Crimson Daggers — Art forum

Hey there, I've got a question and was wondering if anyone could help me out :)

I'd love to commit to concept art as a career, and I think I would enjoy working within a games company.

I was reading the advice posted by Edge magazine on careers (found here) and I saw one piece of advice they give is never to apply for anything other than your current level of experience.... for example, if you're a recent graduate, it's best to apply for internships or entry level jobs.

Now here's my conundrum... I did indeed graduate from an animation degree course...six years ago! And since then, I have done lots of small freelance jobs, which do involve doing concept work, however nothing in an actual company in an industrial environment. I've also done a lot of freelance graphic design pieces (portfolio is here if anyone is curious). Mostly I work day jobs like many other artists, to keep myself and family fed.

So.... should I be applying for entry level jobs only...? I mean, I suppose I have very little to put on my CV really except for my small bits of freelance illustrations which are nothing to sing about.

Entry level jobs seem to be far and few between... though I am keeping a sharp eye out. I'm living in Ireland so I'm mostly focusing on the uk :)

Also, if anyone wants to crit my portfolio, you can tell me how weak it is for concept art, don't worry, I won't be offended, I just want to get better :)

Thak you! Also sorry that was super long ;___;

Heya, I'm by no means a pro, but I have freelanced a bit as well and hopefully I can offer some help.

I don't really see why you can't apply for any role you please, unless of course you perhaps don't want to be advertising yourself if your work isn't up to scratch. I'd say that you will probably have better luck applying for jobs that match your skill level or are just slightly "outside" your skill level. Really it doesn't even matter, because all it will come down to for an artist role is your folio. If your folio is crap, unless you have a special contact into a particular company, you won't make it through.

I would be less concerned about applying at the "right" level, and have a harsh honest look at your folio, get some critique and opinion and then really try to make it the best you can and keep practicing and improving.
First crit on your folio....it didn't work for me!! No way to click on the section links?? So instant fail on that front...unless I'm a r*tard and can't figure it out...which could be as i am running on 3 hours sleep from last night :)

Nothing came out of that for me either, no clickable link, couldn't see any of your work

Unless you have an impressive animation reel that is applicable to the company you are looking for, consider yourself entry level, game companies want game making experience. You need to seek others working there and compare your work to their's.

Your portfolio appears to be in flash, any art director checking your site on a whim on any iOS device won't be able to view it. Make the portfolio as to the point and easy to access as possible.

Well I was bored and I stumbled upon this thread again, and the site appears to now be working so I'mma gonna respond to this though we got nuthin' back for our efforts the first time. lol...why do I bother? Wish I could burn the "helpful" gene out of my body.

Ok so I had a look at your folio that now works.
First I have to say; not a big fan of the flash based site because it is pretty slow to browse around and as Mike said, less accessible. It's pretty slow for me too (and though my connection is sheep infested and shit being in rural NZ it still wasn't a smooth experience even by my standards)

You generally want something quick and to the point that showcases your work on first entry into the site. You probably don't want to showcase more than 15-20 of your absolute best pieces. Consider something as simple as a tumblr blog tailored just to your folio. I will be using this for mine http://monkeybreadart.tumblr.com/ (Please ignore the crap work that actually populates the folio at this time...I am working on becoming awesomer and culling this down soon)

Second, you need to do a cull of some of your work in there. You have shown a lot of really basic sketches and figure work in the character/creature design section which really doesn't showcase much design exploration and are very basic in execution. I'd link to the particular images to remove but I can't because I'd have to navigate to each individual one in full and link it in directly and it's too much effort to do this (accessibilty!).

The illustration section should be culled too. Things like the "rainey day", "nom com" and "cuddle" are probably way too basic to be shown. I think the Gaga, Beyonce, lil red, chick on a bullet and under a bedsign are probably the better ones. you might want to consider moving A devil' trap to the character design section because it probably is the most completed character design you have in there at the moment. You also have illustrations in your character section (The mouse for example) and character designs in your illustration section. This won't go across well if you don't know where these pieces fit yourself.

For a professional portfolio I would probably not include your studies. Art directors and companies don't want to see what you do in your spare time to get better, but what you can do for them. A lot of really established pros have loose sketches on their sites....that's mostly because their sketches are actually works of art and show off their sensibilities and skills really well! Also they are pros so who gives a crap what they put on the site because they are established and people know them, and come to them anyway.


Your style is more skewed towards animation than games atm. If you really want to get a job in games I'd really try and emulate some of the character concept presentation and style that you see for those. Or maybe there are companies that work in that style that you want to target but you should still take some of them to a further level of finish including rendering and not just showing lineart. You named the section "creatures" as well, and I don't think there is enough in there to justify that at the moment.

In general you want to attack the market you want to break into, so if you want game concept work, know what that looks like and start showcasing that. If you want animation work then do that. You can't be wishy washy and kinda cater to everything. Be clear and concise. I'd also reduce the stuff you say in your "info"section (which could probably be called "about me" or something like that to be clearer) about being proficient in digital art and having a strong grasp of anatomy and movement etc etc This comes across as sounding really amateurish. The reason: because experienced artists can take one look at your work and judge that for themselves. It's cv speak, when really you want to embark in portfolio speak. Don't try and be everything to everyone, this is a very green mistake ( I have done it myself) so focus your message and it will come across as more professional. I like that you shunted people off to your separate jewellery website. That is exactly what you want to do: make separate folios that showcase different areas if they are not related in a close way.

I hope that wasn't too harsh. normally I have more positive things to say but I have to be honest, I'm kinda tired and I'm not sure if I'll even get a response and in this case I'm being cruel to be kind. I really hope you read this :)