Oct 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. I apologize that this one is a bit late. It's been a hell of a mental health month.

If you'd like to submit questions next month, pledge just $5 a month (that's less than 2 Starbucks coffees!!)

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MNM asks:  Hello! I wanted to know what the industry opinion is of artstation portfolios vs websites? I’ll be applying to game companies and some animation companies this winter as a concept artist; and I’m using mainly artstation since thats what I’m seeing a lot of game artists use. What bother me is that artstation only has thumbnails and doesnt display full pieces (to my knowledge) vs a website where you have more control over whats visible and whats not. Also a lot of stuff is sort of hidden on artstation and I feel like it would just make the recruiters click more and have less overview of all pieces. Thank you in advance and sorry for the wall of text! 

You can display much larger preview images with certain Artstation Pro themes if that's what you're going for. When looking at someone's portfolio, I actually prefer the smaller thumbnail previews because I can see a lot more of their work at a glance as long as the thumbnails are well cropped. This is important: no matter what portfolio builder you use, thumbnails can be the most efficient way to get a first impression of your art, but make sure they're cropped well!!

Wren asks:  How do you motivate yourself to put love and care into a subject matter you don't understand the appeal of? If someone works on primarily character art and wants to try props or environments, what kind of mental tricks could be used? 

Weirdly enough, this is a good place to learn how to break things down into more abstract concepts instead of focusing on the type of content. Maybe I don't enjoy props but... I do like storytelling and gestural shapes, and that's something that can be applied to props or environments! I think taking a step back and looking at things in the bigger picture can help a lot with this. Depending on the context of your work, it's generally very important to be willing and comfortable with creating content that's outside of your favorites. Being open-minded and avoiding sharp lines in the same regarding your preferences can open up a lot of new doors. Trying new things and applying what you've practiced doing Thing A to Thing B will make you better at Thing A! 

Doing prop work instead of characters or doing some 3D instead of 2D or doing UI art instead of concept art for a while all comes back around and relies on the same principles. It makes you better at that thing you specifically love to do.

Yuzu asks:  Hi ! Thanks for the AMA, I have a question about reaching a company for a 2 months observation  internship (no money involved). I'm really into a studio and would love to see inside especially for their matt painter who are incredible ! I was wondering as I know many names if it would be a good idea to start a discussion or reach them by artstation or Facebook, I don't want to be annoying but want to show that I am really into their work and want to see and learn in their studio. Also, should I try to recreate the studio style in my portfolio, should I focus on Matt painting and environments as I want to go there especially for this.  Thanks a lot ! (And so that I can ask if they're ok for observation internship because I dont know yet) 

My advice is, as long as you have a portfolio to demonstrate your hard work that is relevant to the job/internship/studio/etc, always apply. 

There's certainly nothing wrong with cold emailing a company or reaching out to one of their employees. I definitely do not recommend contacting someone that doesn't know you for work through personal social media like Facebook or Twitter (unless it is prompted, like calls for artist applications.) It can feel a little invasive and unprofessional. Contacting them through Artstation, their professional email if it is listed somewhere, or LinkedIn is much more ideal.

If you want to work with a company or seek an internship, I suggest reaching out to recruiters or through their company career email instead of asking an artist if they can hire you because... they can't! They generally don't have that power. They can forward your work along, but most of the time, you need to go through their standard application process. Catering your portfolio to a specific job or company can definitely help your chances.

Okay... a little tough love: it is awesome to have people to look up to, but when you really don't know them as a person, I advise to be wary of putting them too high on a pedestal or fixating too much on them. We're all people, and no one is perfect. Stay grounded and remember that your heroes are flawed human beings too.

Jade asks:  Hello!  So as somebody kinda new to artstation I was wondering if there are any do's and don'ts when it comes to displaying your portfolio. ie: is the folder view bad compared to mosaic, when making your artstation website are there themes you should avoid? 

I don't recommend using the folders as your front page layout if you don't have a lot of work, it's just an extra handful of clicks I have to do before I see your art. I think having the folders as the front page layout is ideal for folks with a lot of work to scroll through.

(If you look at my profile, I'm not subscribing to this advice, but that's partially because I'm not seeking work right now. If I was looking for work, I would honestly reorganize a lot of things.)

Definitely use the folders anyways to keep things organized behind the scenes, partially so it's easy to designate what is or isn't on your Pro profile (if you're using AS Pro, which isn't necessary IMO.)

Any of the themes are fine, but make sure it looks good with the art that you're presenting. I mentioned this earlier, but make sure your thumbnails or previews are well-cropped. I want to look at your lineup of art and immediately get an idea of what those pieces are. That first impression would be very clear.

If you have any client work, I recommend creating a custom thumbnail that has the project/client name in it. It directs me immediately to your professional work, which is helpful for informing me how you perform while working for someone.

I also recommend making sure the banner across your community page is recent and well-cropped, it helps a lot with first impressions.

Other general suggestions: if something is fanart for a game, specify that in the project description. Include multiple images if you can, like work-in-progress GIFs or your sketches.