Forums » Smalltalk » AMA: I'm a Concept Artist and Illustrator

I've been a junior concept artist (who works on hyper-realistic art) for about a year now doing freelance work and working in Game Jams to create games while on crunch time. I can tell you a bit about how the pipeline works and what's expected from you in the field.

what has been your BIGGEST challenge thus far? how did it feel to overcome it, and move on to new projects? did you learn a lot from the experience?

what is your favorite design you've created?

Biggest challenge was when I realized I needed to learn more skills other than 2D art to be useful. While my job was to do concept art, there wasn't time for us to go through the usual creative process of creating characters like iterations, light testing, sketch pages.. I learned 3D modeling on the job. It was stressful, but it's continued to be extremely helpful. Most of the time, companies are looking to hire people who have more than one skillset.

My favorite design personally.. this one! Old work, but I remember being extremely proud of it and will get back to redesigning this suit.

Your work is GORGEOUS.

I've heard this is a highly competitive field - how should one prepare to go into it?

First and foremost, don't do art that compromises what you like otherwise you're going to be stuck doing art you hate, and also, have a second skill as a safety net. Concept artists do the first bit of production and you don't want to be around, taking up space when your task is done. Help the game developers out somehow, provide some UI design, help with 3d models or sculpting..

I found that Game Jams are the quickest way to gain real skills (at least in communication and development). Your job is vital to production most of the time and if you don't pull through, the game isn't being made. Yes, you'll be put under great stress, but it's best to try and fail sooner than later. If you succeed, well now you've learned something.