July AMA: Answers (Patreon)

Thank you to all of the $5+ Patrons that submitted questions! Please take all of this advice with a grain of salt as always.

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Rodney Kerrigan asks: *KICKS DOOR IN* IT'S TIME!    If you happen to be good in multiple areas, (concept, UI/UX, design, etc) and wish to be open to multiple job opportunities (at potentially one company), do you feel having examples in a portfolio of those areas helps or hurts the overall portfolio? Would it be better to have individual portfolios for each, or would it be better to aim for one position, and just explain or show you're capable in other areas?

You can have as many things as you want to in your portfolio as long as...

1. It's organized well! Separate different disciplines into different categories so your body of work is easy to navigate. In some cases, yes, it might be beneficial to have different websites to apply to very different jobs with. 

I do NOT recommend having different websites if you're trying to apply to smaller companies because they usually want folks that are multidisciplinary. Having it all in one place is a +1 for them.

2. The quality level across the board is high and consistent. Do not sacrifice quality for quantity...ever! Your portfolio is an opportunity to demonstrate that you can judge and curate your own work well. Including weaker work will dilute the strength of your application and can send the message that you can't judge strong vs. weaker work.

3. You're only including work that you would want to be hired to do. If you are dabbling in other disciplines but wouldn't want work in them for 8 hours/day, consider making a blog elsewhere to document your work.

There are a couple of ways to organize your portfolio in a way that emphasizes the work that you're most interested in. Always have your favorite work on your landing page to create a strong first impression. You can make the most of tags and categories if you're using Squarespace or other gallery-focused website builders.

If you do split up your work into multiple websites, make sure to have links between them so that people can see your whole body of work if they're really interested in what you're doing.

spooks asks: How do you find what you love to draw? A lot of the advice I’ve seen recently is, essentially, find what you enjoy working on and draw that, but when I look at what I have a tendency to draw it doesn’t match the aesthetics I tend towards in games, or that some hypothetical version of me would like to work on.

So, a few things...

I find my work to follow my references, so if you're struggling to figure out what you're drawn  (pun intended) to, then look at your visual library. Don't have a organized set of references yet? That's a good thing to start working on! You can use Pinterest or local folders or Google Drive or whatever setup that allows you to organize things by category.

If I just sat down and looked at the references in my Pinterest, I would find that I *really* frequently save fantasy art, creature designs, and stylized drawings with really strong shapes. So... that seems to be something I'm naturally curious about, and it's something I do a lot of drawing of! 

"it doesn’t match the aesthetics I tend towards in games" It's good to be pragmatic in your work, but keep in mind that the principles across all different kinds of visual representative art are the same. Value, form, color... art fundamentals universally apply regardless of style, aesthetic, and medium. Practicing those principles in one context will improve your skills in others. 

"that some hypothetical version of me would like to work on." Okay. Here's the thing. You aren't the hypothetical you. You are you. Don't spend energy and time worrying about what you're supposed to like. Take a moment to sit down and write a list of the things you DO like, not the things you're supposed to like.

When I'm mentoring, the very first thing I ever ask a student is what they want to do. Not what they think they could do. Not what they're supposed to do. Not what they believe they can do. 

Sit down and be really honest with yourself about what you REALLY want to achieve or create without thinking "well, I couldn't actually do that, so I should aim for something more possible." What do you want to do, even if it seems impossible? What do you want to create, even if there doesn't seem to be a want for it?

When you are honest with yourself about what you want to create, you dabble in it. And then you study it. And eventually, you can get really good at it... and people will be drawn to it. 

Make your art. 

It's good to make the marketable stuff too, but don't deny yourself the work that really really resonates with you. It'll fuel everything else you do and keep you going... but you might also discover a niche burst of interest from folks once you've polished and honed that style.

