Looking for another serious production artist

[Eric]

So I've finally decided to get serious about doing production art for a living. I'm no longer overwhelmed by the complexity of Photoshop or the nuances of using a graphics tablet and so now I'm ready to get working on my portfolio for the industry. I'm looking for an artist partner or two to work alongside as we push each other to complete our portfolios within six months. I have a plan in place that will get me prepared for the job market in about 6 months or whenever I manage to finish my portfolio of 30-40 finished pieces. My level of commitment is such that I went ahead and bought myself everything I will need to make this a reality: a new notebook, larger tablet, and a huge monitor!

I just don't know too much about technology like Skype or instant messaging so you'll have to clue me in on that stuff. I do know that my new notebook has a built-in microphone and webcam so I should be fine for video conferencing. I think instant messaging might be easier and more convenient for now as I learn more about how to use Skype.

Here's a short bio:
Name: Eric
Background: illustration, artistic anatomy, art fundamentals, graphic design, mechanical design and drafting, architectural drafting, traditional drawn animation, 20+ years of drawing experience.

My area of weakness is color theory because I've been mostly a pen and ink illustrator my whole life and so I don't have much experience painting. The good news is I've managed to overcome this in the past month and so now I feel I'm ready to partner up with someone on this message board.

Location: Oregon.
Schedule: well, since I'm semi-retired at the moment I'm very flexible with my schedule and so any schedule might work. The only commitment I have is to do art for at least 8 hours per day!

I really don't have much finished digital art to show anyone at the moment because I just got started with digital art so you'll just have to trust me when I tell you I can draw well enough to match an pro comic book illustrator out there. I'm going to start tomorrow so I should have something to show anyone who's interested in a day or so.

So basically, I'm a serious art student with some pro experience trying to master this new digital art medium as I push myself really hard, probably to the point of exhaustion, as I try to cram a years worth of production design training into a six month time frame.

For my portfolio I'll be focusing mostly on environment set designs suitable for film production and game design. I'll be placing a huge emphasis on hard surface designs such as vehicles and architecture with a sci-fi theme in most of my portfolio pieces. I'll do the occasional creature/character model sheet for variety and maybe a few design boards to round out my portfolio. Each portfolio piece is probably going to require something like 6-10 quick sketches in order to refine the design and composition. I'll fill you in on the details later.

So naturally, I'm hoping to find another fellow artist with similar goals in mind and the dedication to work towards completing their portfolio as quickly as possible and to provide support and encouragement along the way. I'm not really looking for critiques of my work, I know where all my problem areas are--I'm a much harsher critic of my stuff than anyone could possibly be! But feel free to offer crits and advice if you'd like; I've got pretty thick skin! And I'll do the same if you'd like, just don't take it personally. :-) I can be harsh because I don't sugar-coat anything! So this kind of workload is bound to burn me out and I may start to procrastinate along the way and that's where you come in, pal! Just help me a little with some words of encouragement so I don't slack off too much. And that's pretty much all I ask of you during this process.

I think it would be really cool and exciting to be able to instant message each other while we're painting to keep the motivation going. And then email each other frequent updates of our work so we can learn each others work flow.

This post is starting to get a little out of control so I'll conclude it. I just wanted mention one last thing: If you like this idea let me know and I'll be able to give you more details with my specific plan of action. It's a workable plan if you have at least 5 hours a day to devote to it. thanks for reading..

-Eric

p.s.: I'll try to post a new painting on this thread ASAP so you can get an idea of my skill level.

[Eric]

Here's a silly update, lol! So I'm this huge computer game fanatic and I'm in the middle of this awesome campaign on Shogun 2 and I have to finish it; I'm almost done! When that happens I'll start on my portfolio work ASAP. No kidding, I'm serious! It's my sick addiction to strategy games that prevents me from working on my art. I should have this game finished by tonight and then I'll start uploading stuff to my other thread that I started in the sketchbook forum. Btw, I uploaded a really crappy drawing on it to prove to everyone that I can suck too! So if no one wants to join me on this adventure as a study partner, no prob, I'll just try to find the motivation on my own as I press on with my ambitious plan anyways.

So, since I mentioned Shogun 2 I'll tell you this: The developer is Creative Assembly from England and that's the company that I'm going to work for in about six months. They'll probably hire me before then, but who knows. There's a few other companies that I'm interested in like Dreamworks, Weta Digital, Dice, ILM, Pixar, Valve, and some others but I really have my sights set on CA for the moment. Here are a few companies that people should avoid like the plague because of horrific working conditions: Rockstar Games, Ubisoft, Crytek, Team Bondi, Activision, Blizzard, and the list goes on and on. Just thought I'd mention that in case you had your sights set on working in the video game industry.

