FACEPOCALYPSE

How do I get work as a creative?

Thu, 24 May 2012 06:07:00 -0400

So you’re ready to break into the industry? You’ve finished whatever course you poured your being into, or your self-directed studies have brought you to a point where you look at work other people have been paid for and think, “Hey, I could’ve done that.”

This is good! This is a start, at least. Your skills are polished enough to be considered a junior, or maybe an intern if you’re shooting for a big company. Now what?

For the sake of abridging this post I’m going to assume you’ve done some work and gained a bit of experience. Something that’s involved interacting with other people and not just self-directed projects. When you’re starting out experience is valuable, even if it’s unpaid, and this is why: Communicating with a client or boss is a skill. A skill a lot of people lack straight out of university, but it’s something you’ll learn through odd jobs or work experience. Every time you fail you’ll learn something. Failing is valuable! The first freelance job I did was actually killed about a week into it. I was paid fee to stop doing what I was doing. A blow to the ego, but I got $300 for an unfinished job! I thought that was big money. Especially since I had no idea what I was doing. All I’d done up to that point was whatever I wanted to do! I’d get a project brief at university and manipulate it until I could draw something cool.

Lesson learnt… The real world doesn’t work like that.

The kill fee experience made me realise I wasn’t even nearly ready to be employed. Once again I was scared of the working world. Terrified even, but $300 worth of booze was ready to dampen my sorrows.

No, not really. I’m mostly responsible, and with my responsible outlook I devoted my post-graduation unemployed time to skilling up, but I’ve already written a post about that. This post is for people who can already do the job in a timely fashion. The people that just need some visibility, so here are some healthy tips for networking.

Tip 1: Networking is important. Do it.

Tip 2: Be aware of how you come across to strangers.

I will note that I’m adverse to folio flashing. You instantly diminish your standing by pushing your folio in someone’s face. There’s no longer equality in your relationship with that person. If they ask to see your work that’s different. I know it can be effective to get more eyes on your folio, but I’m wary of this approach. Unless that person is specifically expecting to look at portfolios, more often than not it just creates an awkward tension.

I prefer to push the “I’m an okay person and occasionally have entertaining things to say” angle. Where entertaining is interchangeable with insightful, positive, humourous, intelligent, or other qualities that benefit a relationship, whether it’s personal or business-related.

Tip 3: If you’re wanting studio work… Go where the employees go. Hello new friends!

Think of it like a long term relationship. It’s a risk for any company to hire someone, so why not try and ease into one? It will also give you greater leverage for negotiating a salary etc. A great way to assist your hiring is to befriend people that can vouch for you! Better yet, get someone who already works there to do so.

Place yourself where you’ll make relevant connections. Go to networking events or just social things you’d expect other creatives to attend. Life drawing, for instance. Shows, industry events and conferences. It’s a great way to chase studio work - everyone wants to work with people that’re easy to talk to. Approach potential colleagues as a friend first. It’s always super-awkward when people you meet have an agenda, no matter what type of relationship they’re trying to forge. Don’t say things that create expectations, just talk like you would with a friend and the conversation will flow into the rest.

Tip 4: If chasing freelancing work… Goodbye comfort zone.

Attend events for people in complimentary industries. If you wanted graphic design work you want to be around people that aren’t designers themselves, but might need a designer. It’s more appropriate to say “Hey, I could design that for you” in this instance because that’s what they need; a service they can’t do themselves.

Tip 5: Don’t talk yourself down.

This harps back to the whole equality dynamic, but also you need to fill your employer/client with confidence if you expect to get the job. Not only that, but people are generally more likely to believe something is good if they’re reassured. Imagine the difference between doing an illustration job and saying “I really like how this turned out” vs “I would’ve liked more time to fix this bit, but here it is.”

Be confident in your own work!

Tip 6: Say yes to things.

This is how you enrich your life and get stories to share with other people. Stories you can use to get a conversation going. Saying yes will break the monotony of routine. I think it’s a lack of comfort that’s brought me to where I am now. I’ve certainly become complacent at times, and that’s natural, but be aware of the tradeoffs you make with any decision.

Just keep going. Keep putting yourself out there, keep doing work, and keep living life. Every aspect feeds back into the others, and it’s definitely worth striking a balance to be a well-rounded creative.

So, go have an adventure! Then report back. I expect you to return with stories! And/or a job.

Moonbase sketch, as requested on my Facebook status. Just a...

Mon, 07 May 2012 09:06:41 -0400

Moonbase sketch, as requested on my Facebook status. Just a quickie, ~1hr. Penguin enclosure took longer than it should’ve…

Animation background concept - 3D overpaint.

Sun, 29 Apr 2012 10:21:06 -0400

Animation background concept - 3D overpaint.

3D render overpaint for an art deco interior enviro in the retro...

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 06:52:12 -0400

3D render overpaint for an art deco interior enviro in the retro sci-fi animation I worked on last year. Bit of followup work to fill in missing scenes. ~3hrs.

More pixel art! This time for a cave-based game. This is...

Sat, 14 Apr 2012 00:09:00 -0400

More pixel art! This time for a cave-based game. This is pre-lighting (the fully lit environment).

