Tester 2 Artist?
polycounter lvl 8
Hey dudes!
Just wanted to ask a quick question to those of you that are already 'there'. (or anyone really I guess)
So, I'm tester currently working at Lionhead, and although it's good fun, I basically see this job as a stepping stone to an artist role - especially since I'm in the rare position of being able to literally go upstairs and ask one of the guys off the bat, rather than take part in the horrible e-mail/phone dance that the majority of us have been through!
The question that I want to ask you you guys is this:
How would you actually approach one of the artists or recruiters to ask about this? and to those of you actually in an artist position, how would you like to be approached by a wannabe artist? (if at all :P)
I have some of my work online (My actual site's off-line for some reason, though I still have my blog), http://obrien-art-blog.blogspot.com/
to be honest, I don't feel as though I'm good enough to work as an artist here, but I'd be an idiot if I didn't try, so any advice would be lovely!
Just wanted to ask a quick question to those of you that are already 'there'. (or anyone really I guess)
So, I'm tester currently working at Lionhead, and although it's good fun, I basically see this job as a stepping stone to an artist role - especially since I'm in the rare position of being able to literally go upstairs and ask one of the guys off the bat, rather than take part in the horrible e-mail/phone dance that the majority of us have been through!
The question that I want to ask you you guys is this:
How would you actually approach one of the artists or recruiters to ask about this? and to those of you actually in an artist position, how would you like to be approached by a wannabe artist? (if at all :P)
I have some of my work online (My actual site's off-line for some reason, though I still have my blog), http://obrien-art-blog.blogspot.com/
to be honest, I don't feel as though I'm good enough to work as an artist here, but I'd be an idiot if I didn't try, so any advice would be lovely!
Replies
It's a bit of a hard slog from QA into the rest of dev, but it definitely happens. You have a leg up on all the rest of the applicants who are outside looking in, simply because you have access. You still have to show your chops of course, being inside is only a foot in the door, so to speak.
Keep talking it up with the artists, ask quickie workflow questions. Don't get too much in their face, they have work to do just like anyone else. But some casual banter is a good thing, develop a rapport.
Also I'd recommend approaching the Art Director or Lead Artist, the one who hires new artists. Get on their radar. It's always preferrable to hire from within, it's more of a known quantity.
Talk to Artists, get friendly enough that they know your name. Talk to a Lead in whatever dept you want to go into (env, char, anim, fx, etc.) and tell them what you'd like to do. Show them some of your work and ask them what they'd want to see in you before they'd hire you to position X. If you're not all fanboi or crazy over the top, they should be pretty cool about helping you up.
Good luck!
lol, nice.
Thanks for all of your advice guys, a lot of good points for me to take in here
Just wanted to say I'm living proof it can happen as I was in a similar situation. Granted I had some advantages in that they knew from my CV I was an artist and I had Uni friends working there as artists so my transition was much easier.
I did put my head down and worked hard as a tester and I was fortunate that some tasks involved talking to the art manager and producers. So I was able to 'prove myself' to them and showed them that I had the right attitude, wasn't scared to chase up issues, be able to communicate and work well with others.