game art portfolios

Archive for September, 2009

Ah, the age old question: Of all the work I’ve done, what should I put in my portfolio? I know…ALL OF IT! *BZZT* Wrong. I’ve seen some stellar pieces in an artist’s portfolio that build confidence, only to be followed up by an obvious class project that kills momentum. The artist did the stellar work, it showed his skill and ability, but the next one….just slows it down, instills doubt, questions surface.

There isn’t a perfect number, I’d say between 10 and 20. If you have less…well, your portfolio is “under construction” and you’re working on a couple more great pieces…right? I’ve actually seen some great, highly focused portfolios with 5 pieces of art. “Less is More” they say, but only apply this to the actual number of pieces…not the content of a piece. You want those 5-10 images to be focused (Basics #2) and to sizzle. Read the rest of this entry »

Where do you want to work? Which studio is making the games you love to play? What game inspired you to look your practical parents in the eye and say “I want to make video games for a living”?

You may have already thought about this and came up with the answer…”I don’t care who I work for, I just want a job as an artist!”  But I want to challenge you to think about it a little more. Why? Because game developers want gamers: Passionate, hard working, creative, professional gamers. And if you aren’t passionate about Cabbage Patch Kids, Cabbage Patch lore, the main characters, or how the hell a Cabbage Patch Kid is born…it’s likely you’ll be miserable working on any part of it.

Instead, dedicate a portion of your portfolio to the types of games you’d love to work on. Build assets that would fit the genre or animate a character from that universe. You’ll likely get a charge working on it and actually feel that spark of passion ignite. That’s what a game studio is looking for.

It used to be that all you needed to get into the game industry was a basic knowledge of a 3d app, and it’s true and unfortunate that many schools out there still teach this. When it comes to game art there are actually several specialty areas that studios actively recruit for. These areas are based on 2d as well as 3d skills and can be very narrowly focused. Read the rest of this entry »

While the basics are the best and most obvious place to start, they are often NOT covered nor discussed. Something in us doesn’t want to ask the obvious questions, we need to dismiss the easy stuff so we look like we know what we’re talking about. But I’d like to bring up the basics and cover them here, because when it comes to portfolios, it doesn’t matter how great your artwork is…you miss these points and you come off looking unprofessional, irrelevant or unplugged. Read the rest of this entry »