Nick Cato Portfolio

[futurespaceghost]

Hey guys just updated my portfolio and I'm looking for crits on the work how its presented and basically any other odd things you see that i can improve on

***PORTFOLIO****




thanks

[Jonas Jerde]

A lot of your figures look very stiff, maybe try some gesture drawing. I would also study more about rhythm and balance.

I feel like i'm saying this a lot lately, but the design itself is lacking in my opinion. There really isn't a design that excites my imagination in here. Just try taking more risks in your design, I think that would help a lot.

your work ethic seems good though, so keep it up :)

[Amit Dutta]

Heya had a look. Generally it is well presented, Carbonmade does get to the point which is nice.

About the work, there are some odd proportions to your anatomy. You tend to put the knees too low on some of your characters. Examples are the first one (this may just be attributed to incorrect foreshortening) and the gun pirate guy. Small looking lower limbs!
The 6 pack guy, ironically has one set too many abdominal muscles.
The space lady, is holding a helmet that wouldn't fit her space chihuahua and her hand is tiny. I think you do have a bit of trouble with foreshortening.
I think the poses are a little stiff and could definitely be improved with more focus on gesture.

I like the general rendering style, colours and presentation, though feel you could probably pay more attention to volume as it wraps around forms. Things look a bit cutout in areas especially where they approach the edges of forms.

Does the sketches area really need to be separate? Could be part of the concept area. They are all characters. Just because they aren't polished as much doesn't mean they aren't done or valid concepts. Just something to think about.

I really like that face in the personal pieces section. It's your best piece in my opinion, but it feels a little lonely sitting there on it's own.

Also, is there any way of adding a header or menu link or sidebar with your contact details that show all the time. Just to be absolutely blatant about it. i know it's easy enough to click on about me, but it's a whole lot easier to have your contact not even a click away.
Hope that helps

[futurespaceghost]

Thanks for the crits jj and monkey!

I really didnt notice the leg problem until now :( and about the stiffness. do you mean the figures are oddly stiff for concept art? Most of the concept art i see are usually idle figures or in a walk frame. should i do mre active poses even though im just trying to show off design?

That leads me to design which i know i suck at but most of the time when i transfer my sketchbook thumbs into digital to clean up and add anatomy, it gets really tame and the design isnt as striking as tge original im trying to fix that lol

@monkeybread by cutout you mean the hard line right? I was trying to go for something stylistic with images like the purple demon dude or the black guy in the yellow coat but now that you mention it looks more like a volume rendering problem instead of something purposely done it does look a little stupid haha

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Im just a little confused as to what i should be shooting for with my portfolio overall. So to get a smal game studio gig i should show that i can do anything from assets to splash screens but to get a big studio gig i should show that i can do one thing extremely well. The pros i hear saying this always say you dont want to confuse the clients with too many things but i dont see why if a character concept artist put some prop designs in his portfolio would be seen as a bad thing. i see feng zhus students work and they are showcasing everything from characters to vehicles. why do pros tell others to specialize? Are they saying that if a fzd student wanted to freelance he couldnt get work because his portfolio is all over the place? Artist tell beginners you just have to be better than the 2nd to the worst to get in but that makes no sense to me because if your skillset is that low how would you get seen?

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Theres seems to be no middle ground between the quality of work and thhe jobs you get. its almost like you have to be at an applibot level to get odd deviant art jobs :/ and what bothers me is that you can rarely just jump to applibot gigs even though you could be doing them. im not by any means saying im half as god as applibot illustrators, but theres a huge grey area im in now where im seeing artist as good as me or lower getting commissions and artists on a daarken level charging $50 bucks an images as if their skill set inst enough to live off. im just gonna come out and say im shooting for a starter level so i can afford to level up (spending more time painting than working). but my what im trting to ask here is where is that starting level??? Do you guys get regular work if you dont mind me asking? Where is that quality line froor a client to say " i can pay a $100 for that" to saying " thats worth $500 or $1400" or is there even a line? Does ever thing has to be a rigney carbon copy before you get jobs to live off of and just hope you get lucky enough to find a client who knows exactly what youre worth at your current skill level?