I hope that answers your questions!

youngizzik asks: Hi Bec! I'm really struggling recently with censoring myself on social media? I like to think I'm doing ok-ish, sticking to witty one-liners and boosting art that I really like, but with everything bad that's happening that I wanna talk about, or things I feel might be too silly and fan-arty for my main, and I really don't want that to bring down my twitter/fb/brand? Should I make a separate and strictly private account on twitter? I know I should be able to talk about things that matter to me, but how do I draw the line? Should I even worry about that? I know employers do look at personal social media accounts, so would even talking about unionization hurt my chances of a job? (Sorry for the big question lol I know this is tough and personal to individuals mostly but still if you have advice?)  P.S. how was your pride month? Hope it was great!

If you can't tell, I don't censor myself much on Twitter except about very specific things. I have some rules for myself on social media but I try to share my personality. 

That said, when I was starting out and had a lot less leverage, I was much quieter about politics/worker stuff/anything that could influence an employer's perception of me. When you're trying to break into games, you want as many factors as possible in your favor (or not working against you, at least.) I hate to tell people to not talk about certain things, but the bottom 30% of jobs are really competitive and AAA companies generally lean away from hiring folks that could rock the boat. 

I have two Twitter accounts. One is (obviously) my public one. On that account, I have a few rules for myself. First, I don't engage with drama. Once in a while, I'll respond to assholes in my mentions, but it's usually something very short and sarcastic. Otherwise, I ignore and mute/block them and leave it alone. Second, I don't RT quote individual people I disagree with. I don't use that profile to encourage dogpiling on trolls or people saying stuff that irks me. Some people do that a lot, that's fine, it's just not the vibe I want to put out into the world. Also, using a large-audience profile to "look right" sends a weird message and can be offputting to potential clients. I keep my main profile generally very positive, or at least constructive.

I also have a private Twitter that is just for folks I know personally. It's where I put the stuff I don't want on main- mostly anxiety and stress venting. This is a place for any sort of depression/complaining/bad day vibes. That way I can still talk about them, but I keep it separate from my main account. 

It's not the only way to do it, but that helps me keep my main Twitter mostly positive, friendly, etc. Is it always professional? Probably not. But I think providing a glimpse into your personality and quirks and priorities and interests is appealing for folks... and it has DEFINITELY helped me build my following, especially as someone that is constantly working under NDA and can't share their work often.

Rodney Kerrigan asks: When watching tutorials, advice vids and timelapses, there seems to be a split between artists saying that you should slow down with yoru sketches, plan it out, whereas others say you want to sketch quickly to get the idea down and the overall feel. In some cases, they're talking about thumbnails, but in other cases, these are full canvas sketches they're pushing out either super quick or super slow. Given the industry has deadlines and unfortunate crunch times, do you feel sketching/planning quickly serves someone aiming for the industry better, or someone who takes their time on the sketch and speeds up the rest of the project (due to ease or otherwise)?

Listen- if the structure of an image isn't strong, then it doesn't matter how fast you get it done. A lot of people (historically, myself included) rush through the design stage and forget that it's the most important part.

I don't think about things being done as "quickly" or "slowly." The amount of time that you put into anything can vary heavily piece-to-piece because each one comes with its own challenges. Moreso, focus on how you create, and speed will come naturally as long as you're somewhat aware of the time passing by.

1. Slow down and focus on the design...always. If your design/structure/composition sense is weak, this is something that absolutely requires practice. For me, I would rush through the sketch phase without considering the storytelling or making sure the context was clear.

Here are two pieces that I made about 4-5 years apart. For the 2014 piece, I didn't think about the design at all. Is it rendered pretty well? Interesting to look at? Sure! But I have no idea what the hell it is. There are a lot of lost opportunities. I could have taken time to consider the story of this creature and communicated that idea through its outfit or body more. I sketched it out in about 15 minutes and just ran with it.

On the right, the design is so much more clear. Even though I had a rough reference to work from, I also took a LOT of time to figure out how to communicate what this character was. I did pose sketches and wrote down a list of themed elements I could add to make this design feel cohesive, clear, and fun, so it's much easier to understand what this character is.

