AE Docs for YOU!
[collapse="Game Design/Animation/VFX Degrees and YOU! PLEASE READ!!"]
Written by Aly, Geist, and Lokii
[1]……… HELP I DON’T KNOW HOW TO SCHOOL
[2]………GAME DESIGN
[3]………3D MODELING
[4]………ILLUSTRATION
[0] INTRODUCTION
Recently in the Artwork Emporium (the art sub-thread on smashboards), we’ve had a spike in interest in game design majors or careers in the games/ animation/ film industry. We decided to create a school advice thread to help these people, along with art students of all sorts, by giving useful advice and by answering any questions people might have. Those of us with education in progress with majors relating to game design and people who are already in the industry have decided to work on write-ups on advice for those seeking out a career in game design/ animation/ illustration/ VFX. The idea is to give useful advice, debunk some myths, and provide some anecdotes along the way from our own personal experiences, and maybe crush some hopes and dreams. Because the art industry is NOT for everyone. But we truly hope we can inspire those who are ready to take on the trials and insanity that comes with working on games. (note: this is mostly aimed at people who want to go on the artistic/art school/non super programmery end of things. A lot of it still applies for anyone wanting to go into games though)
Since there’s so much variety between art school courses like Game design, Modeling, Illustration, Graphics Design, and Animation, we’ll break each of the distinctive subjects up and offer advice by people who are either in the process of taking these programs, or have already graduated from them.
[1] HELP I DON’T KNOW HOW TO SCHOOL
“Okay so I want to go to school but I don’t even know where to start, and I’ve heard sooo many bad things about art schools. They’re expensive. A lot of them are scams. They’re not required to get jobs. Help me Artwork Emporium!” Well, to distill some of these fears and to explain more in depth, we’ve prepared a long assay to—wait, what? There’s already an awesome video explaining pretty much all you need to know? Oh okay.
http://extra-credits.net/episodes/on-game-schools/
This video explains very well how to avoid scam schools, how to search for a proper school around you, and what to look for and expect while you look around for a good art school to attend.
FAQ:
Q: “So and so school near me is doing the so and so program. Are they good?”
A: Dunno. As much as we’d like to hold all the answers, the best thing for you to do is to contact the school and pry into their brains with a game of two hundred questions. Do your research.
Q: “Is it really worth the money? Can’t I learn what I need to know by being self taught?”
A: Depends. If you checked out your local school (or possibly your not-so-local school) and it looks like what you’re looking for but it’s a bit pricey (as art schools tend to be), ask yourself whether or not being in debt for a few years is going to be worth potentially having a sweet job doing something you’re legitimately interested in. The answer should be yes.
Secondly, the price of art school rarely lies in the knowledge you learn there. This isn’t textbook studying. You’ll be paying for the artistic environment, the industry connections, and a much faster access into the industry than you would be if you were self taught. However it really is totally up to you whether or not you want to be self taught, some people don’t have the financial opportunity to attend art school, and being self taught is a legitimate way of entering the industry.
Q: Who would win in a fight, Local College degree or Local Art School degree?
A: Remember that it’s totally possible to excel and get a job by going to a less expensive non-arts school, but it depends wholly on the drive of the individual, and not so much the schools themselves. The people who do great in fancy art schools would be the same people who’d do great in a not-fancy art school. A good art school, however, will more likely have a more concentrated curriculum, more reputable instructors, and a better environment than a regular university. There are exceptions to the rule however, which is why it’s always important to study your schools before you apply.
Q: Is it a lot of work?
A: Yes.
Q: But I’ll still get to play video games and stuff all the time right?
A: hahahahahahahahahaha
Q: The Art Institute. Good or bad?
A: The Art Institutes are the like the Starbucks of art schools. They’re everywhere, but they’re definitely not the worst you can come by. In fact, some of them are quite good. Each campus specializes in different things, and therefore has different reputations. They come in a bunch of shapes and sizes, and again, the best way to decide if they’re right for you is to go check them out in person. They hold open houses before the start of each semester, like every other school like them. (and note: a bunch of us AE folks go to AI branches! You just have to make the best of what you have!)
Q: What are some specific schools that are awesome?
A: There’s a lot of really good schools in a lot of places. Check areas that have high concentrations of industry studios, like California or Vancouver. Schools like the California Institute of the Arts and VFS should show up a lot in your searches.
