Put your money where your mouth is
polycounter lvl 19
http://www.poopinmymouth.com/tutorial/money_mouth.htm (web)
http://www.poopinmymouth.com/tutorial/money_mouth.pdf (pdf)
New paper/article/rant
I figured since most of the discussion about this will be debate oriented instead of feedback on the content, I'd post it in GD rather than PnP. I think it's valuable info (why I took the time to write it) and it will be good for many people here to post to their freinds who might need a little push while they are at school.
As always feedback and commentary is welcome. I might be updating it in the next few days based on feedback or any new grammar or spelling mistakes I notice.
http://www.poopinmymouth.com/tutorial/money_mouth.pdf (pdf)
New paper/article/rant
I figured since most of the discussion about this will be debate oriented instead of feedback on the content, I'd post it in GD rather than PnP. I think it's valuable info (why I took the time to write it) and it will be good for many people here to post to their freinds who might need a little push while they are at school.
As always feedback and commentary is welcome. I might be updating it in the next few days based on feedback or any new grammar or spelling mistakes I notice.
Replies
Maybe try to make the whole thing shorter and less ranty and thus easier to swallow and increase the chances of people getting to the end let alone listening to you.
consisting on nothing but ramen, water, and the socializing you get during the lunch hour during the day"
awwwwww so you decided to put me in your paper.. how sweet! and its not 8 hours its 12..and you forgot coffee and ciggerettes!!(i quit by the way!!)
good stuff i totally agree.. its not like we havent had this conversation before.. glad you decided to let everybody else in on it..
looks like Weiser_Cain made a good point.. what about the people that make up excuses why they cant devote enough time to their work? i think you forgot that point..
i have never had a problem working on my art.. even if it means losing a few hours a sleep a night..
i have not applied to lotsa places (0, actually) no one has seen my portfolio afaik, they do, still, insist to offer me jobs, and i no wouldn't really say im 'good enough' yet.
i have no social life!
i live indeed like a hermit, i eat paint from my nails, wash my face with gamsol before bed and generally look as pale as dead fish meat from last week. movie? party?? girls??? pfff. maybe later (wait.. is she russian?). well anyways, lack of sleep, loss of weight, loss of hair and possibly my balls next, those are my true companions.
i dont really care if i 'get a job' or not, i am a very happy camper. i've got my tunes.. got my sketchbook and eq's mom phone number in it, i'm cool... i just wish i had more time to draw. i feel very guilty if i waste time not drawing
like you say, college is time to work.. its a very good environment.
however, i think the key word in your article is 'passion'. if you have what to say, you will say it, eventually. right poop?
and remember.. there are no 'they'. just you, and what you make of it.
Timing can be a factor as well. Not everyone always has room on their team/budget to hire a new employee, even if you're an amazing artist. If there's no money to pay you, you're not going to get hired. Whenever I come across a cool portfolio I pass it around the team. Almost always, the reason we can't even consider bringing the guy is because we don't have the budget for another artist.
I got lucky with EA. My timing was right. DaZ needed help on his team, I came along, he liked what he saw, and brought me in. I landed my current job because someone told me they were looking for a character artist. I sent them my stuff, liked it (more or less because I had the right style), and was brought in.
You also have to consider people's personalities. If a lead artist or art director feels that this potential employee could threaten the security of their job, they're just going to pretend you didn't even apply. You'd think we'd all be in this to help each other out. But the reality is that there are people out there to simply watch their own backs. It happens. It's not uncommon for someone to feel threatened by someone else. Specially if you're someone who's been at a company for a long time and know that your own abilities don't really cut it anymore.
Not everyone is in for the good of the project. Some want the money. Some want to climb the ladder. If they're selfish pricks, they're going to protect their job at any cost.
Wow another fantastic article by the king of the obvious, if you apply to a bunch of places and dont get hired you're probabally not good enough? Well hot damn! Inform the presses of this groundbreaking information.
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Daddy didn't love you right, did he?
Its okay, your a big boy now and you can let it go..
Sometimes things dont workout like they do in the movies, its just most important to remember that its not your fault.
you dont have to lash out at others becuase of your deep emotional pain. try breathing slowly and reciting this poem in you head
"Take off my shame, bury it low. I won't need it anymore.
