Introductions

My name is Rebecca and I am just starting my first year on De Montfort University’s Game Art Design course. I come from Camberley in Surrey, but my Dad grew up here so Leicester is not entirely unfamiliar. I was very happy to get a place on this course- after seeing how it would aid me in developing my skills I was very keen on it. It’s also a bonus that students seem to come out of this course with a high level of employability. As for what I’d like to do within the industry, obviously it would be great to become a concept artist if I could, but being an environment artist sounds like it could be quite rewarding.

My goals for this year are pretty basic- I want to be able to draw fast (spending 22 hours on a sketch smaller than A4 is not exactly impressive) and on a different subject, as twee as it sounds I’d like to make some really good friends.

The games industry is notoriously difficult to find work in, but maybe the biggest hurdle is just becoming skilled enough for you to be chosen over others. I’ve been looking at some industry vacancies on www.gamesindustry.biz/jobs and seen some interesting stuff. I was not expecting to find a position being advertised for lead concept artist at the famous Kojima Productions in L.A. Of course they wanted more than 4 years of experience in concept art, but it shows that those jobs aren’t quite as impossible to get as I’d have thought. I went down the whole list of vacancies in the Art and Animation category to see what kind of work was available right now. As of writing, 70% of the jobs listed (and I did count) explicitly state they require prior experience in the industry, and many of the others imply it. I suppose this shows the importance of working your way up to get the exact position you want, and also it links back to the benefit of getting on a course with good connections to the industry!

It’s interesting to compare some of the enjoyable sounding posts to the skills I have now. To pick a random example, a Cambridge based game studio is advertising for an Illustrator of Creative Fantasy Art (Illustrator of Creative Fantasy Art) with requirements that -for the most part- I could see myself achieving within the next few years. With the first thing on the list- “Expert use of Photoshop and other advanced painting tools” I’d say I’m already quite well acquainted with Photoshop, but then again there are many tools on there I have yet to need and so are foreign to me. I can’t say I’ve used any other painting programs though, at least not extensively. They then specify they want someone with great understanding of anatomy, colour and lighting. I have… okay anatomy skills, my application of colour is somewhat hit-and-miss and while I can keep lighting consistent it can get really quite confusing sometimes. Lighting is something I really want to master though, because it lends so much to creating atmosphere, which for me is just so important in art. There are a few other things on the list, but the only major problem I’d be likely to have is where they demand “Excellent communication skills”. That's not really my speciality.

That’s it for now, I was hoping to get this entry up sooner, but I was re-discovering my ineptitude when it comes to writing… pretty much anything. I’ve also still been getting used to managing my workload effectively, but hopefully when my new computer arrives (which should be within the next week- exciting stuff!) I’ll be able to do 3D work whenever I need to rather than only when the lab is open, which could save me from wasting the daytime I need to get the drawing tasks done.