by Hector Ruiz | Mar 7, 2016 | Words of Wisdom
Neil Blevins is a veteran concept artist and illustrator with 17 years of experience working in the video game and entertainment industry.
Check out his Portfolio
Be on the lookout for Neil’s upcoming book: “The Story Of Inc” coming out this summer, http://thestoryofinc.blogspot.com/ http://www.facebook.com/thestoryofinc
Neils Blevins’s current portfolio examples:
WHAT’S THE MOST IMPORTANT PIECE(S) OF ADVICE YOU CAN OFFER STUDENTS THAT YOU WISH THEY HAD TOLD YOU IN ART SCHOOL?
99% of the job is working well with others. No matter how talented you are, working well with others will get you more work and get your kept on. I wish art schools taught more about the business of art, I see a lot of new artists coming out of schools and they never learned much about the business stuff. For example, there’s so many schools preparing kids for jobs in the vfx industry, when the vfx industry is in horrible trouble right now, with tax subsidies, long hours, moving ever few months to find new work. Students need to be prepared for these realities. Also, some basic life things, like putting money away for when you’re older, making sure you have health insurance and stay healthy, what sorts of jobs are best for you if you plan on one day having a significant other and/or kids.
I found art school teaches you a lot about art, which is really important of course, but misses the mark on teaching you all the other stuff you really need to know to have a successful career.
ARE YOU AS SUCCESSFUL AS YOU THOUGHT YOU WOULD BE AT THIS STAGE IN YOUR LIFE? ASSUMING THAT THERE ARE NO SPACE-TIME PARADOX’S INVOLVED… IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME 10 YEARS (KNOWING WHAT YOU KNOW NOW), WHAT WOULD YOU TELL YOUR YOUNGER SELF TO DO DIFFERENTLY IN YOUR CAREER AS AN ARTIST?
I am pretty happy with my current place in life, I have been very lucky. Of course, no matter how well things are going there’s things that could be better But things could have gone very wrong in so many ways. If I could go back a little earlier than 10 years, I probably would have told my younger self to push my drawing more. I had reached a certain point in my traditional drawing when I started dabbling on the computer, and then got completely sucked in. While that eventually got me to where I am today, I sort of let my core drawing skills atrophy. While you don’t need to draw well necessarily to have a strong visual eye, I have found at times having better drawings would help in the idea communication process. So I’d recommend to myself to draw more, even while playing with digital tools.
AS AN ARTIST, WHAT DOES “SUCCESS” MEAN TO YOU?
I saw a great documentary not long ago called “making it”, which is about artists trying to make a living from their art. One thing that was evident is success means a lot of different things to different people.
To me, success means getting to work with really cool people making artwork that interests me. It means being able to support my family. It means having the time to do both collaborative and personal art.
The three things I think that help lead to success are
1) Work hard. No amount of talent will replace this. This goes hand in hand with loving what you do. If you love making art, then the hard work won’t seem hard. If you have a lot of trouble motivating yourself to work hard at your art, maybe art isn’t your true passion. But everyone gets in a funk now and again, and if you do, take a quick break, then get back to working hard.
2) Work well with others. A big portion of your job will be working with other people, whether that be in a staff position on site, or taking criticism from a client. You will only get called back if you play well with others.
3) Life / work balance. If you do nothing but work, not only will your body eventually give up, but you aren’t refreshing your brain with new experiences that you can use to inspire your artwork. Travel, relax, do non art related hobbies, spend time with your family, read books, its good for you and will help your artwork out as well.
by Eliott Lilly | Mar 2, 2016 | Words of Wisdom
Kate Yu is a concept artist and illustrator working in the video game and entertainment industry.
Professional Portfolio and Blog
Educational background:
Attended The Guildhall at SMU, Majored in Art Creation, graduated 2007. Holds a degree in Video Game Development in Art Creation
Number of years in industry: 9
Projects worked on:Brothers in Arms, Borderlands, Fear 3, Wizard 101, Wizard of Oz slots
Kate Yu’s current portfolio examples:
WHAT’S THE MOST IMPORTANT PIECE(S) OF ADVICE YOU CAN OFFER STUDENTS THAT YOU WISH THEY HAD TOLD YOU IN ART SCHOOL?
I wish someone had suggested that perhaps, art is not meant for a career. In my experience, I’ve seen a lot of artists (including myself) who have grown jaded over time or whose style has become too mechanical because of this demanding industry. There is a real danger for those of us utilizing art for our careers, to “burn out” and the process of art creation to get less creative.
ARE YOU AS SUCCESSFUL AS YOU THOUGHT YOU WOULD BE AT THIS STAGE IN YOUR LIFE?