Find me the sun. Give me it whole. Melt all the chains in my soul.
Tell them I'm all right. I'm coming home.
Take off my pain. Carry me slow. I won't fight here anymore.
Tell them I'm all right. I'm coming home.
Tell them I'm all right. I am alone.
This war is over. I'm coming home."
see .. its okay the rain is gone and now the sun has appeard.
I think what is needed to get my comeback is what you said, a lot of work and to be able to show that you know how to do stuff that is currently going on in the industry. And the timing is also a crucial factor, since a lot of the games companies have windows of opportunity only at certain times, and then there is perhaps only room for 1 more employee doing what you want to do.
I like to recite E.W. Kenyon from 'Signposts on the Road to Success': "Make your brain work. It will sweat, but make it work. It will improve. It will develop until you become a wonder to those around you." And: "It is what you are, what you have in you that counts. It is the undeveloped resources in you mind, in your spirit, in that inward man that counts. It is the developing of the writer, the thinker, the teacher, the inventor, the leader, the business manager that is hidden deep in you that is important. I venture that everyone of you young men and women who read this have in you one of these abilities. (For us it is the games artist of course.) There may be an untrained voice, untrained musical abilities lying hidden under the careless, thoughtless exterior. Let us go down with a flashlight and look over the untouched treasures that are stored away inside, that have never been touched, never been used. Then let us bring the thing up that we find and make it worth while; give it a commercial value.
For remember that everything that goes toward making you a success is inside of you. The thing that makes opportunities, that makes money, that saves money, that creates new things, that brings together things that others have created but were unable to utilize, is inside of you. Find it and make it work. It is going to require a boss who is utterly heartless to rule over you. The boss is inside of you. There is a slave driver in there whom you must bring out. Put the whip in his hand and tell him to go to it and make you a success.
There is something in you that can take these dreams of yours and make blue prints of them, and then can change the blue prints into buildings. It is there the ability is there. No one else can train it. No one else can develop it. Someone else may set it on fire, but you can quench the fire by refusing to act. Remember that you must use the suggestions that come; you must rise up and put the thing over. You must drive yourself, for no one else can do it. Put yourself on a mental diet, not a diet of idle dreams nor idle fancies, but a diet of real mental work. Be mentally awake, diligent. Put your best into every day. Make up your day of saved moments, hours. You are out to win. You are out to conquer. You can do it. It would be different if this ability was in someone else and you were trying to awaken it. It is all in you and you are going to put it over." (Phew)...
While you describe some obvious/intersting facts and oppions and I also share the "You can get everything working, if you really want to" oppinion.
But as Waiser said you are passing a lot of factors.
What if you have to work at 2 jobs to have the right money? when will you doing your art then? Of course, get a sktechbook and use it while driving around in the bus from one job to another... But well, you see the point. It is really not THAT easy. There is much to consider.
Thats the reason I say be more an artist then a modeler or a texture guy cause you can get a lot more working in 2 months off then someone with absolutely NO artistic background.
However, I guess you and I were / are lucky enough, cause we are young and motivated and, of course, I think same goes for you, we had the right support behind our back like friends and family.
However, A lot of points I have to agree. I think shotgun names it better, its "passion" that goes with it.
Also SouL made a good point. The guys at the company where I want to work saw my work and really liked it but my timing was just bad. They finished content creation, doing a lot of bugfixing, soonly start PR shit and want to release soonly. So the soonest date is jan 2006 to work there.
Also something else, I had to write the creative director personally until he even saw my work. They never saw it via the official way since they got 30 apps per day...
You see ben, you need to be abit more open-minded regarding this
I knew Weiser_Cain was a poser when he was talking a bunch of shit, so I said to myself "lets search his posts for his pimps" and as far as I could tell, there were none. I have since seen his work, and I'm not suprised he's on here proving you right with his lame excuses.
I live like a monk so I can pursue my dream. If something gets in my way, I'm going to stab it in the face!
I guess some of it is pretty obvious, but from what I've seen, it's not obvious to a lot of people (usually the people who really need it).
There are a whole lot of people I know in my university (some on my own course, some not) who have the vague idea that they want to be a great games programmer, or they want to make animated films like Pixar.
