Direction & Advise Request

Cluly

This is a request for advise and direction in regards of where to go with a career. I'm pushing 30 now, my son is growing up fast and the desire I've had for making and working on games hasn't gone away since I was a 7 year old playing Bubble Bobble on the Commodore 64. in fact, this desire is getting stronger and I can't fight it any longer.

I've taught my self part time over the past 10 years a variety of applications and I have (what I consider) some "average" artistic skills (I'll provide a deviantart ink at the bottom.) For the past 3 months I've smashed through a ton of Blender training, mainly focusing on modelling and texturing. For example; I can concept up, model, texture and get a next-gen prop into UDK without trouble, I understand the processes and limitations, excluding animation.

But now I have these skills I'm having real trouble focusing them onto something and what direction to take. I've dabbled with most aspects of art production (environment, character and vehicle design.) The feeling I have is I'm just a Jack-of-all, but a master of none.

I would really like to become a texture artist, but the impression I get from the industry now is that one discipline isn't enough. I really am lost and could do with some input from the community as to a direction to take. Is there an aspect to art production that the industry is calling out for? Should I just focus on texturing work? Is anyone else in similar position?

Here's a deviantart link for anyone intrested in looking at: http:cluly.deviantart.com/

Honest, brutal opinions are more than welcome and any advise would be greatly appreciated.

Scott - A lost gamer!

Bad Spleen

Environment artists as a specialty are more rare than character artists. Just take a look at the number character entries into BRAWL there are, compared to the number of stage entries.

You are more likely to find work as an environment artist, and speaking to recruiters, they say that environment artists are under represented in the profession.

And your art is good considering you are self taught, though I would concentrate on producing some "real world" work. So as to show that you can do it, as well as put your hand to fictional works.

Drav

You can work solely as a texture artist in props and environments, but youre not likely to initially get a job with only those skills I think. You are also never going to get a job as a character texturer, they are nearly always done start to finish by one guy, although maybe other people know differently.

I certainly see more enviro art jobs than character art, and really, unless you a very good 2d artist as well, you´ll struggle next to the hundreds of character artists who are. With environment art I think 2d skills are more of a bonus rather than a requirement at the mo. (Thank God!)

If I were you Id start making a scene or two in UDK and see how you get on. Best way is to treat it like a job, so get a concept, do a rough blockout, make a prop list then nail em out. Theres a lot of threads on here that will give you an efficient approach. Scenes are great for a portfolio, which ofc you will need.

Cluly

Thank you both. I do like environment art a lot better than character art when I think about it. One thing that always pulls me into games is an atmosphere given by the environments (Silent Hill, Unreal Tournament 99, Tenchu, Arkham Asylum and the first Metal Gear Solid are some of my favs.)

My skill set with textures and working within Photoshop is probably my strongest point and would work in my favour with environment art. It would also save me a ton of time not studying huge amounts of anatomy. Although a basic understanding is probably a good thing considering environments are usually populated by anatomical creatures/people.

low odor

"I can concept up, model, texture and get a next-gen prop into UDK without trouble"

where is this ^ work...only thing in your deviant art page is an unfinished sculpt and a bunch of 2d stuff

Cluly

low odor wrote: »

"I can concept up, model, texture and get a next-gen prop into UDK without trouble"

where is this ^ work...only thing in your deviant art page is an unfinished sculpt and a bunch of 2d stuff

While its hardly exciting, here's a modular floor tile I was playing with. Diffuse, Normal and spec maps, screenshot from UDK.



And the droid concept as a low poly, still working on the texture atm:

Firebert

coming from a father and husband, if you really want to do this, you need your family behind you because it will absorb all of your free time (if you want to succeed).
the rule of thumb i follow is something along the lines of what Vitaliy mentioned in a previous article for a gameartisans comp....

"Not only is technology constantly advancing but all the artists out there that work in the industry are working 8 hours a day every workday and everyone is constantly getting better, and you have to try and keep up with that."