I think I am moderately successful, but, I don’t think I’ve had that many years of experience yet. If there’s one thing I’d tell my younger self to do differently, (even my current self, actually), is to be less lazy – you can always do more art!
AS AN ARTIST, WHAT DOES “SUCCESS” MEAN TO YOU AND, WHAT ARE AT LEAST THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO DO IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE IT? PLEASE LIST.
I think true success as an artist is that you are really, without self denial or ego, truly happy with your artistic creation – and that others are too. I think there’s only one thing that can get a person there; that is to constantly and continuously out-do yourself, and to keep pushing forward. Hopefully this brings you all the things that we all hope for, like cool jobs, great projects, prestige and recognition.
If you;d like to read more from Kate Yu, then check out her full interview. All images used with permission by the artist. ©Kate Yu.
by Eliott Lilly | Feb 10, 2016 | Words of Wisdom
Kalen Chock is a concept artist and illustrator working in the video game and entertainment industry.
Check out his Portfolio
Head on over to http://www.robotpencil.net/ to learn about Kalen’s mentorship opportunities
Visit http://gumroad.com/k04sk for Kalen’s affordable art tutorials
Kalen Chock’s current portfolio examples:
WHAT’S THE MOST IMPORTANT PIECE(S) OF ADVICE YOU CAN OFFER STUDENTS THAT YOU WISH THEY HAD TOLD YOU IN ART SCHOOL?
WORK YOUR ASS OFF…THEN WORK HARDER!!! This business is competitive and hard. If you’re in art school getting the education can also be expensive.
I wish my school would’ve shown me how serious and hard this career path is— but also how rewarding it is too. That is something I try to convey to my students all the time.
ARE YOU AS SUCCESSFUL AS YOU THOUGHT YOU WOULD BE AT THIS STAGE IN YOUR LIFE? ASSUMING THAT THERE ARE NO SPACE-TIME PARADOX’S INVOLVED… IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME 10 YEARS (KNOWING WHAT YOU KNOW NOW), WHAT WOULD YOU TELL YOUR YOUNGER SELF TO DO DIFFERENTLY IN YOUR CAREER AS AN ARTIST?
Personally I think I haven’t peaked yet, so I always feel like I can be way more successful, but I also think most artists feel this way. If I could give 19 year old Kalen some advice it would probably be: Don’t be too hard on yourself, don’t compare yourself to others (too much), to take care of your body by being more active, and to just enjoy the journey…it’s gonna be a long one.
AS AN ARTIST, WHAT DOES “SUCCESS” MEAN TO YOU?
Success to me is happiness and being able to do what you love. Not everyone wants to work on AAA games and not everyone wants to be the next big name artist, some may be happy working on small cell phone games and that’s totally ok. I think it’s important to not get caught up in the hype of things. Luckily there are so many paths an artist can take in their career and no one path is better than the other.
The three things I can do to achieve happiness in my career would require me to be nice to others, keep learning, and keep creating 🙂
by Eliott Lilly | Feb 3, 2016 | Words of Wisdom
John Park is a freelance Concept Designer working in the entertainment industry currently living in California, United States.
If you would like to know more about John park, Please visit his:
Portfolio site
Find him on Patreon
Find him on Gumroad
Follow his Blog
Educational background: Art Center College of Design (Majored in Product Design, 2009)
Number of years in industry: 7+
Shipped titles/ Projects worked on: Film industry – Transformers, Godzilla, Lone Ranger, Maze Runner, Starwars, (current Avatar Sequels) Game industry – Black OPS 3, Hawken, Uncharted 4,
John Park’s current portfolio examples:
WHAT’S THE MOST IMPORTANT PIECE(S) OF ADVICE YOU CAN OFFER STUDENTS THAT YOU WISH THEY HAD TOLD YOU IN ART SCHOOL?
To focus on more Design. Just to further elaborate on what I mean “focus on more Designs” is to think outside the box. Think about story, function, culture, and reason. This will allow you to generate original concepts/ideas rather that what is just in the main-stream.
I wish I had more of this kind of education that challenges the mind rather than being a good ‘hand” (illustrator).
ASSUMING THAT THERE ARE NO SPACE-TIME PARADOX’S INVOLVED… IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME 10 YEARS (KNOWING WHAT YOU KNOW NOW), WHAT WOULD YOU TELL YOUR YOUNGER SELF TO DO DIFFERENTLY IN YOUR CAREER AS AN ARTIST?
I think its all relative really, I really can’t regret or would want to take anything back. But if I were to go back in time and tell myself one piece of advice…it would be to follow my passion. Do my own thing, because you will have the rest of your life to be a working gear cog in a large machine.
I would highly advise people to try and do something of their own project, game, or even a story.
AS AN ARTIST, WHAT DOES “SUCCESS” MEAN TO YOU?