I’ve been experimenting with pixel art a bit since the...

Wed, 11 Apr 2012 10:27:00 -0400

I’ve been experimenting with pixel art a bit since the Molyjam (Molydeux-related Gamejam). The tools and technology have come so far since the retro days that I’m surprised most pixel art games I’m familiar with only evolve the genre with fancy lighting techniques. I haven’t really seen games that blend a pixel art and rendered art or painterly aesthetic but I’m having fun playing around with this idea. Albeit pretty basic experimentation so far.

Another concept for Fallout: Lanius, a not for profit fan film...

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 21:21:51 -0400

Another concept for Fallout: Lanius, a not for profit fan film project. Here’s Legate Lanius slice n dicing some tribesmen that betrayed him.

Recently did a few concepts for Fallout: Lanius, a not for...

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 10:38:13 -0400

Recently did a few concepts for Fallout: Lanius, a not for profit fan film project. Here’s a concept for tribal Lanius.

Cityscape image from my photoshop working file on this...

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 01:30:21 -0400

Cityscape image from my photoshop working file on this weekend’s Molydeux gamejam.

Our build at the end of the weekend can be played here. The city’s more sparse, however. There wasn’t time to implement all the art unfortunately. Also, be sure to play with sound on.

California times

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 02:55:00 -0400

I’ve discovered Draw Something. But I’ve mustered up the willpower to pry myself away from it and write a blog post about Los Angeles.

Marshall and I have been staying in Los Angeles for the past 4 days while attending McKee’s Story Seminar. In the words of Marshall, “What a trip!” It’s been ace.

Here are some LA specific learnings:

If you’re in “the industry” in LA, you’re in entertainment.
Actors and their agents have the power when it comes to determining which films are made. Writing a script with actors in mind isn’t a bad idea!
Public transport is non-existent. Smog, unfortunately, is quite apparent.
People who’ve relocated to the industry here describe it as airy. I don’t know from personal experience but those I asked described meetings that are arranged without any solid purpose. A cafe conversation type deal, where people don’t commit to anything in case they receive a better offer. That even applies to the meetings themselves. If someone receives a better offer they may not even make it to your meeting.
Despite its shortcomings there’s a lot going on here! It’s an amazing hub of screen talent and resources.

Living in LA is definitely a compromise but I can easily see how valuable it would be for anyone pursuing a film/TV career.

Aside from an insight into the city I’ve been over-saturated with scriptwriting and narrative pointers from the Story Seminar. It’s spurred a lot of ideas and I can already tell how helpful it’ll be for me as a concept artist, a writer, and an observer of life.

Barron Storey's advice for artists

Wed, 21 Mar 2012 03:52:00 -0400

I had the great fortune of attending a guest lecture at Laguna College of Art and Design (LCAD) in Southern California yesterday. The speaker was Barron Storey, a renowned American illustrator of the 70’s and 80’s turned art teacher.

An interesting man indeed, and very opinionated. His process really resonated with me due to the explorative nature of his work in medium, technique and content. He’s done some amazing art in his time, little of which is displayed on his website but he had an extensive slideshow that really showed off his artistic abilities. He’s probably best known for this Lord of the Flies book cover:

Some of my main takeaways:

Paint what you know, not what you want people to think you know.
Be who you are as opposed to creating a false self-image.
When you create something really fresh and get to the point where people say, “Leave it like that!” you shouldn’t just niggle away at the details. That inevitably makes it worse. Instead, knock it back. Destroy some of the best parts, mess it up. The destruction is a shock to the system, and instead of going back into the painting while bored you’ll be applying more fresh energy.
Don’t get hooked on a standard process. Randomise your actions when creating art.
Avoid using the word “like.” You don’t want to like something, you want to love it.

So it was interesting to hear his thoughts on art/illustration. They’re pretty extreme some times, but it may be unsurprising to hear they stem from a punk rocker turned illustrator and art teacher. Apparently he was still playing in bands in his 40’s as well! Hardcore.

Tank drawing iteration! I’m in San Francisco at the moment...

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 15:06:00 -0400

Tank drawing iteration!

I’m in San Francisco at the moment and had some old friends around for a drawing session the other day.

We revisited some tank drawings from my last stay, where I rented the sidehouse of a mansion owned by a family with 3 boys. This time Pierce (now aged 6) took another stab at drawing a tank, showing vast improvement from the wheely sausagetank of 2010. Apparently he’s been drawing a lot since I left, which is pretty heartwarming.

Anyway, I took his revised tank drawing and painted it, using a palette determined by Pierce and Payton, who started blocking in colours.

The writing down the bottom is Pierce writing his name and trying to say “I’m hyper.”

Life drawn

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 09:28:51 -0500

Been awhile since an update. My recent life has been consumed by work and a sister’s wedding festivities. Mostly work.

Here are a few life drawings. 30mins each, at a pretty leisurely pace.

Spawn Delicious!

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 03:20:39 -0500

Spawn Delicious!:

This is the game I worked on for the 48hr Global Gamejam 2012 with a programmer and some outsourced music. It’s more of an ~interactive experience~ than a game at the moment, but we hope to make it more fun in the nearish future.

