Keep hitting a wall in skill development
Hey everyone, I know this is unlikely a new topic here but I really could do with some advice. First things first of course is my portfolio: https://www.artstation.com/jordanch
So I studied Game Art and graduated back in 2015 but unfortunately had an absentee course leader/lecturer who taught us little and just gave us high marks when we did see him. Thankfully in our second and third year we got a much better, willing and enthusiastic teacher who changed everything for the better. Long story short though when we did graduate the first year were putting out work of quality we were just putting together ourselves. Since then I've cotinued to practice and develop my skills since, in the hopes of landing a job and learning even more. I've taken on the substance suite, become a lot more familiar with unreal, grasped the basics of world machine and most currently learning marmoset to really bring up the presentation of my work. The problem however lies with being unable to really excel and produce work that I'm not only proud of but catches the eye of other more experienced artists. This isn't for lack of enthusiasm as I can really get excited sink my teeth into a project, but often along something happens where I feel my work isn't up to par, I'm not improving or I just do not know how to improve. Basically I'm stuck in a rut. This happened most recently with the feudal Japan Artstation challenge (3D Production Environment). I was so eager to get stuck in, really knucled down but about half way through I started to fumble with what I was able to produce and seeing others work it all just seemed so inadequate. It ended up with me missing the deadline with a lot left to do. I definitely want to go back and finish it but I feel its broken on a fundamental level. At this point 4 years down the line I don't know how I'm going to break in.
I know for example I need to improve my lighting, but how do I go about that? I've watched tuts etc. and then try to exercise what I've learnt and it rarely ever comes to fruition. I just don't feel capable of the amazing things I see so many of you create. The only time I find I make progress, feel really pleased and can visually see where to go with my next endeavour is when I'm making materials, in which case should I focus on that?
Thank you for making it through this ramble 
and I'll be happy to provide any additional images of work such as the feudal Japan scene or marmoset renders I'm working on.
and I'll be happy to provide any additional images of work such as the feudal Japan scene or marmoset renders I'm working on.
Replies
The path to making it to the industry is IMHO first learn the basics of your tools. You don't need to be amazing and know every little feature, just get to the point where you can model things, understand sculpting in ZBrush, UV-layouts, baking, texturing... so you understand what people are talking about. Then its about honing your skills by doing assets. Start small. Key is to train your eye to see, not impress - because honestly you won't impress anybody at that stage. Small projects prevent fatigue as you will be going over things many times over to really nail it. You will master the programs while working on assets as you will be learning new approaches and just gain experience, no need to get too crazy about them.
My suggestion:
Pick a concept from a existing game (don't do your own thing). Ideally find also the asset from the game or at least examples from that game that you can use a guides for the goal. Now do this asset. Again, keep it small. Go through the whole thing as well as presentation. You need to train to see quality and produce it. This also involves presentation. Might not sound as important as its going to be in a game and yadda yadda yadda, but the truth is it is a great training for the eye and artistic sense. Keep posting the progress here or anywhere else you get feedback. Work on this simple asset until you get it to look as good as the game asset. No short cuts, no BSing yourself. You need to get as close as possible to understand what the industry is looking for. Once you get the sense for that, everything else gets easy and its just about building up a portfolio.
Biomag said:
Your main issue seems to be the eye for quality and that is something that is really hard to develop on your own. The biggest jump in quality I've experienced was watching pros give critics to other students as well as myself. Not just sitting there and listening, but really try to understand the feedback and the thing the person was working on as if was my project.
The path to making it to the industry is IMHO first learn the basics of your tools. You don't need to be amazing and know every little feature, just get to the point where you can model things, understand sculpting in ZBrush, UV-layouts, baking, texturing... so you understand what people are talking about. Then its about honing your skills by doing assets. Start small. Key is to train your eye to see, not impress - because honestly you won't impress anybody at that stage. Small projects prevent fatigue as you will be going over things many times over to really nail it. You will master the programs while working on assets as you will be learning new approaches and just gain experience, no need to get too crazy about them.
My suggestion:
Pick a concept from a existing game (don't do your own thing). Ideally find also the asset from the game or at least examples from that game that you can use a guides for the goal. Now do this asset. Again, keep it small. Go through the whole thing as well as presentation. You need to train to see quality and produce it. This also involves presentation. Might not sound as important as its going to be in a game and yadda yadda yadda, but the truth is it is a great training for the eye and artistic sense. Keep posting the progress here or anywhere else you get feedback. Work on this simple asset until you get it to look as good as the game asset. No short cuts, no BSing yourself. You need to get as close as possible to understand what the industry is looking for. Once you get the sense for that, everything else gets easy and its just about building up a portfolio.
Quoted for agreement.
...in addition try to have fun, also an outlier interest (...if you have one already?) helps when the grind sets in. For me it's just a case of turning off the PC and going bush for a bit of 4x4 shenanigans to clear out the cobwebs.
I'm currently working on Biomag's idea and will post in 'critiques' when I have the High Poly finished. Really feel like I have some serious direction, thanks again.
https://gumroad.com/ryan_benno