave it here anyway: https://www.artstation.com/judyarts .

Thanks again.

Hello! Yes, that's a good idea to contact artists from the companies that rejected me to get more concise or detailed information about what led to my rejection or what I should improve. Although I'm not sure if they will be willing to provide those details; they might see it as competition.

Yes, Saori was a 3D model before, and it doesn't really resemble the original model. I followed a paid tutorial from an Asian tutorial company that taught me how to model a 3D character and use XGen. At that time, I wasn't very clear about what I wanted to do in my life, whether 3D for animation or for video games. It has always been confusing. I started with animation, and now in my mind, there's only room for video games. Perhaps I got frustrated seeing fewer opportunities in the film industry, and there seem to be more in video games, even though it's also challenging to find work.

I tried to find the link to give credits, but I only found the official YCF CG page on ArtStation; I never found the original 3D model. Maybe it was uploaded recently, but back then, I couldn't find it. By the way, for Saori, I used XGen, as it's a sculpting process more closely related to cinema than to video games.

Regarding Vampire Lucy, it's true that it's not for video games and doesn't have excellent quality. All my models were created during my Master's course, and the only one done without assistance is the Dragon. That's probably why many of them lack a lot of professionalism. After all, I was just starting, and I only have one model done entirely by myself. The companies that interviewed me noticed Vampire Lucy for its stylized style, so I'm afraid to remove it from my portfolio as I've seen some positive reactions to its presence.

As for the Tropical Wyvern, as I mentioned before, it's the first 3D piece I created on my own. During coloring and baking, I lost a lot of quality, so I had to increase the subdivisions, and it stopped being low-poly for video games. My current goal is to improve my portfolio by creating models exclusively for video games and finding a good workflow to avoid losing track each time I model and to prevent these quality issues during baking.

Thank you for the model ranking; it's a good order, and I'll consider it for my portfolio. Yes, there's a knight I made, but I'm not proud of it, so I only showed what interested me about it on the cover of ArtStation. I made it during the Master's, and it's ready for video games, but I had a problem with the computer and couldn't recover the documents to edit it. So, the only way to showcase it attractively was in this manner. However, I'm currently creating a 'fighter' model, and I intend for it to replace my previous disaster. Thanks for the comments and your honest opinion; I'll take note and get to work!