Q: If there’re so many schools, how do I decide which one is the right one?
A: Are you interested in working for a specific company? If so, call them up, and ask their HR people where they hire students from and ask for recommendations. Of course you don’t have to travel across the country to go to a school either, convenience should be a big factor in which one you choose. It definitely helps to calculate hypothetical expenses over the time you’ll be going to school, whether they be living costs or transit, or whatever.
Q: How can I scrounge up enough money to even go to one of these things? D:
A: Financial Aid programs are everywhere. Check to see if your state/ country/ province has support programs for students and whether or not they give out government loans for attending your chosen school. The schools themselves have financial advisors you may speak to, even before you sign up and start attending. Scholarships are also highly advisable to look into and ask about, because they give you money that you don’t owe back, as opposed to loans and grants.
Some banks will also offer a Line of Credit for use within certain schools. These usually require a cosigner, but they can potentially give you access to much more money than government grants (with the added prospect of intrest however). Of course, it helps a LOT if you can juggle a part time job while you’re attending school, or even just saving up from a job for a summer or two before you go to school for full time.
Q: How good are online courses?
A: They’re not. Not only are online courses impersonal and lack the one-on-one time you need with instructors in a hands-on environment, a lot of the times the course load is trimmed down. You also lack the beneficial environment that an actual class provides. (Art Institutes do provide online courses but avoid them like the plague unless you are doing gen eds. EVEN THEN THEY’RE AWFUL.)
Q: Should I attend school full time?
A: Along with online courses, this is something that the school might push you to do. In the end, it’s completely up to what schedule is convenient to you. If you have to work a full time job and can only take classes once or twice a week at the most, don’t let them tell you that it’s a bad idea. The only downside to taking classes part-time is that you don’t get out of school as fast, and you don’t get consistent classmates who are in the same semester as you that you can start and finish school with. If you’re fine with managing your time that way, then the more power to you.
Q: Do I have to take a 4 year degree program?
A: As touched upon in the above video, many schools that advertise themselves for ‘getting you in the industry in one year’ are best to be avoided. However, a 4 year program is, more often than not, completely unnecessary. A degree is not required in art fields like game design/ animation/ illustration/ modeling/ VFX. A portfolio will be more than enough to get you hired, and that’s what art school should be concentrating on you getting. 4 year programs have the added problem of the requirement for instructors to have teaching degrees, which sounds a bit counter-intuitive at first, but one of the benefits of art school is having industry professionals teaching you the tools of the trade and a lot of the times they’re part time teachers that only work a single day out of the week to teach. Having the requirement of having a teaching degree not only denies them the ability to teach you, but it may create the need for the school to have inexperienced people teaching material out of textbooks. The majority of art schools have a 2-3 year program, so don’t be too worried if the one near you doesn’t have a full 4 year bachelor’s.
Q: I just want to make pretty things. Which program do I attend?
A: That’s what this entire next section is dedicated to. We’ll have people from different programs and different schools giving you the what-fer of each area of art school.
[2]
GAME DESIGN – Game designers are the driving force behind the mechanics of video games. They take up the mantle of creating systems and interfaces, directing gameplay and game balance, and function as an in-between for artists, programmers, animators, and everything else. They ideally function as an entity – the idea of a ‘celebrity game designer’ like Cliffy B and Peter Molyneaux is both exaggerated and outdated. Creative compromise and communication is key for anyone who wants to design games, as well as a wide array of knowledge of the other areas of game making as well.
AE Game designer: Chronodiver Lokii
First off, I'm Alyssa, aka Lokii. I'm a 19 year old Game Art/Design student at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, graduating in summer 2014 (I hope). I'm specializing in concept art/2D/illustration and other aspects of concept work with my backup being character modeling. My main goal is to work as a concept artist in the industry after graduation. I decided halfway through high school to actually go to school for game design because I love to make art and I want to make a living making pretty pictures. Besides the actual drawing stuff, I have found myself improving at knowing actual design aspects of the games industry, so I’m hoping to put that to good use if need be (design docs, ahoy!)
Now, to actually talk about game design. I’ll be blunt - it actually isn't all fun and games, pun intended. I've lost a lot of sleep and even a few pounds from stress, forgetting to eat, and from pulling all-nighters to finish homework and that’s far from an uncommon thing to experience. This is a major that requires a LOT of hard work and isn't 'fun' in the traditional sense. You don't get to play games all day. You spend a lot of time working on projects or game docs or crying over 3D/scripting/level design/etc homework. But if you enjoy that stuff or you enjoy working really, really hard, then you will enjoy every last minute of hell.
