Posted at September 8, 2006, 11:16 pm:
So, you love playing games and you love art. You’ve got a sketchbook full of ass-kicking robots, and you’ve got an idea in your head for a whole computer game, right down to the shape of the swords and the bone-chips stuck in the monster’s teeth. And maybe you’re looking at college, or maybe you’re in college and looking at the end of college. Or maybe you’ve been out of college for years and you’re looking for a change. At any rate, you’re probably unsure of what to do next.
Perhaps I can help you. My name is Michelle Clay, and I am a modeler/texturer/environment builder at a company called Turbine. My specialty is environment art, and I like helping aspiring artists figure out where to go next when they want to be where I am.
I give out a lot of the same advice over and over, and all too often I’ve thought of the perfect nugget of wisdom to share only eight hours too late, when I’m in the shower and the conversation is long over. So I figured, why not dump it all somewhere here on Concept Art? I’ll just throw it all out in one disorganized heap, and by golly, if anyone thinks its important enough they might actually sift through and find some words to help them on their way.
So, anyway, here goes. The following includes rambles from me, and from other folks in the games industry who have been kind enough to share some of their knowledge, and some highly unorganized assignments at various levels of difficulty. Please feel welcome to join in the discussion!
**************
Update!
There is now a thread in the Communities Activities forum to post the results of these assignments. Here it is! You can use that space to post your games industry practice art, critique and get critiqued, and get to know your future coworkers.
Original of the message was taken from http://www.conceptart.org/forums/
Replies:The first thing you have to know is that all games are made on a budge...
I graduated from the illustration department of RISD in 2000.
When I talk with college students about the possibility of becoming a ...
Hurrah, I've been hoping for some game oriented talk on CA for some ti...
WOW! Thanks!
It's a really big world out there and a few pointers can...
Thanks guys! I’ve – yoiks – already been getting questions from folks...
I fully agree about where to start.
No matter what school you go to, you will get out what you put in.
HI,
i was the one who pm seedling those questions! Thanks for you he...
Hey - well I just did 1 yr foundation art at college, then did a 1 yea...
Hey mikko
If you make a portfolio you won't be losing time.
On top of what wanwan said about studying hard, please take care of y...
yeah definately excercise! during my honours year i forced myself to g...
Yes, what you guys are saying about exercise is absolutely right.
Darkwolfb87 asked me the following in PM, and (I hope you don’t mind, ...
really interesting.
I suppose it would be possible for someone to begin their art educatio...
What if your boss told you “we need a carousel, and we need it complet...
I see a lot of you looking at this thread, but not so many posting.
Hey Seedling,
Thanks so much for answering my question, that is exact...
Once a year I go review the portfolios of illustration seniors at my a...
Michelle Clay, good job bring this issue up on CA.
Oh cool, Hi Maurice! Feel free to add your perspective to this thread...
*******Assignment #6 - Photorealism*******
So, you’re on a team t...
Hi Michelle, great post! (I actually signed up for CA to reply to this...
Doctors have internships as a required part of their training.
Photographs! ooohhhhh nooo.
Hey, I think my 3 headed dragon looks cool.
Dang, you guys keep bringing up more and more good topics! I'm gettin...
Hi seedling,
Thought i would drop by and give a couple of my opinion...
Thanks for the help seedling.
Zaknafain – Awesome! I hope you will share your progress here.
Whether you are a concept artist painting color sketches of a game lev...
Ok when I update my sketchbook I will try to add all of the nitty grit...
Hello, thank you so much for posting as you did in Seedling's game ind...
Hiya Shaolin!
Mmm.
To celebrate tax season, every April Game developer Magazine publishes...
When it comes to 3D art programs, there’s Maya, there’s 3D studio Max,...
Drawing or painting from life is like eating your vegetables: sometime...
There are three general categories of jobs involved in game-making: ar...
Shucks.
I read that you wanted to know what LadyHydralisk's course were like.
Alright, first off, you rock.
i still don't understand why this thread is A; not stickified, and B; ...
It was stickied last week.
must have been one of those days.
D00d.
ConCrete, best that you're able to conceptualize environments, know hu...
Hi Seedling, first of all your thread is fantastic and very timely.
I empathize with you ConCrete, it can be tough trying to get in contac...
Thanks for making this thread.
Hi again Seedling,
Would you like to see our output of the assignme...
At night i wonder a lot of those thing Concrete talked about too.
