by Colby Comrie | Nov 10, 2016 | Articles
Watch the Artstation interview with Justin Fields, concept artist for Ironklad Studios.
Discover his inspiring journey into becoming a concept artist by checking out the link below.
Meet the Artist: Justin Fields
Want to help us grow our resources section? If a resource has helped you greatly please e-mail it to me or any suggestions to: me@eliottlillyart.com. I will be keeping this list updated as I discover new entries. Thank you–
by Hector Ruiz | Nov 1, 2016 | Articles
Ben Mauro discusses business, art, and life throughout his professional career for up and coming professionals in the industry.
Check out part 1 of a two-part series from Ben Mauro where he discusses a collection of thoughts and experiences from working in the entertainment industry. These things will be important to know especially if you are a young artist about to enter the industry. Click on the link below for his free YouTube version, but feel free to support him on his Gumroad page.
Want to help us grow our resources section? If a resource has helped you greatly please e-mail it to me or any suggestions
to: me@eliottlillyart.com. I will be keeping this list updated as I discover new entries. Thank you--
by Hector Ruiz | Oct 25, 2016 | Articles
Senior concept artist, Andrew Johnson, gives advice on portfolio organization.
Andrew Johnson talks about the 3 things a young artist should pay attention to when presenting a portfolio to prospective clients. Click on the link below to learn more. Enjoy!
3 Pillars of a Great Game Art Portfolio
Want to help us grow our resources section? If a resource has helped you greatly please e-mail it to me or any suggestions
to: me@eliottlillyart.com. I will be keeping this list updated as I discover new entries. Thank you--
by Hector Ruiz | Apr 8, 2016 | Resources, Reviews
What to Look for in Concept Art Education
This week ending 04/09/2016 we discuss an important subject that goes through a lot of concept art students. The topic of education and how to succeed in this career are the most asked questions from students. Well, that and what kind of brush does a seasoned artist use to paint epic works. In all seriousness let’s discuss some thoughts on concept art, education, what to look for, and how to get the best of it. These may not cover a lot of the questions students tend to ask, but will certainly scratch some of the big ones. We’ll break this down into several parts that will be continued in the future. Enjoy!
As a student and teacher myself, I’ve had a lot of these questions and having attended several classes and schools with concept art in mind, I might be able to shed some light into this subject.
1. Where do I go to school?
You can go wherever you want. Commitment is the key to getting into this career. The more time you’re willing to spend on your craft, the better you’ll be and the faster you’ll get there. It’s understandable that life and things get in the way, but how much you want something will determine what you’re willing to sacrifice to get there.
2. What’s the best school to attend?
Basically, you have to think of your goal and what exactly you want to do and work on. Then, you can evaluate the school that will give you the skills you need without offering other subjects that might distract you. If you want to be a concept artist and designer, don’t spend time learning how to do things unrelated to your focus. I’ve attended schools that offer so many things and give you so many options that in the end have slowed me down. Focus is key. If you want to be a concept designer, don’t go to an illustrator school. Don’t get me wrong, there are many ways to get here and some things taught in schools will give you a greater sense of life, but if you really want a more refined and straight way of becoming a concept artist, attend schools like FZD School of Design or Brainstorm. They’ll sure whip you into shape.
3. When I graduate I will have a job as a concept artist and will also get paid well.
Well…graduating from a school, be it something like Art Center will not guarantee you a job at Naughty Dog. It takes networking, a good work ethic, good portfolio work, great personality, more self-improvement, etc. One of the things i tend to look for as well is whether or not the school offers job related aid. It might be a school that hosts senior shows where recruiters from gaming and film industries attend. This is so big when it comes to selecting a school. Do be careful with how schools market themselves. Some schools might change their policies or give you misleading information on this. You also have to look at the economy and know about the industry your getting yourself into. Sometimes you may have to bounce from place to place to keep a steady paycheck. Other times you might not have a job for a few months. It’s not a sure thing so don’t expect the job to be waiting for you because you have a degree or certificate from a certain school. Now, if you have the right skills, you’ll have an easier time finding resources or jobs. Just be weary of not getting comfortable or else someone more eager will take the job from you.
4. I don’t have money to move to California or Singapore.
In this age of technology is not an absolute deal breaker not attending schools in person. There are several good schools available with great teachers. If you absolutely have to attend a school in person, save some money while you attend online classes. Remember to always improve. Education is expensive as it is so adding a big move can be even more daunting. Again, we have to go back to how committed you are to attaining your goals. You can watch the movie Rudy movie as an inspiration if you’d like.
We’ll stop here for now and will continue in future segments. I hope this can help some students who are wondering about how to get there. If you’d like send us some questions or stories on how you got to where you are.
Want to help us grow our resources section? If a resource has helped you greatly please e-mail it to me or any suggestions
to: me@eliottlillyart.com. I will be keeping this list updated as I discover new entries. Thank you--
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.