They're 19-21 years old for the most part, and IMHO people should have a fairly good idea of what they want to do by then. The thing is, just having the idea of what you want to do isn't enough... but people think it is.
They wanna be the next great games programmer but instead of actually trying to put any effort into doing programming in their own time, they just watch TV all day or go out drinking every other night. They don't seem to realise that the skills you need to succeed don't magically come about of their own accord, and even if you're in further education like university or college, there's only so much they can teach you - they can't give you the drive to do extra-curricular stuff and find out what you need to know on your own.
From what I've seen, the only people who have any kind of hope of doing what they want, are the people who devote a portion of their free time to it. Not just homework or schoolwork, but things over and above that. The others just don't seem to realise this... maybe I'll link them all to your article, Ben
Here are my excuses why you haven't seen much art posted around here, by me.
None pimpable work, be it learning models (oddly deformed primitives) or tutorials I have done. For some reason it doesn't feel right posting them. Sure I made them but I didn't "create" them. I really don't think someone wants to see what I did to a cube...
2) I have been retraining myself to paint in an entirely new way. I started painting with hard brushes at 80-100% opacity in kind of a paint by numbers kind of way. I am able to move much faster BUT all the paintings I have done are nothing to write home about, mostly art tests.
3) I made a WIP folder and linked it off my site. I toss in images of any model/art I am working on (except for the "Z-Street" project). Again most of it is not finished and really shouldn't be posted here. But if you want to see what I am working on, check there.
4)(this is one that will piss you off)
This 3D thing, it's a hobby for me. I downgraded it from burning passion to hobby because the job I have now is a great one, I really like it. Why I would give that up for a job that has more stress, less pay, longer hours and more than likely requires me to move, I don't know call me crazy. It might get bumped back up the burning passion if I ever find myself worse off, but it looks like that isn't going to happen soon. I also get to create the art I want on the time scale I want. This kind of freedom is important to me and I'm not sure I want to give that up just yet to become someones lackey.
5)I also play games, I know this is a shock. From 1999-2002 I hardly played games. I wanted to, but I forced myself not to. I worked on learning low poly modeling lvl design and painting textures in photoshop, mostly for Half Life. I missed out on a lot of good games. I always told myself I would get to them later. With the exceptions of Half Life and Q3a, I can't remember buying any NEW games. Any games I had interest in would normally be bought 6mo-1yr later then next to my desk for 3mo and then get moved to the game closet, still unopened. As a result I became the hermit that ditched his friends (real world and online) and shunned the outside world in favor of learning, it was totally worth it, but I can't afford to do that any more. I also need to play (not all the way thru 7 times) todays games and stay current on what games are coming out and how new games are being put together. I needed to find a balance, I am still working on this.
5a) (Honesty time)
I kind of swung the other way when WoW came out. I would suggest finding a ballance between games, life and learning. If I go balls to the wall on one, Iburn out. Then I tend to go balls to the wall in another area. I have a long attention span and I don't give up on things or burn out easily, but when I do its almost cold turkey. It's no small investment of time that netted me 1 lvl 60 rogue, 1 lvl 40 priest, 1 lvl 38 warrior, 1 lvl 39 mage. This is my greatest time sink and vice. Oh the MMO, how I hate you and love you all at the same time. I know see what everyone complained about when EQ came out. I am also thankful I never played any other MMO's beisdes wow. I am slowing down on my WoW time because it takes up way too much time. Time that could have been spent working on art. It's great when you are playing and you FEEL like you achive something, but when all is said and done. Nothing but a fisher in time was opened that sucked money and your life away. WoW is slowly making time for...
