shiroboi

Hey all, DA peeps.  It's been a while since I rapped at ya.  Still running my game company in Bangkok.  We've grown quite large.  Due to me running the company, I don't have much time anymore to do leisure art.  It's a shame really.  I always think I'm happiest when I'm drawing or doing art. The upside is that I bought a beautiful house close to a lake.  It's a great place to hang out and the kids love it there.  I do think I found my niche in game art.  So that's the reason why you don't see anime illustrations from me anymore.  I like art but I'm much better at building things with components.  It scratches the technical as well as artistic itches at the same time. 

On a side note, I do have job advice for aspiring artists.  I can say this because I frequently hire production artists who often are on deviantart or doing anime style illustrations. 

Tip #1.  Don't think that DA represents the real world.  You might think your top dog because your werewolf cross-gender, inflation-fantasy comic got a half million views.  Understand that DA is a niche filled with sub-niches.  A potential boss will be less than impressed.

Tip #2.  Diversify your art portfolio.  Unless you're specifically targeting a certain job (which is recommended), you may want your general portfolio to show what you're capable of as an artist.  If you apply for a graphic designer position and your portfolio is nothing but characters, it's not going to do too well.

Tip #3.  Get creative with your resume. I've seen some really cool, well designed graphical resumes.  Not appropriate for a programmer but completely appropriate for a creative artist.

Tip #4.  Are you Genzoman?  If you're not Genzoman or at the top of your illustration game, chances are, nobody is going to pay you to sit around and make pretty character illustrations all day.  It's not a worthless skill but it needs to be accompanied by something else. Show some layout skills, user interfaces, logos, buttons, ads.  Anything with commercial value is welcome in a general portfolio.

Tip #5.  Don't depend on school projects for your portfolio.  I can smell a school project from a mile off.  I'm more interested in what YOU like to do or projects that you've involved yourself in.

Hope that helps.  I'll probably post this on a forum or something.

Hey for the 3 of you who read this journal, I just wanted you to know that I have my first game out on the app store.

Book Stacker  $0.99

itunes.apple.com/us/app/book-s…

It's a pretty fun little book stacking game.  Try to beat your highest score.

Would be happy to get some more downloads and SUPER happy to get some app reviews.


Thanks.


Also, first person to request one, gets a promo code to download it for free.  Sorry Androidians, it's iPhone only at this point.

It's been a while since I rapped at ya.

Here's a quick rundown of what's been going on in my life in the last month.

-I quit my cushy IT job

-I sold everything I had, rented out my house and moved my family to Thailand

-The day I arrived, my son was born (Jan 14th)

-I started my own games company, Hydraulic games.  Currently I'm awash in contract work and doing quite well.


So I'm now a full time artist.  I really didn't think this day would ever come.  A few things surprised me.  I always thought that my creativity and art making energy was somewhat limited but when pushed to do it full time, has expanded tenfold.  I'm excited to get up every day and do artwork and am never short on ideas.  The second, is I always thought I should be a manga artist or illustrator with my work.  I've found that when I stopped being an "Anime Artist" and just drew what came natural, people loved it.  Also, designing environments and small modular but practical items is what I am good at.  In short, I feel like I was born to be a game artist.  The third is how quickly I found work.  In under a month, I've already maxed out the amount of hours I have in the week and the game projects just keep on coming.

My big worry now is how to find time to finish my own game.

Peace out.  I'll have some new personal game related art up soon.

I've taken a short break from game design to get in some anatomy and perspective practice.  I don't really like to post my practice sketches but I've been reading books from Andrew Loomis.  If anybody struggles with human anatomy and perspective and wonders why, just read his books and sketch his examples.  They're all available online here alexhays.com/loomis/

Can't recommend them enough.  Guy knew his stuff.


Also, I inadvertently broke my wife's Canon Rebel XSi digital SLR camera.  Canon wanted $200 to fix a little broken pin.  I didn't want to pay that much so Canon gave us a credit towards one of their refurbished cameras.  I upgraded to the new Canon EOS 60D.  It is absolutely incredible especially in low light.  Been playing with the new video feature too which is very much welcome.  I can't wait to get some good beach pictures with it this weekend.  

Again, if you feel that you suck at characters, its because you haven't spent enough time doing figure studies.  Pro level is achievable if you're willing to put in the time and effort.  I'll just keep telling myself that.


-Shiroboi out!

Man, I forgot how much work traditional animation can be.  I'm going to need to put a whole lot of effort into making all these tanks for the game.  I'm working on the story and I'll have some character art up relatively soon.  


Stay frosty,

-Shiroboi