You will have to go into this with an open mind. You won't always be doing something you like doing. I just finished my 5th semester a few weeks ago, and it was almost all lower polygon 3D modeling (using 3DStudio Max). I would have rather been spending my time painting in photoshop, but I had to sacrifice free time that I could have otherwise used to sleep or play games in order to find time to paint like I wanted. Sacrifices must be made to do what you like....because you have work to do and must meet deadlines or else you get bad grades (NOT AN OPTION) or fired.
So, why are bad grades not an option? Well, the better your grades, the more time and effort you probably hopefully spent on your work. The more time you spend and more effort you put into making work good means you might have more work for portfolio/demo reel. And building your portfolio and demo reel is THE MOST important thing. You want to get hired right? You need a solid portfolio and demo reel. You have to be the best of the best (especially for competitive positions like concept artist).
Another important thing people don't realize or avoid because they don't think it's important enough is...you have to be social. No matter how awkward you are, you have to network and make connections. Learn to be social. Dead serious. Just. Learn. This industry is made up of people just like us – guys and gals who used to be young nerds and who gravitate towards people like them. You have to know people to get a job. You can even get a job over someone who is more skilled than you - if you have connections. You just gotta know people and be a decent human being.
Of course you still need skills to back that up.
What else should I cover? Hmmm. Oh yes. IDEALISM. It's a good thing to want to try new things and revolutionize stuff. But it's another thing to go around pitching game ideas to teachers or saying you are 'going to change the games industry' OR that our industry is broken. You’re not. Not by yourself, at least. The games industry is a multi BILLION dollar industry that contains many studios, from big-name AAA studios to little indie start ups in someone’s basement. The industry does not need to be changed by some idealist guy who doesn't like the fact that CoD is a game, or someone who wants to do away with crazy graphics (artists need jobs yo). Teachers do not want to spend time listening to stories about angel demons who have ten foot long swords and are obviously NOT overcompensating for anything that fight elf wizards and ninja ladies with giant chests (these are all tropes that have been pitched to one of my teachers at one time or another). To get by in this industry, you not only have to have fresh ideas that can sell, you need to work with others to accomplish this, and realize that they might have ideas just as fresh, if not more fresh, than yours. Humility is key. You’ll often get much farther by asking others for advice (especially instructors) than trying to flaunt your brilliant ideas to everyone who has ears.
Of course there’s always exceptions. If you are in a class that requires a concept, THEN PITCH IT AND SELL IT. Make it shine. I’ve gotten good at this because I try to avoid crazy tropes and try out stuff that could appeal to people that aren't just typical gamers or don't just appeal to me. (CONSIDER EVERY AUDIENCE) I've worked on two concepts at Aip: a board game for my intro class that plays off high school clichés in a cute and silly board game for all ages and a serious game concept focusing around mental disorders, suicide, depression, and recovery in a way that immerses the player. You can't just make stuff you like - because YOU don't represent all gamers. Study stuff. Research. Read about different countries, myths, world religions, art history, etc. Soak in knowledge. The more random stuff you know, the more creative you can get. Also always get feedback and critiques. Also making board games is good practice. Play testing is fun because you can play with friends.
Another topic that needs to be covered is...ANIME. Please please PLEASE do not make your portfolio filled with anime. PLEASE. Teachers in art school usually frown on it. 'they're just biased because they hate anime!' 'what's wrong with anime' 'I can draw just fine though it's my styyyle'. If you utter those words, drop out now. Yes, it seems mean and unfair. But you should save yourself money because art school is expensive. This is coming from someone who draws anime by the way. And advice from teachers who watch anime and have discussions with students about it. Anime is overused and will not fit in the American market of studios in most cases. Yes, you can still draw anime. But keep it out of classwork. Also please learn anatomy and never say you don't need to because of anime because NO YOURE WRONG. Also, you will make Lokii cry and she gets really pathetic and talks in 3rd person when she's upset that. Anatomy makes your anime look better too. Seriously. Life drawing is your friend too, but I'll have the resident AE life drawing expert write about that. (yes that's drawing nude people)
Going back to specialties....specialize as soon as you can. Spend time exploring and trying out stuff til you find what you like to do. Then when you find your favorite thing, stick with it. Improve. Make it your life. Jack-of-all-trades types aren't as needed as they were when the industry was a fledgling because there are so many people now. Be the best at what you do.