So... slow down for a while and work on your design sense. It might feel like it's taking forever. I often spend more time on research and planning than I do rendering an entire illustration. Maybe I'll spend 3-4 days designing, and then just 1 day rendering. Since I started doing that, my storytelling has gotten SO much better.

2. Work gesturally. Consider how you're literally making your marks. Use quick, intentional marks when you're sketching, but also when you're rendering. Loosen up and simplify your lines- in the end, this is more of a timesaver than deciding to skip other steps or rush through the design stage. 

I have a timed exercise that I enjoy doing with my students to help them work both quickly and intentionally. We'll do 4 sets of thumbnails, and I'll give them a prompt like "old dwarven hammer" or "healing druidic potion."

First, they'll have 5 minutes to work on one thumbnail. Then they'll do 3 thumbnails at 1 minute each... then 5 thumbnails at 30 seconds each. We then end with 2 thumbnails at 5 minutes each. Afterwards, we talk about everyone's sketches and critique their designs. The main question we ask is "can I tell that this is a [insert prompt here]?" This is a yes or no question. If I can't tell that your thumbnail is a dwarven hammer (or whatever the prompt is), then the design is failing.

There are a few purposes to this. First of all, you get *really* aware of how much time it takes for you to come up with an idea. Second, you learn quickly that you have to loosen up and stop worrying about the tiny details too early. It helps you boil a prompt down and visualize it rather than just flopping around with shapes. Dwarven designs are usually geometric, heavy, strong. A hammer has a handle and sturdy head. That's all there is to it!

Abz asks: This might be a strange question and I won't be offended if you're not up for answering. What are some good cities/states that is great for game development opportunities? I really want to socialize with game dev social groups, and also have a better chance of finding work in case my job doesn't work out. I appreciate the online discord groups that exist, but I'm mostly trying to find ways to improve my outside social skills and make friends. Bonus points of these cities are affordable. 

There are certainly cities with bigger communities than others, but many of them are extraordinarily expensive.

I literally never recommend moving to an expensive city with a large community like LA or NYC or San Francisco if you don't have a job lined up there. I know way too many people that tried to make it work and had their resources drained to suggest that. There are definitely cities with small/medium game dev communities that *are* more affordable, like Chicago (woo) or Austin! Austin is definitely a big one right now and cost of living has stayed pretty reasonable for an urban hub. Always look into the cost of living before moving anywhere. Seattle and Portland and Boston have a reputation of being cheaper than LA, but they're still really pricey and only getting more expensive. 

I think it's wiser to live somewhere affordable and travel to events or start your own local group instead! Start a mixer, advertise it locally, and see who shows up. You can utilize Facebook events, Meetup, subreddits, and local community boards to gauge local interest. You might be surprised by what you find :)

FireCatRich asks: Over the years when I've gone into interviews (unusually at mid/larger companies) I've found I've been categorized a few times  as unemployed when I've previously stated that I've been freelance.  Or the statement that freelance is code for unemployed (which I find on the rude side). Is there a way to respond to this properly?  I've found I sound defensive to my own ears when I correct an HR rep or interviewer on this point. Maybe too much pride to let it go.  

Yeeeeeah that happens a lot when you categorize yourself as freelance but don't have a client list. It's pretty frustrating and invalidating for freelancers that haven't gotten many opportunities with established companies. I'm personally not a fan of the assumption and find it to often get kinda disrespectful for the artist, especially if they've been freelancing for a while.

The client list is the factor that will keep companies from assuming that you're sugarcoating your career, but of course, that's what you're trying to build by talking to companies.

Working for some indie/mobile/etc companies can help you start a client list that will add some visual validity to your resume. They don't have to be famous or anything. Just having some specific names to attach your name to that the recruiter can look up goes a long way.

I hope that helps! It's not a fun position to be in, but once you've built up a small client list, I pretty much guarantee those awkward assumptions will dissipate.