Lead Artist having issues with a Junior Artist

Noth · Feb 2019

Hey guys, I'm working at a smaller studio without many other senior artists to talk to. I've been brought on to mentor some juniors, and build the team up, but I'm having problems with one artist specifically. They don't take my feedback, try to go over my head for validation on their work, and are just generally a pain in the ass. I'm trying to focus on big picture things, and they're bogging me down in things that don't really even matter. I'm just trying to keep them busy while I lay out some ground work for the future production. I'm at the point where I'm wondering if I'm making the proper call. The issue is in regards to a specific prop. It's a pretty basic item. They've sculpted it, and it doesn't meet the expectations. I'll share the reference I provided, and the result.

Reference provided. Guidelines were loose, sculpt me something like these. Which might be part of the problem? but I feel like they should be able to come up with something at least sculpted well, even if it doesn't look like either of these.

Result.

I'll outline my thoughts on why it's bad, I would really appreciate some feedback on my feedback.

The sculpt in general is lumpy, and undefined. The definition on the planes of the faces is something that is key to the Easter Island / Tiki head type artwork. This sculpt is all over the place in that regard. The lips for instance, are too complicated and undefined. We're using this as a retopology guideline. We're not making normal maps from it, but we will bake AO for a diffuse only approach. Art style wise it's a bit too feminine? It's missing a similar charm that the reference has than can come through in the shape designs for different facial features.

After writing this, I'm thinking that my expectations are too high, and that I need to give this person a direct goal to aim for instead of asking them to design in zbrush.

Any thoughts? Thanks!

-edited my poo comment for posterity.

Jonas Ronnegard · Feb 2019

Rather then it being bad it seems like the artist is putting in their own style into the sculpt, I had a similar problem before someone corrected me in the beginning of my career.

Not sure if it's a good idea to put up the actual images here though, this being a public forum and all.

Zeist · Feb 2019

I feel like you need to ask yourself if this is wise to post this so publicly. Your co-workers could possibly see this and become a greater issue in your work environment. Plus you really sound like an ass saying stuff like ".. it looks like poo in my humble opinion" - irregardless of whether it's true or not.

Getting bogged down by Juniors is usually true regardless of the industry, sounds like you're just inexperienced in that sort of role, remember to chill and be patient, give it time and you'll figure it out, just keep examining your actions that you're not creating more problems then solving.

It sounds like he doesn't respect you so you need to find a way to address this, maybe actually speak to him about it but third party mediation probably the way to go. Who are they going to for validation? it would be worth speaking to them and asking them to either re-direct him to you or back you up in regards to your given feedback. Had to manipulate people in the past by getting someone else to relay my words as their own, sometimes it's just the messenger not the message unfortunately.

Feels like loose guidelines and a total lack of supervision lead to the result. You should probably examine what was the amount of time and the process he had to go through for the assignment. Where were the milestones where you could review work and give feedback? Was it a reasonable schedule? Did he have time to experiment with different concepts, did he study features of the references (like symmetry, harsh planes). Guidelines like - large planar shapes - rather then defined details, no facial expressions/attitude, symmetrical or asymmetrical design possibly would've helped him realize something closer to what you wanted. Often you really do have to spell everything out, even if to you it's common sense.

His ability and workflow is something that you need to measure to find where his strengths and weaknesses are so you can assign him appropriate work, If 3d concepting isn't what he was hired to do then it's unfair to expect a quality design with loose guidelines.

Sounds like this is the right time to be addressing his shortfalls before your future production takes off in earnest - Is there a way you can have him undergo further training?

Personally the lack of references kind of bother me, it wasn't until I googled Easter island heads that features like their symmetry popped out at me.

Your feedback isn't necessarily wrong, but you need to address how to fix the issues. "lumpy and undefined" explain where in the workflow stages this could be fixed, e.g. the usual stay lower res for longer crit, "art style too feminine" state that stronger planar forms and maybe a wider less puckered mouth will fix the femininity. Probably also best to state it ("feminine?") as a fact rather then a question otherwise people are more likely to just brush it off rather then address it as a serious crit.

