Some art questions from Travistyse
A user named Travistyse had some questions about art. They're really good questions and I wanted to properly preserve the questions and organize the thoughts. I moved the discussion here just because GD format is a pain in the ass for me at the moment. (I'm kinda tired) But I wanted to answer these.
I REALLY want to work in a studio. Not just freelance or do over the 'net work.. I want to be IN the studio doing my work. Is 3D Modeling something that's in demand moreso than illustrators or other 2D artists? I know animators have been in demand specifically at Riot (if I recall correctly) but I also know that there's a SIGNIFICANT backlog of portrait art that needs doing (but that's also due to just how much needs doing in the first place). Effects and whatnot are just 2D renders on a 3D plane in League, right? That's a relatively common practice whenever it can feasibly be gotten away with (easier on computers and typically easier to create).
Comprehensive 3D knowledge is becoming extremely valuable for 2D artists. Personally, I feel it may be starting to be an essential part of workflow in the coming years for 2D artists. Since I've been on the inside looking out, taking a gander at prospective artists, I've seen a ton of capable concept artists and illustrators. They're great at what they do, but there's a LOT of them. It's actually a little overwhelming and difficult to find the ones that stick out.
I wouldn't say that 3D is more in demand. The fact is that high quality is in demand. Make no mistake, the bar is high. I'd say it's almost higher for 2D artists because there seems to be (at least from my vantage point) a bit of over-saturation of the 2D artist pool. Not because it's easier or any such thing, but because it's a really popular field of study. Also, it's not as complex as 3D art. That's not a negative statement. I say that as a 2D artist myself. 3D art really stumps my brain in a lot of ways. There's much more production nuance in the art of 3D modelling and creating assets. With 2D art, you're making a picture. The most technical aspect you get is making turnarounds, breakouts, cutaways, production art that 3D modelers need.
However, the 3D pipeline has a lot of steps from sculpting, retopo, UV, texturing, lighting, being a clean mesh, etc. That's the hard reality there. The 3D pipeline requires a more comprehensive technical production knowledge base. That's not to belittle 2D art, that's my job after all. But I do often stand in awe of my 3D counterparts when I see how much technical know-how they have to keep in their heads. I've been playing with Zbrush and honestly just scraping the surface. Going deeper has me peeing my pants a little.
Personally, I see a convergence coming, hell, it's already happened really. 3D is becoming an essential part of my pipeline. I mean, making matching shoulder armor on a 3/4's concept is a giant pain in the ass. Now I just go into Zbrush and sculpt those components really fast, screen cap, paste it into photoshop, boom. No guesswork, no perspective plotting, just done. Why would I not take advantage of that? If I'm making sort of a complex design, why wouldn't I just sculpt it, polypaint it, pose it, and then finish it out in Photoshop? I can still take it to a finished render in concept form, but I've just done the math in 3D and solved a bunch of problems, making the concept easier to actually make.
In the end, whatever gets you to the goal of what you want to do is what matters. You can be primarily a "2D artist" while using 3D tools heavily. It's whatever helps you get the results you want. My advice to anyone who's in the middle of learning to learn it all.
I'm considering going to the Portland Art Institute. I know that the certificate will be nigh meaningless but the opportunity to have a large amount of peers and -some- instructors who can personally aid me is just as good to me (better than) as a certificate. I view college as an investment that never pays off unless:
- You NEED the license to get the job (and)
- The career is WORTH the (large) sum of money you're paying to get the certificate (and)
- You KNOW you won't somehow die in college under the mounds of work and never finish. Thus wasting the money (and usually time because college is so unfocused) spent.
Well, in art no one cares about the piece of paper. That said, school is often a great environment and that's worth a lot. I never try to dissuade anyone from pursuing a formal art education, I just ask them if they know what they want to get out of the education. That's what's important.
Education is what you make of it, especially in the field of art. If you have your own means to survive you could get all you need from the internet and small ala carte classes offered in various places. But there's something to be said about personal connections to teachers and other students. It's very much up to the individual.
I think that I -may- be able to make it worth it by forming relationships with peers of a different style and simply having an environment which is so focused on art that I can be in. I don't like big cities like Portland at all but I'll have to deal with it because I want to work in an actual studio (LA, Seattle, Portland, ect.). I also KNOW that by the time that those 4 years are up I'll 100% have the skills necessary to pursue a career in 2D visual arts (And I'm REALLY hoping 3D) as each and every work I create I get noticeably better. I'm also really adaptive and able to dig into other art styles within 3 attempts so I feel that I'd be able to adapt to a game's already established art style with ease.
Yeah, you will have to get used to cities. Seattle, San Fran, LA, Austin, etc, are where a lot of game companies are. That's just the way it is.
Do you know of any game studios, forums, ect. which tend to be on the lookout for 2D artists to fulfill their needs? I often submit my portfolio to Craigslist ads who are looking for work which I can do, smaller game studios, ect. and market myself on forums I'm a part of. Freelancing on bigger sites dedicated to freelancing hasn't worked well for me at all (there are TEAMS of artists who can do better quality work than I can and -sometimes- they can do it faster).
Best thing to do is to just look at every single studio's jobs page and see what's available. Things are always changing.
Have there been any real surprises that caught you off-guard or required that you change how you create your art? What sort of practices should I get into? (For instance, nearly all of my experience in digital art has been through Photoshop but I've JUST been talked into trying Painter and Artrage. In League, Photoshop layers are taken and used to aid the client animation process. This isn't possible as far as I know with the other two programs. Advice I would give myself would be to just stick with Photoshop, learn from the other two, and simply continue to learn how to make best use of Photoshop).
Photoshop is the standard. Everything else comes down to preference. There's nothing so special that's done by any other programs that Photoshop can't do. Also, we edit a lot of our textures in PS. I haven't bothered with other software because PS gets me what I need.
However, 3D is a different thing altogether. If you want to get into 3D, and I'd definitely encourage it, the musts are Zbrush and Maya. Those are our primary tools and they're very different. I've also been looking at people who use 3D coat, Mudbox and Modo. A lot of those things are personal preference. Personally I'm most comfortable with Zbrush and I'm hoping it expands to cover more things that traditional hard surface programs cover. I'd love to have a one stop shop.
Let me know if you have any other questions. I'll pop back into the thread to check.
