Thinking of switching to environment art
polycounter lvl 8
I'm having a bit of a dilemma here and it would awesome if I could get your input here. I've been focusing on character art for the past two years, but I'm wondering if I should change direction for environment art. A little over a year ago, I spoke with an art director at GDC and he was telling me about the limited amount of open positions available, the amount people competing for those positions, and that I should pursue environment art instead. Since I preferred to do character models, I did not take his advice and pursued character art anyway. After countlessly viewing others' portfolios and viewing several threads here at Polycount, I can see that the art director was not exaggerating about the competition. It seems as though 80% of the people here are character artists. Many of which are highly talented.
Although I prefer character art, I would not be opposed to doing environment art. As I view it, environment art is just as important as character art. Besides, half the reason why I play most video games is to escape the real world and engulf myself in a beautiful landscape. There are some video games where my entire motivation for playing was to experience the environment art and not much else(Vanishing of Ethan Carter, Alice Madness Returns, and Xenoblade come to my mind). The dilemma that I have here is that it feels like if I do switch to environment art, I'm essentially pulling a 180 of what I've been trying to achieve for the past couple of years. I felt like I've learned so much to just give up character art. On the other hand, being an environment artist sounds pretty sweet too and if it is easier to land a job as an environment artist (not saying environment art is any easier workwise) than a character artist, I might consider that direction. I've always had a passion for video games and breaking into the industry as a 3d artist in general would be awesome.
I would like here your opinion on this matter. I'm pretty sure this is a dilemma many people here face, but I couldn't quite find many threads about this issue. Is breaking into the industry as a character artist nearly impossible? Should I continue to improve my character modelling skills or should I save the future heartache, turn around the other direction, and pursue environment art instead? If I do decide to pursue environment art, I have a few questions and concerns in this matter. What does the workflow like? I took exactly one environment art class in college, but I'm not exactly familiar with the workflow. What is generally expected in an environment art portfolio? My biggest concern is the scope of each project. Environment art looks very daunting. Borrowing some concept art and recreating the environment in 3d looks like it'd take hundreds upon hundreds of hundreds of hours to do (depends on the concept of course). If you can also give examples of brilliant environment art portfolios, I'd greatly appreciate it!
Although I prefer character art, I would not be opposed to doing environment art. As I view it, environment art is just as important as character art. Besides, half the reason why I play most video games is to escape the real world and engulf myself in a beautiful landscape. There are some video games where my entire motivation for playing was to experience the environment art and not much else(Vanishing of Ethan Carter, Alice Madness Returns, and Xenoblade come to my mind). The dilemma that I have here is that it feels like if I do switch to environment art, I'm essentially pulling a 180 of what I've been trying to achieve for the past couple of years. I felt like I've learned so much to just give up character art. On the other hand, being an environment artist sounds pretty sweet too and if it is easier to land a job as an environment artist (not saying environment art is any easier workwise) than a character artist, I might consider that direction. I've always had a passion for video games and breaking into the industry as a 3d artist in general would be awesome.
I would like here your opinion on this matter. I'm pretty sure this is a dilemma many people here face, but I couldn't quite find many threads about this issue. Is breaking into the industry as a character artist nearly impossible? Should I continue to improve my character modelling skills or should I save the future heartache, turn around the other direction, and pursue environment art instead? If I do decide to pursue environment art, I have a few questions and concerns in this matter. What does the workflow like? I took exactly one environment art class in college, but I'm not exactly familiar with the workflow. What is generally expected in an environment art portfolio? My biggest concern is the scope of each project. Environment art looks very daunting. Borrowing some concept art and recreating the environment in 3d looks like it'd take hundreds upon hundreds of hundreds of hours to do (depends on the concept of course). If you can also give examples of brilliant environment art portfolios, I'd greatly appreciate it!
Replies
There does seem to be more characters posted on here than Environment work, but it just means you'll have to work harder than the next guy.
"The only thing on my mind was whether I could... I didn't stop to think if I should." or something.
If you want it, then work for it. If you don't, well, whatever then.
It's definitely hard competing, though, because everyone else who is half decent will do the exact same thing. And half will probably work harder than you.
I think this is what you should as yourself - do you enjoy making environment art? What do you want to get out of your job? It's a wide area. There is architecture, study of plant life, arrangement of objects to create sets and scenes and even lighting to consider. Some challenges will be familiar, while others will be entirely new. I have to say I enjoyed switching from characters to environments.
You can chase what you love while also taking on work that pays the bills. Working in an environment art job might just be that right now, and that's okay. By working for a studio/freelance in enviros, you can build up a reputation and general skills that will improve your character art anyways. Then, in your free time, keep practicing characters. Grab some Udemy courses or Gumroad tutorials and really push yourself to get to the next level!
Basically, you don't have to just pick one or the other. Enviro can be a road to better things and bigger dreams as long as you don't forget them. Good luck!
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All that said I still want to make character art for games too and Ive been in the industry for 6 years and I dont make characters. For the most part I create environments, vehicles and vfx and Im really happy, maybe I would be happier making characters, I dont know but I get paid well enough and its great experience. So personally I dont feel its a complete 180 and youve wasted too much time if you get into stuff rather than characters.