Presume you're going to be working with him long into the future, you need to figure out an appropriate way of dealing with him - this really isn't.

But also remember to cover your own ass, If problems persist - talk to your boss. Sometimes they can be unaware of the responsibilities you've taken on, as it really sucks to be told your performance is unacceptable because you spend half your time babysitting. Seen it happen a few times.

Neox · Feb 2019

totally agree with the above replies, just wanna give my 2 cents as well.

I see three issues here.

A. artist doing their own thing, and not what you want in terms of style
- this could be either to the artist not being used to design (that is totally okay for a production artist imho)
or you have to teach them what you want to see

B. Bad habits in sculpting/modelling.
Like for instance the use of clay polish to get a "clean" result.
- this is stuff you have to teach them

C. There doesnt seem to be a workflow standard at hand
- this is stuff, that you as a lead have to define

All these are managable and it's totally okay to tell the artist to start over.

In general I think this is more of modelling than a sculpting task. If the artist is fit enough to a nice and clean, okay. usually they can't and nobody ever taught them how to model. In schools they do the "fun stuff"... sculpting in zbrush. But if you want a clean result, nothing beats a simple basemesh. I mean doing these few planes in modelling takes like what? 30 Minutes tops?
That sad, i think you need to establish a proper workflow and don't let the artists do whatever the they want.

Blockout > Basemesh > Detailling > Lowpoly/UVs > Baking > Texturing

They have to follow this process, a blockout is quick to be done, especially in this case. Converting the blockout to a sculptable mesh is super easy in this example. If that is set and approved they can start detailling.
If the detailling is not up to your standard, define the standard. You need documentation and rules to follow. The narrower and more defined, the closer it will be to what you expect. If it isn't start over until they follow your ruleset.

Alex_J · Feb 2019

Patience, patience, patience. Don't let anybody have more patience than you. In the latter years of my army experience, I got this feeling that a lot of newbies coming in have a certain chip on the shoulder regarding "authority." Just by default, if you are in charge they want to work against you. WHat I found works the best is to communicate either directly or indirectly that you care about them. That you need them. Basically, they have started a fight and you have to defuse it, not try to dominate them. WIth this method I was able to get some particularly dense young soldiers to respond without having to go to extremes of punishment.

just to reinforce what neox said about the method of block modeling versus scullpting, this is something I was just facing yesterday. My task was to make a ruby like this :

and my first instinct was go to zbrush, dynamesh and use polish hard to flatten out the diamond shape cuts. After like twenty minutes I had lukewarm doodoo. So I realized how dumb the approach was, went back to maya, pulled a few verts on a sphere to make the basic volume and then made it live, used quad draw to make what you see below. Took maybe ten minutes total and it fits the bill perfectly. This may be a better approach to the easter island heads because really they are just a few hard planes.

Image: https://i.gyazo.com/c1d5ce36b1bd87a9576d6f70772b2c69.png

You probably need to spend more time working very closely with this individual and try to find out a new way to communicate that gets them to respond.

So maybe just sitting down next to the problem child and walking through the workflow step by step is what they need. Just don't talk down to them, frame the whole issue as that you have failed in communicating clearly.

Noth · Feb 2019

Hey all, thank you for your responses. They're all exactly what I was looking for. I'm new to the role, and my soft skills are unrefined. I have a lot to learn. Thank you for your concerns on this being a public forum, it's a good reminder, however I did consider that before posting. I'll conduct myself better in general though. My intentions which are ultimately to learn, not to vent.

Archiving this for later!

Things I'll do --

I'll reinforce the process -- Blockout > Basemesh > Detailling > Lowpoly/UVs > Baking > Texturing.
Encourage a maya blockout over the Zbrush sculpt to start specifically.
Provide better concept art.
An expected timeline.
Make sure / mentally check, that my actions aren't making things worse. (this seems like a tricky one)
And impress upon them that they're a part of a small team, and that their efforts are valuable.

Lead Artist having issues with a Junior Artist

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