And now for something completely different.

Sat, 21 Jan 2012 07:06:20 -0500

And now for something completely different.

Hermit filter feeder concept. Might revisit this a bit with...

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 07:44:00 -0500

Hermit filter feeder concept. Might revisit this a bit with fresh eyes… Painted in a very dark room.

At the Concept Design Workshop Australia this week and James...

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 06:17:44 -0500

At the Concept Design Workshop Australia this week and James Paick is sharing some awesome tips on environment concepting. Here’s one I whipped up after a talk on thumbnailing.

Awesome anatomy and painting archive. Great resource for artists.

Mon, 02 Jan 2012 05:35:00 -0500

Awesome anatomy and painting archive. Great resource for artists.

2011 retrospective

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 22:28:59 -0500

After the 2010 half-year stint in the US, 2011 continued in nomadic fashion, having stayed in 13 different houses/apartments for at least a week during the course of the year.

As far as location goes, here’s a “Where in the world was Simon?” pie chart.

Following 2010’s intense art studies and exposure to the San Francisco scene I wanted to get back to making money as opposed to just spending money. Here are some art-related conquerings for 2011:

Biggest project to date - hired to define the background art style of an animation pilot, and created ~60 backgrounds in total.
Tested a working relationship with some great, skilled programmers and a film dude from the UK.
My favourite interview to date on Design Montage.
Feel like my art’s “leveled up” having focused on areas of weakness and pushing the polish level on my work.

Career-wise it was a year of film concepts, storyboards, animation backgrounds, and a little architectural visualisation.

As far as pushing polish goes I want to extend this to game development. I’ve documented so many ideas for games and never truly pursued them, but now I’m determined.

I’ve been quietly working on art/animation and game design for a personal project for the past few months and am powering on into the new year with time to devote!

2012 is a year for making games!

Happy New Year!

"What do I study to become a concept artist?"

Mon, 26 Dec 2011 04:40:00 -0500

This question was posed awhile back in the Perth illustrators’ group on facebook and generated a bit of discussion. I thought I’d transfer some of my thoughts into a blog post for all to see!

In context it was referring to courses/education available as a path to getting a job.

I’ll just jump right in with my response; I don’t tell any employers I have a graphic design degree and they don’t ask. It means virtually nothing for an artist in the entertainment industry. It’s definitely an advantage to have complimentary skills (3D especially) but concept art is actually significantly different to graphic design. While there are aspects of each that reinforce the other, being a concept artist is more like art/illustration combined with other forms of design (like industrial or fashion) depending on your specialty.

To work as a concept artist the most important question is “Can you do the job?” which breaks down into a few things:

- Are you technically and creatively competent?

AND ONCE YOU’VE GOT SOME SKILLS:

- Can you meet the deadline?
If you can do the job you don’t need any qualification. In fact, I’m skeptical of most courses for this very reason: If you’re not self-motivated you won’t make it in this industry, and if you ARE self-motivated you don’t need to pay to study!

However, studying with skilled mentors/teachers is a great catalyst for improvement, as is being surrounded by likeminded peers.

If you’re going to pursue a career in entertainment art then study somewhere that has people who take it seriously. Who treat it as a lifestyle! If you’re not drawing or painting EVERY DAY the people who are will be improving faster and eventually getting the jobs. If you’re the best person in your course, your course is probably shit.

You’re not competing with your peers in Perth to get a job in the entertainment industry, you’re competing with your peers globally. As a freelancer I do 95% of my work remotely. Anyone could get that work.

I was also asked how I got into concept art. I’m probably not the best example as I directed my studies in an awkward, semi-blind kind of way. Just an aspiring artist with the internet; I learnt to paint by painting photos and trying to deconstruct other artists’ work. If I liked someone’s technique I’d try adding it to my own. In retrospect a more efficient path is to study from life, but be aware of what’s going on. Hunt down resources like Scott Robertson’s Gnomon DVDs on matte rendering - they’re awesome for value and lighting knowledge. Gurney’s book on Light and Colour is great for… Light and colour. I could’ve really used that knowledge earlier, and instead tried to backwards engineer how to paint with colour without it becoming muddy. I desperately wanted to avoid muddy colours and the visibly airbrushed aesthetic.

If I were to break down my little reverse-engineered ‘rules’ I’d be explaining a style and not the way light and colour actually work. There’s something nice about well-crafted ‘naive’ art, like a charming comic produced with broken or misunderstood perspective, but if your goal is to work in a studio you’re better off learning the rules before breaking them.

Then being mindful of the things you learn, go and observe them in reality. Paint/draw from life, look at how different colours and lighting conditions affect real objects. If you want to focus on one particular area then minimise the variables. eg. To study light and form get a white plaster cast of a head or facial part, light it with a single source and do an accurate drawing/painting of it. Note where bounce light affects surfaces and how the form turns with the value. There are lots of notes on what to observe which you can probably find by searching for a Cast Drawing process.

Ok… Lots of writing. I’ll leave it at that for now. Feel free to ask any questions if you’d like any particular insight.