[Amit Dutta]

Ok dude...time to step back and breathe. Take deep breaths....in......out......in.......out.
Right, now here's what you do. Forget about getting a fucking job!
As counter-intuitive as it sounds, I think you are focusing waay too hard on that. Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad thing to tailor your folio, and know who you are pitching to and what they would like to see, but there is NO magic equation and being so stressed about what to focus on, is probably more detrimental to your work than you might realise.

Instead I would say, focus on having fun and working on something that fills YOU with passion. Something that you are excited about, not something you think somebody will want to see. It is those pieces that get you work...absolutely without doubt. My best piece to date, was one that I did in only 8 hours, it flowed, I didn't even think about it, it wasn't for any purpose, it was just purely for my own enjoyment. I was a bit surprised how much people liked it, but actually it makes sense. They like it, because I loved the process so much and it wasn't done out of a stress of having to deliver, and it shows through in every brushstroke and design choice

I remember seeing your posts about finishing something like 50 characters in two months or something like that, and honestly, thought "that's a good way to suck all the good juice out of the work".

Ok so definitely don't try so hard to "toe the line" of whatever the fucking line happens to be...eg I see so many people now say they want to do applibot work (I personally mostly don't rate their work anyway...uber detailed over rendered ughh, except for a few) and try so hard to nail that level of render. Nothing wrong with it, except trying sooo hard to replicate something as a final goal in a creative field isn't necessarily the best way to go about generating a unique take on things in my opinion.

In terms of what gets you work...well....no one will hire you if you don't put yourself out there. As this is a crit of your folio, I imagine not many people have seen your stuff yet? Have you networked, marketed, harrassed art directors and studios? Getting work, is a full time job (almost) in itself. For every hour painting expect to spend another hour and probably more in marketing and networking. This is the reality of breaking into freelance. Once you get more clients and you start developing repeat business and a rep...then it gets a little easier I think. I used to freelance more a year ago, and I got most of my jobs by approaching people. Some approached me, but only after my stuff had been out in various places.

I stopped doing that, because I work full time (non art related job) and I couldn't juggle both freelance deadlines, the job, and have any semblance of a life at the same time. Since then, with no marketing, no networking besides posting on a few sites, how much work do I get? NONE. Well almost none, but effectively none. So key point is, as hard as you work at painting, put at least that much effort into the business side, or nothing will happen.

I think it's ok to aim for the low paying to start with. It's certainly an experience and builds your confidence (and wracks up the horror stories for your freelance artist dues) but I would recommend that always keep in your mind that you should accept and do work that you are genuinely interested in, or it will quickly become a hell job, like any other. I learned that the hard way.

Don't lose faith man. I've been doing this seriously for 2.5 years and only now am I scratching the bottom level of decent professional gigs, but I first got the idea of illustration at least 5 years ago if not more. It's a long journey. It's tough. The thing I've learned the most is, enjoy yourself. This is so key. Stress does not help you out. So if you want to do props, do props. If you want to do vehicles do vehicles. If you want to do fairies blowing bubble kisses to their unicorns, do that. From what I've heard, most large studios (especially for movies) actually prefer generalists more and more over the specialists. It's cheaper to hire one guy that can move across areas, than three that can only do 1 thing. Of course if you have a preference push it..because it will show in your work.

And yeah, luck is one of those things that certainly plays a part in getting your break...I firmly believe that, but it is about knowing how to put yourself in the right situations to be more lucky, if that makes any sense?

[Jonas Jerde]

Your psyching yourself out.

Unless you don't have a place to live, or have to get money for rent or something... There's no rush. Just study, as much as you can. If you just want money, get a little job on the side or something.

You keep saying you know what your weaknesses are but you are lost on what to do. If you know your weaknesses why aren't you trying to get rid of them? That's all you need to worry about when your learning. and yes, I do think you are still at a "learning" level in your work... for now.

And by stiffness I don't necessarily mean movement, I mean the flow in the figures... Look up gesture drawing and you will know what I mean. Its basically just the curves that give a character more life.


I think your number one problem right now is that you are skipping the most important step in becoming an artist. your trying to get a job before you have finished your initial learning phase.

[Amit Dutta]

Could I just add to JJ's point, which I mostly agree with but I think the emphasis on study is one that is overly belabored in the "developing artist" circles. Of course study and development is important, but the main reason for doing art should be that you enjoy it. If all you are doing is study for some false goal of "landing a job" then you aren't actually doing yourself any favours. Instead, do the study for sure, but don't let it become the only way that you are practicing your art. Pick a personal project that gets you excited and then tailor your study towards it. Two things happen. 1. Your study actually starts to fulfill a greater (achievable purpose) and 2. You end up loving and being more satisfied and fulfilled with the process of creating and what you are doing.