6) Z-Street (not Zed, ZEE). This is my return to more full time learning. It's an idea I had for my portfolio, where I create a new scene in which I try to showcase everything I can do in one image. Not a collection of images but a flowing scene that looks like it comes from a game. I would be going for the one click, one image experience. You and a few others have made that point a few times in the past when talking about portfolios and I think it is important. Everything all in one screen shot that looks like it came from a game. Characters, enviro stuff, and a touch of lvl design all in one image. Each asset in the image would have a clickable link to its own page where you can see the wires and texture flats. I think its the only way to showcase what I can do in the time they will be looking at it. It maybe the generalist approch that is kind of unpopular right now (around the big green space station) but I think it might work out well for me. I am also keeping to a schedule for each asset and forcing myself to work like I would in the industry. If it doesn't work out then atleast it has been fun making it
As for people trying to break in, I don't believe you mentioned a willingness to relocate. Simply applying to the couple of tiny games shops in your comfortable little radius that you grew up in is quite obviously going to seriously hamper your chances. I'm not telling everyone to move. Folks have many valid reasons that they can't, but it's important to understand just how much that is going to be a handicap. to you.
As for the issue brought up about total dedication to your Art, just to throw in another perspective here, here's a pathetic little anecdote for you.
When I lived in London with an ex girlfriend, I was a freelance illustrator, but after dabbling with Quake I became a wannabe videogame artist. Back then, the industry was very hard to get into. I put everything into figuring out all aspects of realtime 3D. Every spare minute I had outside of my 'day job' I threw into it. I would come home and go straight into my spare room. A year or more went by and one day I woke up and smelt the roses and it became clear that I had completely alienated my girlfriend and fucked up our relationship. I came home one day and every trace of her was gone. There was simply a note on my pc which said "I can't do this anymore, sorry x". I was absolutely totally devastated and it ruined my life. I'd always thought she was 'the one' and I blew it. I got the job at Bullfrog, so that cheered me up a little. But I learnt a very serious lesson about priorities in life.
Right now Im single so I know that I'm not hurting anyone by throwing everything into my portfolio at the moment. But for anyone with a partner or even kids, my advice would be to 'allocate' specific times that you are buried in your Art. Like one or two late nights a week and a sunday afternoon or something. I know it might seem strange having a timetable like that, but it gives your partner a chance to plan their lives accordingly. Hope this helps someone!
about 6 months ago i came back home to israel at the end of the shcool year. i right off told the girl i was in a relationship with (since before i left..) listen dear, priorities in life update: i like to draw. i like you too, but its 50-50 now, you can't be my number 1 anymore.. take it or leave.
i imagine someone in your age (what.. like, 60?) may be a little more burnt out then in his 20's, where things like family, grandchildren and fishing your artificial teeth our of your 5 o'clock tea cup start to fill up your life, and art drops down a gear. thats natural..
i think the lesson i've learned from all that is always to make the most out of any decision and/or scarifies you make. whatever choice you make, you gotta get into it full steam ahead and never look back, just enjoy the moment to it's full potential. if it's an honest decision that got you to where you are, you'll never regret it.
If you have applied to lots of places, and they have seen your portfolio, and they don't offer you a job, you are not good enough yet. It's very simple
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no major publisher would touch the book when J.K. Rowling was shopping the first volume.
...the Beatles being turned down, or denied an audition, by every big record label in Britain; Walt Disney turned down by more than 400 banks when he wanted to build Disneyland, etc.)
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http://www.worthwhilemag.com/entry/2005/07/20/my_favorite_harry_potter_trivia_.php
*covering my ass here, no pun intended* I'd say almost all of your points are quiet valid, and to be taken seriously. You put alot've effort in this paper and I admire that
I especially liked the section where you pointed out that a portfolio should be constantly ratified and changed. As you make new peices old ones get shifted out. Ben makes a great point here, and it's one all newbs should take very seriously. A portfolio is never done.
Your conclusions are debatable. There are many many factors above and beyond how talented and dedicated you are to your work that factor into whether you get picked up. Telling newbs that they're not working hard enough and don' want it enough just because they had a string of bad luck or bad fits is a dangerous thing to do...cause it's absolutely not true.
I know 4 people I have seen get in the business over the last 2 years alone that had a huge string of bad luck before they applied again with some more focus...it was not increase in skillsets or improvment in art that closed the gap, it was a shift in focus. You're conclusions should accomedate for that.
-What if they are a forgien national?
-What if they don't understand the interview process and keep screwing it up cuzs they are an asshole or just horribly antisocial?
-What if they don't know howto follow jon jones' steps for creating a portfolio and detract visitors before they even have a chance to fairly judge their skillsets?
