Environment Artist portfolio critique

kadeschui · Mar 2013

Hey all!

I recently got my portfolio up and would love any (be harsh:)) criticism!

can be found at

thanks a million!

- kade

djoexe · Mar 2013

Your corridor scene is interesting,nice choice of design but this is way to desaturatted. I can understand that you wanted to achieve this kind of look maybe, but this is way to (generic) if I can say so. There is nothing appealing. Maybe adjusting your tone and add a tad bit of color would help defining the scene. Also adding some lens flare for your lights could be cool aswell. There is also no kind of story telling in your corridor piece. I know this can be a pain in the ass in that kind of environment but think about it.

As for the outdoor scene....Well, remove this from your portfolio ASAP. Do not put unfinished stuff there, perhaps if you want to show your progress, go for a blog instead.

And as for your sculpting stuff, remove everything except your character, they're cool, but you should improve your presentation way better if your target is only to show a great sculpts.

Thats pretty much what I can say. Overall you should also make your main portfolio page more interesting...because right now its black and ugly, i'm not appeal by it and its not good for you because people will leave in a matter of seconds.

Wanted it rough...you got it rough, but like me, you know this is for the better of it. Keep up the good work and show us what you really got.

DWalker · Mar 2013

The corridor does seem rather monochromatic. Even the video display is just white, when they are almost always used to provide color and lighting to a scene. Try reducing the overall lighting, and make the small lights provide isolated pools of light. Keep in mind that artificial lights are rarely white - fluorescent lights tend to have a bluish tinge, incandescents tend to be more yellow, low-power sodium lights have a distinct orange color. Try the scene with different (yet realistic) colors and see which mood matches your intention.

In the sample above, notice both the color of light and the distinct bright/dark zones - enough light to move about, but no more.

The large red pipes seem very low-poly for their size - at a guess I'd say they have the same number of sides as the smaller pipes.

Consider adding clutter or particle effects (steam, sparks, and dripping water are all popular choices). Even though this is only a set piece, imagine it as part of a game, and think about why the player is in the tunnel. You could even do a before/after thing, showing both the normal initial state and the state after the *event*, whatever you decide that even should be.

Many of the items from the sculpts entry are parts of the tunnel and thus could be moved into the tunnel page. I'd rename "Sculpts" to "Character" and just keep the character sculpt, possibly with some additional images.

The plesiosaur needs some work, especially the head. A more natural swimming pose would probably work better than the current Loch Ness monster pose.

I'd move the text for each entry onto the button images themselves - it will give you greater control and you can produce a much more appealing look.

You should have navigation buttons for each portfolio page - most artists copy the main banner and buttons onto each page. I'd advise looking at other portfolios to see how others present their art.

Please have a web-friendly resume page - pdf files are fine for downloading, but native html renders more reliably without the downsides of Acrobat.

RogelioD · Mar 2013

Everything that was stated above, plus in my opinion that DoF is crazy right now. There is no real gradient into blurry...thing just kinda get blurry all at once, unrealistically.

Keep making props and environments and keep pushing forward. It will be a long strange and sometimes frustrating journey...but it's worth it.

Good luck, and if you have any questions- this is a great community to voice them.

Jeff Parrott · Mar 2013

Take down your drawings and sculpts. Get a blog for that stuff.

Everything is narrow. This is HD baby! Widen up that page.

Add a color (some kind) to your website. Like your corridor piece it is monochromatic.

Make an environment that is finished or at least has colored lighting.

You honestly might do best doing a few smaller props working your way up to a full scene. Make a little awesome instead of a lot of blah.

kadeschui · Mar 2013

Thanks for the responses guys! This is exactly the criticism I needed.

Djoexe - I think I went overboard with the desaturation! Didn't even consider story elements either...this will really add some life to the scene. I'll remove the images too as the others suggested as well below. I'll give the main page some lovin' and make the site overall more visually appealing.

DWalker - Thanks for the images! That corridor lighting is what I wanted to achieve but lacked a good reference. Definitely willl revisit this and make things les uniformly lit. I'l pllay with the light color and effects and tie them in to the story elements suggested by Djoexe. Love the "event" suggestion. I think this'll be a good way to get some additional images out of this peice, too. Also thanks for the site advice.

Rogelio - Spot on with the DoF comment. I'll give this another look. Certainly taking your advice on the props suggestion; I think that's a good direction for me after this piece.

Jeff - Thanks for the pointers! As I mentioned to Rogelio, I think individual props are a good suggestion for my next few pieces

Thanks again for taking the time guys your responses are hugely helpful!

- kade

Environment Artist portfolio critique

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