Sure! :-)
Everyone - I'll try to find the time to answer more ques...
Great thread Seedling!
It has a butt-load of information, and is very...
Every game, basic flash side scroll, all the way to the most complex 3...
thanks a lot for this enormous bunch of information and answers.
Hey Tec, this is a really nice sample.
Dood! Tek, I knew which game that was at first glance! :-) You get ...
If you are asking “how many images I should have in my portfolio”, the...
Uh oh, that just reminded me.
Actually for portfolios I have a little gem of advice.
This is so invaluable.
What about using photographs to look at for reference? That's got to b...
Photo reference always helps.
Great thread! I've read it from beginning to end which rarely happens ...
I know, it’s normal to fret over every last thing that goes in your po...
Otherside – good luck with your leap of faith.
You've never heard of pixel art?
Sigh.
When you were getting started in the games industry, I was getting sta...
The games industry needs more environment artists.
Advice, advice.
Oh, one last thing.
I dont really agree with your disdain for photo references.
again: thanks a lot for taking your time to write this down.
Yay! *happy dance*
**********Assignment #11 – Low-Poly Doo-Dads**********
The game tha...
Hello! I really appreciate this post.
Even if you go to the most prestigious of art schools, it is unavoidab...
Best freackin' line ever!
This is a great post Seedling.
nyx, i'm right with you on this.
Pixel Art? Hah! I've done a little of that professionally.
The answer is always “it depends.
Pixel art (and other low res, low resource art) is mainly used for mob...
Wow, thanks for the great info Quitsune!
I just learned something.
I was just kidding about the job The one I posted was just an exampl...
It was a good question whether or not you are looking for that type of...
Yes.
this thread is gold
thank you very much for your time and effort!
Update -
Found a webpage that everyone one that wants to do a mod fo...
Interesting read.
Thanks for the props DoInferno! This project called for 2 versions of ...
Hey guys,
I’m thinking of starting a thread in the Community Activiti...
A Community Activities subforum would be great, but at the moment I'd ...
Seedling: Just replace "res'ing up" with "add another l...
Here is a great ressource for those that want to learn about Pixel Art...
And here is something about Isometric imagery and pixel art:
http://w...
Great thread Seedling.
Hi all,
This is a VERY good ressource for would be concept artists ...
Djobuk this is a fantastic contribution! This is exactly the kind of i...
I am glad if it helps.
Well, 5D from what I understand works something like this.
Thanks djobuk that was very helpful.
Aaahr.
come to think of it.
nice thread, thanks for sharing
Thaelys – Cool, thanks.
You are welcome Seedling.
As djobuk’s fabulous examples show, sometimes it is the job of a conce...
Awesome assignments, I'll get started with #2 since the screenshots ar...
When I say “dungeon”, what I really mean is “interior space”.
this is for my character modeling swap partner Blue Severin.
SUH, that’s wonderful! Thank you for being a brave soul and sharing yo...
Seedling, I have seen your posts around a lot, particularly in advice ...
Thanks for posting, Chirp Chirp! About sound: I haven’t said anything...
There is now a thread in the Communities Activities forum to post the ...
It’s taken me some time to get all this down on paper and hopefu...
Wow that was a jam-packed post chirp chirp.
My point in mentioning the highpoly modeling is that while it’s ...
WOW! *happy dance* Thank you for taking the time to share all of tha...
Sketchup is fantastic, I didn't realize they had a free version out
There hasn't a been a thread this informative in a long time!
Chirp:...
About that old worn-out saying: “It’s not what you know, it’s who you ...
WOW Thanks so much, been looking for something like this for a long ti...
True dat.
Finished asignment 1
Any comments?
Wise words!
Springer, good for you for getting in on the assignment...
Has anybody here played the game Okami? I'll give a cookie to the fir...
That's a cell renderer most likely.
Oh no, another dead MMO? That always makes me sad.
Yep, Seed is dead.
Nope again.
Duh! Here's my rough take on one of the faces of geometry texture.
Awesome! I look forward to seeing what you make!
OK, let me try to explain it.
Ding ding ding! That's how they did it.
Yeah that's something one WOULDN'T know about unless that person worke...
Game Designer Oriented Web Links.
Good game design oriented books.
Wow that second sloperama link is mindblowing, that should be read by ...
OMG wow! Thank you for sharing all of that!
Gamasutra's archive are also a great resource for the monetary challen...
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