One more thing I really want to debunk is the fact at how awesome studios are. Yes, game studios are actually really cool. Read up on places like Blizzard or Valve. These types of places will have waterfall rooms, masseuses, food, etc. It seems like a crazy party, am I right?! Well, there’s a reason they have all these things. Because when you work there, you will be spending a lot of time there. And that’s just pre crunch time. Crunch time is a nightmare because you basically live at work during that time. People will sleep at the studio so they can get enough work done in short periods of time. So those things aren’t there to just be crazy perks (well they do help. Game studios ARE filled with likeminded nerds), but are there to help keep their employees sane and mostly healthy (albeit sleep deprived). I’m only shining a little light on crunch time…but be warned that any job in the games industry will most likely not always be a 9-5 job, but will be full of lots of working and loss of sleep. And then there’s the opposite end of being laid off after a project and having to move to another studio to start a new project…which is also very common.
[3] 3D MODELING – Modelers (not the fashion kind) are the digital artisans of the games and animation world. They create 3d objects in programs like 3DS Max, Maya, and Zbrush, and create assets that vary anywhere from environments, props, and characters. Modelers also have skills in Textuing, Shading, Rigging, Lighting, Rendering, Hair/Cloth/Particle simulation and basic scripting. There are many specializations in the 3d industry, but whether or not you become a generalist or a specialist in all these areas, a modeler has to study and reference a massive amount of subjects. Modelers need to have a very high degree of spacial awareness, and need to be able to create 3d representations of concepts and drawings that are given to them to build as accurately as possible.
AE Modeler: Geist
Hey, I’m Bren, I go by the name Geist on SWF. I’ve attended the Art Institute of Vancouver as a character modeler for a little over 2 years now, and I’m just about to get myself graduated soon. I have a decent amount of experience for a student, and I’m confident enough to share some key info that I feel is at least pseudo-important for anyone who wants to get into my area of expertise.
So, modeling. There’s a lot of myths and misunderstanding in this field, and hopefully I can clear some of those cobwebs up (or to be honest, just to spread awareness of its existence).
When I started school at the Art Institute, I wasn’t even aware that 3d modeling was as big or as important as it is. In fact, when I first applied to AIV, it wasn’t for the 3d modeling program, but for game design (I really wanted to work with video games since I was a kid). For some reason it had never before occurred to me that creating all those awesome characters for video games and movie CG was not only an emerging field of art, but something totally accessible, and not to mention practical, that I could do for a living. I could make giant fighting robots and not have to worry about falling under the starving artist cliché? Sign me up fifty times please.
Now, to be honest, the variety of experiences in modeling is near schizophrenic. 3D models function for a huge array of subjects, like the uses for traditional art, but with the added ability to function for more pragmatic purposes. Everywhere from video games, movies, advertising, even medical software, physics simulations, and lighting engineering and architecture use 3d modeling. It’s as much an artistic field as it is a technical field, and for that reason, the goals and processes of modeling vary widely.
For example, 3d illustrations are an extremely popular form of artistic expression. Artists have full creative control, commonly work solo, and can often work freelance from the comfort of their own homes.
Contrast that with modeling for game or animation studios, where you have very low creative control, large workloads and very important obligations to keep everything you do away from the prying eyes of the public.
Regardless, modeling takes a lot of man-hours, and can be very tedious and repetitious work, but it’s always extremely rewarding when it’s all done, and if you’re one of the people that can squeeze enjoyment out of every minute of it, you’ll never have to work a day in your life.
That being said, BIG IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER. This IS hard work. Many people come to art schools thinking it will not be hard work. It will be. Many people will think “Oh, I’m working on video games and movies so I can play video games and movies all day!” No. You cannot. People that come to art school expecting a free ride, a fun job, and some cake at the end of the day will be destroyed. It might be very likely that making video games is going to replace your hobby of playing them. This is not to be feared. It’s okay. Shhhh. It’ll be alright.
Let’s assume that you’re well aware of what this whole 3d modeling business is, and you want to go to school to learn how to do it so that you too can have a job making 3d sculptures. Good idea. Though probably not for the reasons you’re thinking.
