Portfolio critique request

Dante_mL · May 2015

Greetings everyone,

I've just graduated and I was wondering if anyone here could give me some tips on improving my portfolio.
I am for generalist, but currently advertise myself as a asset artist.

Website

Doyen · May 2015

The bar scene is almost all the same tone, a darker or lighter floor might help it all pop a little better, throwing a few decals around the scene would make it more interesting too.

tahakitan · May 2015

you're better of specializing in something than being a generalist. most people are looking for a master in a certain area, not a jack of all trades which sadly

Doyen is right about the scene but it does look nice. It could just be pushed a bit with lighting and decals.

for your weapons, some of them need more dirt/muck/scratchs/something something to give it more character. They are way to clean but they are good models.

Shrike · May 2015

Website looks decent but careful with those fonts
you use this very thin classy font then add some Bebas for your subpage labels and your headliner has another font again in a different style. Decide for one, and remove that one writing your name on in your headliner

about the work, the 2 highpoly shots look very well made and easily the best in your portfolio
the presentation is not super inspired but the modeling looks good and knowing vray pays off
However, do not label the category as "cinematic quality" or such, its the viewers to decide of which quality it is, it sounds wrong

Now your lowpoly of your Sig on the other hand, the bake seems alright, the edges from the highpoly are not translating too well into the normal and your textures look like you spend 15 minutes in Substance Painter and then ditched it. Learning texturing properly is very important so spend majority of your time working on that , your modeling is fine, just make sure to make edges a bit softer for baking normals.

Scrap the 2D and sculpting session. 2D devalues your site and sculpting is not worth anything if its not impressive or replicating a reference closely. If id just seen your 2 highpolies id value your skills a lot higher, people judge you on your worst work

Your game environment lacks good lighting, AO ? and generally does not have many things of interest. The Walls , which are 80% of the scene are also very easily made with just using a tiling texture, thats not impressive. Vertex painting and decals would improve that a lot, and try going with a good composition using a reference or replicating that composition
I think you could now either go and make single props or simple compositions of highest possible quality, or take the hard road and try yourself with full environments and composition and learn that, but going with singluar hero props and making great textures for them would probably the best

hope that helps

Dante_mL · Jun 2015

Thank you for the tips. They are very useful.

I'll probably have to remake the environment because it's my long term personal project (not just related to environment for the sake of environment), so I'll remove it for now.

@Shrike Thank you, that got me thinking more practical, I'll definitely use some of the advice. Though I did want to ask about what choices should I make if I want to have the portfolio somewhat as a project blog also? And should I just call the first section "High poly work", or something else?

Shrike · Jun 2015

High Poly Work is fine id say
as a project blog ? or just a blog ? put in your portfolio only your best what your employer should see , and in a different blog what you want to show your friends , not sure what you want to do

You could also cut categories and simply display your best pieces instead, 4-6 should suffice anyways if quality is good

tac0m · Jun 2015

I have to disagree with tahakitan. If your goal is to work at a large company. You should become a specialist (which has it's ups and downs). If you want to work at a medium/small studio (which generally has less political BS surrounding the studio) you would want to be a generalist. They can't afford to hire everyone as a specialist. It's generally a good idea to have one or two very strong skills, and have SOME experience elsewhere.

This will allow you to apply to the large companies who need specialists, but also appeal to smaller studios that need good artists with multiple skills. It really depends where you want to take your career.

Portfolio critique request

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