Applying for college for this fall - Need portfolio critique!

Kaffekopp · 03-01-2012, 10:37 PM

Hi, my name is Oskar and I live in southern Sweden. In two months I'm applying for the art program in a college called The Game Assembly in Malmö, and part of that is handing in my portfolio and I need some critique.

I need to know what to focus on and practice until the middle of may, and would be very grateful if someone could give me some advice, and tell me my strengths and weaknesses and what I should do.

http://oskarmoller.daportfolio.com/

Thanks in advance!

yaustar · 03-02-2012, 01:30 AM

For college application, looks pretty impressive to me. Not sure how high the standard is for the college though.

Kaffekopp · 03-02-2012, 02:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yaustar

For college application, looks pretty impressive to me. Not sure how high the standard is for the college though.

Thank you! Is there something specific that you think I should work on? More traditional drawings for example? Or 3d-art and such?

nightblue · 03-02-2012, 07:03 AM

Like yaustar said, without knowing the college standard it's hard to know where you stand. If it's available, look at the student works coming out of the college and try to match or exceed their quality.

Your digital painting skills are your strongest point at the moment. If you want to pursue concept art, keep in mind that concept art and illustrations are two different domains. The mood shots are good at showing you know colors and composition, but what will really help you get a job and be good at your job are design sketches like your insect monsters.

I recently saw a Feng Zhu video that greatly inspired me, and would highly recommend seeing this: http://youtu.be/dnflBERf2zM It highlights the most important skills, apart from foundational skills which everybody needs, for entertainment design.

Hope this helps, best of luck to your pursuit!

Kaffekopp · 03-02-2012, 10:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nightblue

Hope this helps, best of luck to your pursuit!

Thank you, it sure does. So basically just keep going with what I'm doing, but focus more on designs of characters, vehicles and monsters and not so much on environments? Thanks again!

nightblue · 03-03-2012, 08:19 AM

Sorry for being unclear. By "like insect monsters" I meant the format rather than the subject-matter. If you want to do concept art, don't neglect environment either. However, the big, vague mood shots are not all that practical in production. Bottom line is, can a few 3d artists look at your concept and make the scene without constantly asking you what everything is? Try to be specific and try to keep in mind where game camera is (1st person? RTS-style camera?) and concept accordingly.

Here's a really good thread of concepts done for a single game: http://www.conceptart.org/forums/sho...d.php?t=118126 Note that there are mood shots and quick ideation sketches in the thread, but there are also more developed scenes, in-game-shot paintovers, concepts of single environment props, and linedrawings. If you can imagine yourself playing through the environment, and show gameplay consideration in your design, you'll win bonus points with game companies.

Destin Bales · 03-03-2012, 12:23 PM

I think your work shows real promise, especially your digital drawings landscapes.

Here is the advice that I give to artists when preparing their portfolio for a job:

www.ineedtomakegames.com/how-to-get-a-job-in-gaming/2012/2/19/step-6-resume-and-online-portfolio.html

The most important lesson I've learned over the years is this:

Quote:

Show only the best of what you have accomplished as quality is far more valuable here than quantity

I think this rings true for what you are trying to do as well.

Good luck and let us know how it goes!

Kaffekopp · 03-04-2012, 08:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Destin Bales

I think your work shows real promise, especially your digital drawings landscapes.

Here is the advice that I give to artists when preparing their portfolio for a job:

http://www.ineedtomakegames.com/how-...portfolio.html

The most important lesson I've learned over the years is this:

I think this rings true for what you are trying to do as well.

Good luck and let us know how it goes!

Quote:

Originally Posted by nightblue

Sorry for being unclear. By "like insect monsters" I meant the format rather than the subject-matter. If you want to do concept art, don't neglect environment either. However, the big, vague mood shots are not all that practical in production. Bottom line is, can a few 3d artists look at your concept and make the scene without constantly asking you what everything is? Try to be specific and try to keep in mind where game camera is (1st person? RTS-style camera?) and concept accordingly.

Here's a really good thread of concepts done for a single game: http://www.conceptart.org/forums/sho...d.php?t=118126 Note that there are mood shots and quick ideation sketches in the thread, but there are also more developed scenes, in-game-shot paintovers, concepts of single environment props, and linedrawings. If you can imagine yourself playing through the environment, and show gameplay consideration in your design, you'll win bonus points with game companies.

Many thanks to both of you! Awesome advice and I'll definately take a close look on those links you posted. It really helps! Thanks again!