Erik Amezcua - Game Art Portfolio

erik!

Update below!

OHSNAP. Finally posting my portfolio! I'll be graduating from The Art Institute of CA - Orange County in the next couple of weeks (kinda freaking out). Ultimately I'd like to be a character artist, but I really like making environment assets as well. I'd appreciate it if you'd take a look at my stuff and let me know what you think. Enjoy!

http://erikamezcua.com/

Sage

I liked your character work more than the environment. The second image on both your characters is a waste of time, get rid of it. Also I would consolidate your wire and textures into the same page as the character they belong to.

For the environment and props I think it's either a bump map or normal map, it set too high, and I think the lighting in the since is a bit harsh.

Nice work though.

gauss

we're looking at this portfolio at work and we think this is a pretty damn good place for you to be, just about to graduate. i've seen far less to show from people who should know better or have been working at it longer.

first off i agree with sage--ditch the second image for both characters. they're strong characters and overall you're presenting your portfolio very well, but these second images don't demonstrate anything, and really just re-present elements obvious from the first images but in a less readable manner.


i think your emphasis on character art is good since it's a stronger point than the enviro work--which is by no means lacking, but could still use some strengthening.

above all my main crit for presenting both your characters is the lack of nuanced color in your diffuse maps. the geo is solid, they read well and are obviously what they are, but both characters could use a lot more interesting use of color to move the eye around the character more and just make them more interesting overall.

i'm at work right now but in a couple of hours i'll post a quick paintover of what i mean about color usage--i'd use a little extra time, if you've got it, to rework the diffuse textures for your characters, and then i think you'll have a vastly more attractive portfolio because of it.

gauss

as promised:



as stated, i think your characters are strong, but the texturing/coloration as well as presentation aren't doing as many favors as they could be. i posted the respective inspirations for my recoloring/somewhat relighting, and i think it shows how much further you could be taking the character pieces with more nuanced color choices.

BradMyers82

I like what you have especially with that older guy in armor. Personally, I think its your best work and should be put on top. One thing I noticed is that there are no poly counts. It would be nice to have some clear stats on your work. Also, some of your images open new pages, and others don't. I actually closed out the web page once by accident which I am sure you don't want potential employers to do. So just make them all consistent. I think with some minor adjustments you will be doing really well with that portfolio.

SuPa-

that hog monster is a sexy beast
And yeah, go with gauss' paint over, it gives them more character and "feel"

BradMyers82

Gauss, that looks awsome by the way.

Em.

Nice paintover Gauss!

The characters are great, do what Gauss did in the paintovers and take that advice to the next stuff you do and it will take it from good to awesome in no time.

erik!

Wow! Thanks gauss that's just what I needed. And thanks to everyone else who's responded I really appreciate it. I'll be sure to implement all of the suggestions as best I can. Thanks again.

Firecracker197

I'll let the pros tell you want you need to improve about the content of your portfolio, but I can say that after looking through several portfolios myself, I would like to comment on the layout and design of your website. To me it seems very basic, like your only designing a site for the sake of posting your work, but I think you should hold the design of your site to a higher standard than that, because I think it can really leave an impression on people viewing your portfolio. I would find a more interesting font that doesnt look so..."default", and just spend more time in general on the layout and design. Also Id like there to be a way where I can go from one image to the next, so I can scroll through and look at all the images, instead of going back and forth clicking on thumbnails. Or atleast have your images open in a separate tab/window. I know we may not be designers here, but It couldnt hurt to try right!

erik!

BUMP!

So I did another pass over the textures for my dudes. They're not exactly like Gauss's bitchin' paint-overs, but they're better I think. I also ditched those close up shots on my website. Enjoy!

Ged

the conquistador dude looks good! the piggy looks a bit red all over and also gritty all over, maybe more subtle colour variations(wheres the purples and blues and light pink?) and some soft smooth felshy areas.

edwardE

Nice work - I like the conquistador as well; best wishes finding your way into the industry!

Michael Knubben

I think what keeps your piggy from looking like Gauss' paintover isn't just one single map, it'd probably require some tweaking of all maps. For those leather straps across his belly with the golden buckles, for instance: Gauss really pushed up the contrast in reflectivity between those two. The straps hardly have any spec except for a few splotches in the middle, as well as on the sides (which would be more polished), but the gold buckle shines a lot, in contrast. He also introduced some more darks to the diffuse, which you should definately try (I love what he did on the hood!, the darks around the eyes and in the cracks really helps sell the piece enormously), again on multiple maps. Paint some grime into the diffuse, but also make sure the specmap works with the diffuse in pulling off the look. The blacks on the paintover suggest a dirty, worn down leather, which wouldn't reflect nearly as much as the red parts. It might be nice if you made those dark bits near-black in the spec, with some noise to give it texture (I personally really like putting texture in the spec that's not on the diffuse, for things like --for instance-- dried up liquids etc, or just things that don't need a normalmap-equivalent)

Sorry for the long post, but (and Gauss just made this all the more clear) your stuff has a lot of potential. It's good now, but it has the potential of being Wicked-sick, or possibly Totally-flipping-awesome, take your pick.

kymbyli

I would say that you should choose which direction you want to go, environments or characters as it can put off some people that might be looking at recruiting you. If you are going in to gaming chances are that you won't be doing both as each avenue needs dedicated teams and you need to let people know where you want to be.

I don't mean to be harsh but in terms of work experience, I don't think its revelvant to put that you have worked during uni. By all means keep them on you CV but it not worth the space on your website and as it was put by some one from Team 17 'I don't care if you are good with money cos you won't be handling money in gaming'. Same applies to you. I would only up revelvant experience. OR reword them as in -

Office Assistant
Ernie’s Transmission Shop Merced, CA June 2005 – July 2005
1 Set-up daily customer appointments
2 Sustained and updated business transaction records
3 Operated and maintained office computers

I would explain these in terms of transferrable skills, ie, 'good communucation', 'takes good direction' and 'organised'. Sell yourself more.

Michael Knubben

If both character-work and environment-work is good, I don't agree you should get rid of either. People would know where you want to be because the email is titled "RE: environment artist position enquiry", not because you have an absolute lack of characters in your portfolio.

erik!

School's out! On with the hunt! Job hunt, that is. Put a couple turn-arounds of the piggly wiggly and conquistador on my site.
Finished this too:


Enjoy!

JasonLavoie

Man Erik, simple scene but it looks really good.

Biggest issue I have right now is the top of the well, it looks really blurry (could be because of the angle) but its not adding - but taking away from the overall quality. Any chance you can move the camera upwards a bit so we still see everything, but with more of the roof in the shot.

Also, the blue paint is a nice touch, and I checked on the other picture on your portfolio of the closeup, but I don't know why its blue? Was someone trying to paint it blue... and why blue? I would think a rusty red or something would make more sense.

Anyways, your work is great man, and I wish you the best of luck with job searching