Tell this to brome or Lani, Steve Royer or j420...they all had bad luck and then they focused on their real issues and closed the gap.
-R
Life has priorities. A job is not mine.
Vig, it honestly sounds like you have your priorities in order. If you like your currrent job, and you like doing art as a hobby, then it doesn't sound like you want to change the situation much. That's not a bad thing, in fact it will probably let you make art you are a lot more satisfied with personally. I think it still fits within the context of the article, because you don't have a strong desire for the job in the games industry, so you don't need to spend a great deal of time on your art, it's entirely up to you since it's your hobby. I've even thought myself before about getting a "normal" job so I can work on my art afterwards.
Daz, that's heartbreaking to hear, and my heart goes out to you (though I'm still lolling at shotguns comments). I definately think a perspective should be kept. It's all about priorities. I wasn't suggesting (and I even said this, but I'll need to make it clearer) that you forego anything and everything in order to get a job. I meant that sometimes you need to make sacrifices. Hopefully never in the order of the one you had to make, but it might be 20 min at the pub here, 30 min of sleep there, taking the bus to sketch instead of driving, though it means getting up earlier, etc. I know that not everyone wants to be single (I don't even fall into tha category) and work on their art 24/7, to the detriment of their social life and fun factor. Some will want to, but it's certainly not a prerequisite.
Aesier the above was partially a response to you too. I did not mean to make it sound like you have to sacrifice everything else in order to land a job.
And Shotgun, those are sage words man. The last sentance, not the other stuff, 8-)
And also Daz, I don't really know how to write from another perspective other than my own. I assume people know it's my opinion based on the fact I wrote it, and everything contained within is clearly subjective and I don't quote any sources or fact.
Sure Poop. I just had another thought. It might be worth mentioning the fact that if you find any level of commitment to your Art above and beyond, a chore, then perhaps it just isn't meant to be? I mean this thing that we do we are supposed to love right? I am grateful that the thing that pays my rent I love doing. Not that many people in this world feel that way. I don't particularly enjoy the bs at my job right now and it's no secret that I've got itchy feet, but when I'm actually in the zone and sculpting characters I'm still in my own little nirvana. If you're not getting that buzz from it and you need Ben Mathis to advise you to work harder at it then perhaps it isn't for you after all
lol shotgun you embryonic bastard you. Yes, I have my slippers on right now and I am smoking a pipe doing the Times crossword puzzle with my false teeth in a jar beside me. ( I've just described my Dad btw )
like i said always full of great info, stuff people dont really sit down and think about.. but you need to work on the delivery i think to make them easier to accept.. take yourself out of it, people dont care what you think..expecially if they dont know you..people do care about useful information, and by presenting it as that and not what you think i believe you will have a better time hitting the mark with your writing..i know your going to hate this advice, but maybe pick up a book on journalism or essay writing..i know your trying to not make it boring, but there are plenty of not boring essays and exciting pieces of journalism.. its all in how you structure it and build a pace and keep the reader reading.. that was all the serious info i am going to give you and after this sentence i am going bust your balls a little bit because i think its fun..
maybe if you would of FINISHED college all your writing would be awesome!!
LOL ur dum
id software will no longer consider any new visa sponsorship after their recent fiasco's with INS. It is something to consider when making broad brush statements like
"...they don't offer you a job, you are not good enough yet. It's very simple"
It's not that simple. It's not something vets should be pumping into a fragile ego that expierences this.
Having said all of that; it was a good read.
-R
And Daz, I partially agree about the whole "if people are going to do this, they would already be doing it and not need me to tell them" but I think it's worth writing it anyway, and since I've gotten several emails and instant messages from people saying that it did indeed serve as a motivator for them, I think in that way it was successful. Now I just need to learn how to write.
Oh Arsh, you're such a card!
Myself I have think I am averagely talented, but I work very hard both at work and at home to get to the necessary standard. I think a lot of it is just techniqes, so working hard and learning good modelling/texturing techniqes is going to give you a fighting chance.
What really annoys me is if I see soemone who has that potential, yet they just can't be arsed to take it to the next stage, especially if they are being paid more than me
BUT!, hey, Im having good fun now. har har har.
benregimbal@hotmail.com