Regardless of where you want to get into (video games, animation, etc. ), modeling is still a new field, and one that thrives in an artistic environment. Potential employers don’t care whether or not you have a fancy piece of paper that says you went to coolschool # 205 with a degree in ninja sculpting. Two things are going to determine your success – What you can do, and who you know. This is why it IS possible to become an artist without a formal education, but it’s much harder to do so. School will provide you with very valuable professional connections, and that’s like gold in an industry that’s as casual and as tight-knit as films or video games. It’s just as important for a person to be able to properly function in a social environment as it is for them to properly function at doing their job. (by the way, this is going to become a recurring theme in this thread. If you’re introverted, or shy, or can’t hold a conversation and your bladder at the same time, for your own sake, you’re going to need to learn how to talk to people. Everyone at an art school is going to be there for the same reasons you are; because they’re also introverted nerds who like ninja sculpting and playing video games. So talk to them about ninja sculpting and playing video games, damn it.)
So continuing onto the next subject, we come to the all-important-thing. Demo Reels. Your entire 1-4 years of education broken down into a minute and a half of you showing off your best and coolest stuff. Grades do not matter. Only your final product matters.
This isn’t to say classes will not be important, because they will be life and everything that centers around it. I’ll press the point again, modeling is long and hard work, and school will be no different. Like I’ve said, I came from an ENGINEERING degree and I wasn’t doing half as much work there as I ended up doing at art school.
But here’s the secret: it’s fun work. And you’ll probably want to keep doing it even in your free time (protip, if you don’t, you might want to reconsider what you’re doing) and you’ll eat, sleep and breathe modeling for as long as it takes to get good at it. A good drive will always create a successful artist. A good drive will be a more important factor of what kind of people (and connections) you’ll meet, and it’ll determine the quality of your final product much more than the number of pieces of paper your art school gives you when you grad or how many A’s you got last semester.
As mentioned, 3D modeling encompasses other forms of CG art as well, including texturing, lighting, rendering, and sometimes hair/ cloth simulation, particle effects and rigging as well. A generalist is a great asset for any studio, and even if you decide to become a specialist in environments, you’re going to have to have a large amount of skill in some, if not all of these other areas. It’s possible that some studios will want you to specialize to such a degree that you’ll focus on only one of these things (in fact, specialists are becoming increasingly popular), but for all intents and purposes, a broader skill range will almost guarantee success out of school.
Let’s say you DO want to be a modeler, even after all of the things I’ve said above. Awesome. You’re an awesome person. You will do awesome things. BUT PROBABLY NOT YET.
If you’re a part of the massive majority of around 85% of people, you’re going to want to do characters. If by chance you’re one of the few who really like building castles and exploding barrels, then good. You are ready and you can stop reading and may apply to your nearest school.
Okay, character people, here’s the thing. Everyone wants to do characters, and it just so happens that it’s not only the hardest and most technical aspect of the modeling process, it’s also most commonly a position of seniority, for that reason. You’re going to need an unbelievable amount of anatomy knowledge and it’s going to take a lot of practice. Extra life drawing classes WILL be a thing.
It’s possible that studios look for entry level modelers to do stand-in extras and crowds for video games and movies, but more often than not they don’t hire specific people for those jobs.
“Hey look, a character modeler! We really need one of those!”
– No one, ever.
As scary as that sounds, it really just means that as a prospective modeling student, an open mind is a powerful thing. I was lucky enough to have a good amount of experience under my belt when I went to art school, but I, like many others, went astray of my initial goals. What started as a focus on realistic modeling for games quickly turned into a focus on cartoony modeling for CG animations. What I’m trying to say is that you have enough time to get good at a lot of things, and if you really want to be a character modeler, it might be a smart plan to make it a fall-back specialty and make sure you really have a grasp of the basics for everything. A job is a job, and the industry is competitive. Sometimes you just gotta model boxes and barrels before you model the guy who breaks them.