I believe if you do this long enough, your portfolio will really benefit from it :)

Oh another thing I forgot was, that studios really want to see linked work. So if you can show a series of concepts from one project, this really gets their juices flowing. Why? Because that is the ONLY way studios work, in projects..so why show them a whole bunch of totally unrelated individual concepts...instead show them a world you created.

[Jonas Jerde]

That is a good point Monkeybread, But I imagine doing art is the most fun when you are somewhat satisfied with your ability... which often is a result of many "un-fun" hours of study. I like your idea with the personal project thing though- I might try that out.

[Amit Dutta]

Ahh the thing is though, your satisfaction or dissatisfaction with your skill level is all well and good, and totally within your own control. You may not believe it, but it is true. We can choose to be satisfied or not, but there is nothing to say that reaching a certain level will give you an automatic feelgood state. If we ever settled with being satisfied with our skill we would all just end up as mediocre artists.
I really think the key to really improving quickly, if you can nail it early on, is enjoying the process no matter the result. It's like being a kid again...you know the first time you probably ever saw a reason to do art in the first place, but before you learned to fear the result. That's the state you want to achieve no matter your skill. :D. At least, that is what I believe from my own experience. Everything else is secondary.

[Jonas Jerde]

I hesitated writing "satisfied" because I knew this is what you would say. When I say satisfied I mean, you know that you are good- and that you can compete with other professionals. I guess someone could be satisfied with lesser work.. just like some people might be satisfied with a bronze medal. You have a romantic view of things, which is fine- but I don't think it is entirely true. Almost every great artist I've heard has said that they put in many hours that they simply didn't want to do. I think it takes a certain amount of sacrifice to achieve something that is difficult... and that is why some people never get their dream job... they give up when things start getting tough.

Getting back to Futurespaceghost, the main point we are trying to make to you is that you should stop worrying about getting a job immediately. It's better to get your first job at a level above entry level than to get one when you aren't ready.

Good luck in your endeavors.

[Amit Dutta]

I hear what you are saying. I'm definitely not saying hard work on stuff that isn't as enjoyable should be avoided, or that it won't pay off. It will for sure. What I'm really saying is you should find a way to enjoy doing those studies. I love doing studies to a certain extent, because the stress of creating goes away, and it's just about learning and analysing, and is much easier on the brain. But if you are just grinding on things because you think "this is the way it needs to be done" with no enjoyment value at all, that is when you need to be doing things differently or changing one's perspective.
I don't believe it is a romantic notion to find enjoyment in everything you do. Key word, is find. We often believe that enjoyment is something that is generated internally as a reaction to an external event, because that is more often than not how it happens normally. I'm pretty sure enjoyment is something you can internally generate to an extent by simply shifting your perspective. This is why I don't subscribe to the "grind is necessary" approach anymore. Sure lots of pros did work they didn't want to and countless hours of grind..does that mean I need to do work I don't want to or enjoy, in order to be pro? I don't buy it.

I mean if you could, wouldn't you rather follow a developmemt path you enjoy, than one that involves constant grind for some distant future goal? I believe it is very possible to do the former and still improve, that's all. I also don't view being able to compete with other professionals as a good goal to do art. :) my focus is on my work and what it does for me at the moment I'm doing it. Sure it will be nice when you get to a decent skill level because you know what it took to get there, but that's a byproduct of just living a life and doing the hard yards. Art for me is more a way of life and self expression than a pipeline of grind to be able to get a job and finally be vindicated. Many of these pro artists get their jobs, live "the dream" and then realise that actually what they wanted to be doing really was their own projects, their own vision, and not just facilitate others. That's why so many focus on the personal work after doing the job side for a while. I see that and I think, why not just cut out the middle man, and start doing the stuff that i want now. If that is overly romantic, then so be it. I only recently came to this view, of course others will be completely focused on career and making it and what not, I find all that to be extra guff that serves only to confuse and divert my real motivations.

But yeah, this thread ain't about why and how we do art at all lol. I think we are both pushing the same message at ghost. ^^