1. Hard work ethic
2. Understanding your strengths and weaknesses
3. Having mini-goals in your life
Most importantly doing what you love and still loving it everyday of your life.
by Eliott Lilly | Sep 28, 2015 | Words of Wisdom
Sebastian Gromann is a freelance Concept Designer working in the entertainment industry currently living in Berlin, Germany.
Portfolio: www.sebastiangromann.com
Art Station: http://www.artstation.com/artist/SebastianGromann
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/sebastian.gromann
Educational background: Mostly Self-taught, later at University of Applied Sciences (HTW), Berlin, Germany. (Majored in Game Design (BA), March 2015)
Number of years in industry: 3+
Shipped titles/ Projects worked on: A few “AAA” game projects with KARAKTER Design Studio, but sadly they are still under NDA
Current portfolio examples:
WHAT’S THE MOST IMPORTANT PIECE(S) OF ADVICE YOU CAN OFFER STUDENTS THAT YOU WISH THEY HAD TOLD YOU IN ART SCHOOL?
One important thing I frequently remind myself of is to balance my creative workday and my social life. I, for instance, love to play sports in order to keep absorbing new influences. It seems like a strange comparison at first but since our creative passion is totally driven by heavy thinking, there needs to be an element that requires different abilities to keep things balanced. So, playing sports (like soccer) is so valuable to me, because I get to focus on cognitive demands and prevent myself from getting creatively stagnated.
ASSUMING THAT THERE ARE NO SPACE-TIME PARADOX’S INVOLVED… IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME 10 YEARS (KNOWING WHAT YOU KNOW NOW), WHAT WOULD YOU TELL YOUR YOUNGER SELF TO DO DIFFERENTLY IN YOUR CAREER AS AN ARTIST?
“Do not doubt, man!“ – Especially in the beginning of my creative path I wasn’t even sure if working hard would be enough to break into the industry and If I would be able to make a living from being an artist. As cheesy as it sounds, even if my heart said “for sure“ loudly, my mind still was like “nah, probably not“. I guess a lot of aspiring artists can relate to that state of mind. Looking back and following the paths of my colleagues I can easily say that doubt should have been out of place.
If you are passionate about something, then nothing should be able to hold you back or keep you from archiving your goals. Do not waste your time doubting yourself- even if things don’t go the way you carefully planed. Taking different, or unexpected roads is what shapes us as artists and you should focus your energy on positive thoughts and use it. Everything will work out as long as you constantly work hard on your passion.
AS AN ARTIST, WHAT DOES “SUCCESS” MEAN TO YOU?
Success is the result of archiving your personal goals. Therefore, each artist has his or her own definition of success. Some might rank it based on the level of appreciation for what they do, for others success might be based on materialistic things like income. What drives me creating art is to create and explore new, exiting visuals. The purpose is sharing these works, discussing it with comrades and contributing them to a final product. So for me personally “appreciation” is the one attribute that shapes my level of success the most.
All images used with permission by the artist. ©Sebastian Gromann
by Eliott Lilly | Aug 26, 2015 | Words of Wisdom
David Mitchell is currently a freelance artist, specializing in illustration and conceptual design.
Professional Portfolio: http://applecrow.carbonmade.com/
Support David on Patreon
Education background:
Shipped Titles / Projects Worked On:
Teddy Tumble (D7 Games), Burnstar (Nerve Software), Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 (Nerve Software), Aliens: Colonial Marines (Nerve Software)
Current work examples examples:
ASSUMING THAT THERE ARE NO SPACE-TIME PARADOX’S INVOLVED… IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME 10 YEARS (KNOWING WHAT YOU KNOW NOW), WHAT WOULD YOU TELL YOUR YOUNGER SELF TO DO DIFFERENTLY?
I feel that as an artist, I had a very slow start both in instruction and in personal drive. Going through art school when I would show my work to my instructors, they either told me that I was doing good and that my work was great, or they said nothing at all. Very few of them took the time to give me critiques or show me better and more efficient ways to design and to think. I went along thinking I was ready for the industry. It bugged me that for the most part a lot of them were not helpful outside of the lesson plans during class, and though I worked hard, I didn’t work as effectively as I feel I could have.
If I could go back 10 years I would tell myself to stop worrying about what my instructors did or didn’t tell me. I would tell myself that I would fail, but it doesn’t matter so long as I dedicate myself to becoming a better thinker and designer. If I did that, I’d succeed more than fail…that’s what it is to improve. I would tell myself something that someone I both greatly respect and admire artistically and personally told me recently,
“Instructors, peers, pros you are inspired by, everything you learn and learn from, are individual tools you use to create yourself as an artist. It’s up to you and you alone to use those tools. No one is going to build your style or career for you.”