4 ILLUSTRATION – Illustrators draw a lot. We’re the concept artists and the comic book artists and the ones who make the sweet posters. In this day and age Illustrators are all over digital mediums and get hired a lot to do editing in adobe programs like photoshop and fireworks and illustrator. Illustrators very often dabble in the arts of animation as well. Oh, and not to mention, it’s super easy for us to get jobs doing freelance work and not even having to leave your house :D
AE ILLUSTRATOR: AlleyCat
Hiya, I’m Aly, I work in the games industry instructing figure drawing to the artists that work at my studio, and I also do some 3D environment modeling when we’re on the modeling phase of a project. I attended art school, but I decided to graduate myself early to get a head start on my career. More on that later.*
So yeaaahhh Illustration! It’s pretty much what people think when they think of artsy jobs nowadays. It’s not really ‘fine arts’ as much as it used to be, but the great thing is that you can totally go to a fine arts school or a technical arts school to learn how to do it. Digital painting is getting more and more popular and the demand for these jobs is always there, whether or not you’re working for a game company or for some random guy off the street who has money.
Believe it or not, drawing skills are still a rare commodity in games and film. It’s one of those things that just isn’t needed through the entire process of making a film or a video game though, so we run into a few problems of supply and demand. There are a HUGE amount of illustrators and digital artists and concept artists and so on… but companies have no need to hire all of them at once. Actually, there’s usually only like 2 or 3 concept artists that will end up working on an entire project!
(By the way, I’m going to focus on the subject of concept art because that’s kind of what everyone wants to be. And I’ll be honest, it’s definitely the cool badass job to be, but it’s SO hard to get into and you can use drawing skills for so many other things. So you can’t get discouraged.)
So you’re probably asking like ‘okay that’s nice but what can I actually expect going to school for this?’ Right, okay. You could be sick of hearing this, but you can expect a lot of work on your plate. A lot of that work won’t even be from assignments, but it’ll be assigned by you, to you, because you’ll realize early on that it’s a really competitive place. You need to break into the top percent so you can secure a job, and then fun times can come after you’ve accomplished all that. You’ll have to buckle down in school, take it all in like a sponge (even those classes you’re kinda like ‘say waaaat’ about) and learn as much as humanly possible in those 2 or whatever years you’re there for.
*I said I’d touch on it later when I mentioned I didn’t actually graduate art school. It’s true. You see, when you attend an art school it’s all about creating connections with people, and creating an art portfolio you can show to potential employers. I actually had developed a good connection with someone within the games industry who was kind enough to pass on the word to someone he knew who was hiring. There was no longer a point in staying in school, seeing as my work was accomplished, so I simply moved on. It’s proof that connections are SUPER important. I got a job when I wasn’t even looking for it
Oh and one other thing. Remember those crappy highschool arts classes where you learned how to draw cubes and you learned how red is next to orange on the color wheel? You’re going to have to learn that again, because in a lot of art schools, art fundamentals is a big thing. People start from all over the skill map, including total beginners, so odds are you are not going to be the worst, and you’re not going to be the best. You’re all going to be drawing lines and circles for weeks anyways so what does it matter?
You’ll also run into a little class called life drawing, or figure drawing. Whichever it may be for you, know that it is IMPORTANT. It is the holy grail of classes, and it will make you feel like total crap for the first bit, guaranteed. It’s practically drawing boot camp, and it’s designed to break you of any bad habits you might have and completely reset the playing field for everyone. Be prepared to look at that guy who drew that really cool picture of the thing and laugh at his twisted, lovecraftian-like amalgamations as he tries desperately to draw a full body nude figure in only 30 seconds. Then look over at your own stuff and stare deeply into the single, lonely depressed line that sits on your page – the only thing you’ve done all class. It’s not even a good line either. Tears run down your cheeks.
STICK WITH IT THOUGH. You’re not obligated to, and the classes won’t last your full stay at the school, but trust me when I say keep going to those and within a very short period of time you will be that drawing wiz that you envy so much now. I started in art school no better than the lowly average, but I attended life drawing twice, if not three times a week, and within the margin of 6 months I accelerated to the tops of my peers, and the highest grades in my program. It will help you with everything you need to know as an illustrator; wrist control, special awareness, anatomy, basic drawing skills, lifelike poses, improvisation, line quality, speed increase. It’s like that book in Skyrim that gives you plus 1 in every skill, only it doesn’t go away after a single use. You’ll benefit from it no matter what you want to go into.
That being said, please don’t constantly compare yourself to other artists. It’ll make you totally miserable no matter who you are, because everyone is biased against their own work. You’ll see all the little mistakes you made, even if everyone else is totally oblivious to them, so for your mental health, don’t set your bar with other people in mind.