[Eric]

I just set up my skype account. Look me up at eric.woods92 and let's hook it up! So is everybody too afraid to join me on this crazy adventure? I haven't got a single response and it's been like 2 days. Don't be afraid!

[YOLOLEX]

ok i add u. i never played shogun 2 but shogun was a legendary game. u have my respect sir.

[Eric]

Okay, so.... I just took a long break from skype to help my dad. He hurt his leg bad and he couldn't get around very easily, plus he's old so it took him a long time to heal. So now I'm back on Skype and you can find me at eric.woods92. This time I'm gonna get really serious about my artwork. No kidding, dude! My other sketchbook thread on this board is going to get more active for sure!

About seeking a study partner, I'm not very serious about it anymore but I'm still interested in doing some collaborations with other artists. It's pretty low key now and it's mainly just to stay in touch with someone while I paint during the day so that boredom doesn't set in too much.

[Eric]

Here's an update:

Hey everybody! I just joined this really great group of speed painters from this site. It's a daily 30 minute speed painting session that's 7 days a week. I'm not a huge believer in speed painting but at least it's getting me to paint everyday. Also, as a photoshop newbie I've learned quite a lot about color theory and the best brush settings to use if you're new to digital painting from this group. Everyone is very helpful and we're all trying to get better quickly. I can see about three of us turning pro in as little as six months from this group! Right now we have about 8 regular members but we'd like to have more so if you're interested just drop me a line in this thread and I'll get you signed up for the class.

Here's a link to the group's blog:
http://dailyartpoop.blogspot.com/

So basically, I've found a great group of people to really kick my ass in gear as I learn the ins and outs of digital painting. I'm not going to be collaborating with anyone for now, maybe later, as I really just want to focus on learning the basics for the time being.

[zohanx747]

About seeking a study partner, I'm not very serious about it anymore but I'm still interested in doing some collaborations with other artists. It's pretty low key now and it's mainly just to stay in touch with someone while I paint during the day so that boredom doesn't set in too much.

[Eric]

About seeking a study partner, I'm not very serious about it anymore but I'm still interested in doing some collaborations with other artists. It's pretty low key now and it's mainly just to stay in touch with someone while I paint during the day so that boredom doesn't set in too much.

Hi Zohanx,

Sorry it took forever for me to get back to you. If you're still interested in joining our Skype group then look me up at "eric.woods92" on Skype and I'll give you an invite.

It's a thirty minute painting session and we don't really do collaborations at the moment but it might change in the future. Everyday is a random topic and it's usually announced about 5 minutes before we start so you don't have much time to search for reference material on the internet.

-Eric

[Eric]

So I'm still here. I haven't checked in on C&D for a long time. I think I'm going to be more regular on here from now on. I'll start posting in the sketchbook forum to keep a record of my progress. I've pretty much given up on 30 minute speed paintings--I don't seem to be making much improvements that way. I think I'm more interested in just collaborating with one or two other artists on some environment studies.

I think it would be really cool and great practice to pick a theme for an environment painting with another artist and give ourselves a deadline to finish the work without sharing progress updates until the job is completed. Afterwards, discuss in detail the creative process and techniques used to finish the work. I'll totally explain my tricks and techniques for constructing environments quickly with minimal effort and I'll offer truly harsh but helpful critiques of your work along the way--that way you'll have concrete info on how to improve. I'm spent more than a decade receiving some of the harshest critiques from professors and fellow students in my time so I think I know how to dish it out as well! I'm thinking we could do maybe like two or three paintings of a single theme; something that can be easily achievable in 1-2 days and we'll stay connected through Skype. That way we can chat while we paint to alleviate some boredom during the process.

Does anyone want to join me in this little group? I think something like this would offer excellent practice and experience for the real world of production design for film and games. Working on 2-4 paintings in a single day would really help with multitasking and work flow efficiency.

The more I think about this idea the more excited I'm getting about it. I think this would really help me improve quickly. It's been well over six months since I started this thread and I haven't met my deadline of a finished portfolio yet--I'm not even close and I'm starting to get frustrated with that. So if this strikes your fancy, drop me a line on here and we'll get started. In the meantime, I'm going to kickstart my sketchbook on here today to give myself some motivation.

I'll keep my eye on this thread in case anyone is interested...

-Eric