It is a labor of love. If you love it, then you put in the hours on your portfolio and make it happen. It isn't easy, and there have been times where I have told myself that I will never make it, but I keep coming back over and over and over because I know that this is what I love to do. If you love what you do and you always want to improve your skills, the hours you put into it simply disappear.

Based off the work in your portfolio, I would say you need to put in more of your free time if this is really what you want to do.

Age doesn't matter, skill does. Ultimately, you need to be your own critic here. Honestly sit down and judge your work and compare that to the amount of time you have seriously been trying to improve, and make a decision based off your own harsh criticism. Can you improve in timely fashion that would make you a competitive artist to potential employers?

The sacrifice you make to improve your skills may be too high a cost to your personal life, BUT, it is about finding the right balance between personal time and family time.

It will still take A LOT of time and A LOT of hard work. Also has a lot to do with your location. I've lost many opportunities because I live in NC, and well, it's NC. Nobody's hiring noobs, and the bar is higher than the Himalayas.

Cluly

Thanks for the reply Fire, luckily time and support is something I have at my disposal currently. I think I could catch up and keep up with industry if its a focused area (I've been looking into environment art since the first reply and it is something I feel I could do really well, with hard work.) As for critic on work I'm pretty harsh and always look at the bad in my designs, only since touching on 3d in the past few months have I really started to come up with work I'm more happy about and enjoy a lot.

Jeremy Lindstrom

Where do you live? Are you prepared to move for the jobs every couple years? You say you have a kid, are you aware the average lifespan of a game artist is about 5 years. If you are in a hotbed of game companies in your area and you are hotstuff, you maybe golden.. but if you are wanting to put down roots in a town that doesn't have tons of game companies it maybe harder.

<--I moved to Dallas at 36 for my first/last game job, many of the companies closed shop here after I moved.. I won't move for new jobs, I set down roots here with family. Not many new opportunities here and I decided to go back to IT and do art in my spare time. Was sick of not getting paid what I'm worth (the way I see it) and how artists were treated in the industry. Didn't like the cattle mentality.

crazyfingers

Something i've been seriously thinking about getting into is the unity store to make a little cash on the side. Unity is a game engine that supports a wide variety of games of all production levels that would help you grow as an artist while making a bit of cash and helping pave the future of gaming at the same time. Check it out!

Best of luck dude, I'm pushin' 30 myself and have a kid growing up too fast too. I know the feeling but fuck all if you let anything get in the way of your dreams! Keep on truckin' and working hard and something's bound to give.

Cluly

@Jeremy

I'm lucky in a way, I live in the North-East of England. There's a few developers around here, Rockstar, Team 17, Ubisoft, CCP & Eutechnyx (I think I've missed one.) Last year I got an interview with Blizzard in Ireland, just a GM position, and we were prepared to move there. I sold my car and took 3 planes in one for the first time (I was terrified lol.) But the older my kid gets the less willing I am to move. It's really some sort of Indy development I was aiming for. And yeah the cattle like mentality is a worry, I've had the same experience in Graphic Design with a couple of companies that come and go.

@Crazyfingers

I didn't realise the Unity store had that option, I'll look into that I think. I've had some success with stock libraries like Fotolia, so it could be worth checking out. Thanks.

chrismaddox3d

You could alwasy try freelance work, if you dont wanna move around,
My self i use to do 3d art for many years,
I lost my job then took a break in a differnt direction,
Started a ecommernce company and working on getting a tshirt company going,
Right now im going back to work on 2d skills as i run this company,
I never lost my love for art and making things,
As i go back and study color theory and 2d art, i realize how much it
would had helped me make better textures,
Honestly i am enjoying 2d art right now learning many things,
Wanna maybe do some concepet enviroment art if i have the time,
But if you want a job in this industry you need to log the hours,
Nothing comes easy in life,
I have 15 month old daughter my self,
So i know where you are coming from, not wanting to move around,

pior

Aaaand ... work on your traditional skills. No matter how far tech goes, it can only go more complex - drawing/paintintg skills are the best tools to have in order to know how to cut corners, work efficiently, and so on.