Also, prepare to have to draw things you’re not interested in, because a lot of the times it’ll be other people’s ideas you have to put down to paper (or to photoshop, more likely). It’s not a bad thing, at all though, after all, if you truly enjoy drawing, it shouldn’t matter what the subject is.
I guess I’ll talk about the big popular focuses in illustration now, since there’s a pretty good variety of stuff you can get into. The nice thing is that skills for one area definitely help you with skills in others, so just because you want to focus a lot on your stuff in comic book illustration doesn’t mean you can’t go out and do colour keying for storyboards.
The most popular one is concept art so I’ll talk about it first. I’ll lay this to you straight, this is also the hardest one to get into. There aren’t many open positions in concept art as you might think. Some studios skip the process entirely because they either lack the time, the funding, or they don’t think it’s even necessary. You’ll see big studios flaunting concept work all the time, and that’s usually because it’s awesome looking and everyone likes seeing behind the scenes. You’ll have creative control, and at the same time you won’t. Commonly at the stage of concept, the art director will have specific creative things in mind that he will give to concept artists to make over and over and over again. It’s important that you are fast and that you can quickly make dozens of small variations to the same thing. It’s rarely in the concept artists hands to go out and create new ideas, but it does happen every once in a while.
The easiest ways to become a concept artist is to either get works of yours published in a book, or get your stuff well known on the internet through social sites like cghub.com, cgsociety.com or conceptart.org. NOT deviantart, for Christ sakes.
Moving on, comic book illustration is a common popular choice, because of the prevalence of manga and webcomics throughout the interbutts. Both of which are reasons that I should now smack the proverbial basketball from your hands and make you feel bad. Yeah you have a webcomic, cool. It won’t get you a job. It’s great practice, but unless you’re xkcd or penny arcade and you’re getting paid for it, it won’t get you hired. It probably won’t even get you a job doing webcomics. In fact, if you decide to take school, your web comic is going to get in the way of some really important things. I’ve heard a scary amount of people blow off work and exams because they hadn’t updated their webcomic in a while. Bad decision.
And ANIME! Yay, right? No.
Anime is fun to watch (sometimes). Anime is fun to draw (because it’s so inherently appealing). It is not fun to work on, and you probably will not work on it. Anime is a stylistic trap. It’s true, I’ve seen it on way more than one occasion. Artists get so stuck because they refuse to do anything but anime and they end up not being able to do anything else because they can’t break their bad habits. They fall behind their classmates, and then they drop out. It is a hazard. There are also also huge myths surrounding the entire anime industry. Anime is the assembly line of illustration, plain and simple. Some places like nickelodeon do sort of anime stuff, like the legend of korra, but that’s animation, not strictly illustration. To put things in depressingly simple and crushing terms, there is no studio demand outside of japan for anime. A very, very miniscule number of people will approach you to do freelance anime work. You can totally draw all the big eyed freaks you want in your spare time just in case maybe someday that changes, but please, please, don’t expect a job doing it. I hate to be the buzzkill, but whatever.
So what should you know if you want to get into comics? Anatomy, Colour theory, Composition, Lighting and Photoshop are the biggest ones that spring to mind. If you don’t know any one of those things and you want to be a comic book artist, go and google your brain out, like, right now. Practice and study, practice and study, repeat, and then practice and study.
A few more domains of illustration are Storyboarding and Colour Keying. They’re very similar to eachother, and they’re very similar to drawing comics. The idea behind storyboards is to quickly thumbnail out how a scene in a movie or animation will play out, and a lot of which I mentioned above in the comic illustration paragraph is true here too. Composition and perspective take the frontlines of importance here. Similarly, colour keying is thumbnailing what the lighting and colour will look like in a scene. Colour theory is very important at this phase, as well as the above mentioned composition and perspective. I mention these because lots of people aren’t even totally aware of them, and they’re really fun and well paying fields of illustration. Oh, and Life drawing is a must if you want to get into these. Duh.
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** Post has been reviewed and given a "Good Read!" comment by an Instructor that was referenced in the wall of text from the Art Institute of Pittsburgh! He has been a teacher there for over 10 years, has experience in the industry, and is the reason Lokii is so cynical about the industry! 'Grats to all our writers! <3 **
Tutorials, Videos, Etc that are awesome
So you want to be a Game Designer
Veteran game designer explains the games industry in an amusing way that is actually all too common. Don't be box robot, folks.
