Learning how to be a Game Artist - Advice?

So, I'm a programmer, and my friend is interested in becoming a game artist. And together we want to make games.

Both of us are quite new to the fields. I have gone through books online, courses, and of course I've done a lot of practicing. In short, I'm finding my way when it comes to learning how to program and make games. Still much to learn, but I kind of know how to go about it. Lots of practice. Take some courses here and there, read some books, but mostly lots of practice.

My friend, on the other hand, isn't too sure how to go about becoming a skilled game artist. He isn't interested in going to college for it; rather, would like to learn it himself. Given there's a vast amount of resources online, that shouldn't be such a hard task.

But he doesn't know how to go about it, and I don't either. He's got photoshop, he's got blender (which I think we'll stick with since it's all we can afford at this point). And I'd think practice is the way to go, but this isn't working out so well. He doesn't really have a sense of direction, is quite disorganized, etc. Doesn't know what to practice with, doesn't really know what to do.

So... how would you go about accomplishing such a thing? Should he take some courses he can find? Read some books? What should he be practicing? What skills does he need to develop?

Advice would be much appreciated!

 

First question I would ask: Try to think of your friend as a coworker/employee and not a friend - Is he someone you can trust and depend on with carrying his own weight? Just by the brief description you've given us I would immediately say no.

But I understand and respect strong friendships and would hand feed my friends if any of them showed any interest in this (i only keep a handful of close friends). If you don't mind spending a small amount of cash, $19/month, send him to cgcookie and start with the basics. There is also a massive amount of free youtube videos, however, I prefer the more structured and professionally made tutorials at cgcookie. There might be enough free tutorials there to get you started before deciding to drop the cash.

 

Well, that thought has crossed my mind multiple times. I don't know that I'll be able to rely on him, so if I have to, I'll have to hire another artist when the time comes. However, I know he wants to learn and I want to do what I can to get him on the right track and see if it works out or not.

I'll be sure to check cgcookie out. Thanks for that

(I should add that when I say he's not interested in going to college, I actually mean he can't afford it!)

 

Definitely practice is number one. I found this site awhile ago when I wanted to brush up on some techniques I hadn't touched in years.

http://www.ctrlpaint.com/library

I on the other hand, never touched college, and never will. As you say, all the resources necessary can be found online. For free too. Anatomy is pretty much the only one that isn't as widely available, at least, with people who can teach you really well (or my preferred way at least). I recommend that some books are purchased for that. I never schedule things to work on (like a curriculum), but that may not be everyone's cup of tea. For me, it's always been what I love in other peoples work that I can't yet do, or I feel that they do better then me. I will tackle that first, because I know I'm just not as good at it, and need to be better. Therefore my focus goes straight to that, while constantly trying to create my own stuff using the techniques I learn. Not getting to wrapped up in just technique work.

Oh, and your friend should get a graphics tablet, when he feels he is competent enough to start doing game art. Though in the beginning, that may not be so great. Since mistakes would be easier to get rid of, and harder to learn from.

 

Hi. 2D or 3D artist?

 

Primarily 3D. I figure artists get pretty specialized - you get the concept artists, the ones who make models, the UI artists, etc. But because it's just us two (for now), I figure he'll have to take on quite a few roles. I'm not sure just how far you can go with that while remaining reasonable.

In either case, the game I'm working on right now is 3D and so let's stick with that. I'll need textures, of course, but also 3D models.

 

3dbuzz and 3dpalace are two more good places

 

If you are doing more research on game art than he is, then I'd say he's a lost cause. I'm wondering why you're posting rather than him. Sometimes people get excited about things initially but it ends up fading. If you formally break up with him as your game making partner, he might be relieved.

As for your answer, I think a game artist's journey often starts with learning a 3d package. There's many free and fantastic beginner blender video tutorial series and books, he should pick one and follow through with it. I'd recommend not worrying about a game engine until he knows the ropes of 3d. He should start attempting to make something pretty right away (it probably won't turn out pretty but he needs to try). Once he has a grasp on modeling, unwrapping and texturing, it might do him well to get some well-made game environments (perhaps from the asset store) and pick them apart to see how the props are divided up. Knowing what lego pieces are needed is essential in making game environments. He needs to be critical about his stuff and use reference. Needless to say he needs to try to make stuff.

 

I think a game artist's journey starts with picking up crayons when they're a child. Is this guy actually an artist? Or is he someone who's never been into art before, but now wants to learn 3D?

Learning to use the programs is one thing, but learning how to make something look cool is another skill entirely, one that requires a lifetime of practice and a borderline obsessional personality.

 

I agree truly.

 

If someone wanted to be an oil painter, I'd suggest they get a canvas, paints, and brushes to get started. If someone wants to be a game artist, I suggest they start with a 3d package. Weather his eyes are trained or not, I hold that a 3d package is the best place to start (assuming one wants to do 3d game art). Would you suggest different routes for weather he has experience in other mediums or not?

 

@Zomby138

I can't draw to save my life, but been doing 3D artwork over a decade. It's something you get used to with a lot of time and effort..

It all depends what you want to do I guess / what sort of games you want to make, I do a lot of medieval and sci-fi architectural modelling and characters. I'm fine with foliage, that's about all I've ever needed.

 

I wasn't trying to suggest that he should start with pencil and paper. There's a lot of game assets that don't require any drawing ability whatsoever to create. Furniture, guns, buildings etc. Anyone who can use the programs could make those.

But creating cool looking characters, monsters or anything that's unique to your game kinda requires the same skill set as drawing.

More importantly, the mentality required to obsess over something, to work on it everyday, till you're excellent at it. That mentality is the exact same thing.

 

Currently I'm making a voxel engine. And honestly, the artwork required for voxel engines seems to be a lot simpler. I do need textures for the types of blocks, of course. And I need 3D models/animations for creatures in it.

However, though that seems simpler to start, I have other types of games planned that will require different, more advanced art (including digital painting type work). I wouldn't dare tackle those types of games yet with my experience, especially without any artist. I was hoping he would be at that level by the time I'm ready for it.

But it's not just me trying to force him into this because I need an artist. He's been genuinely interested in it and wants to make a career out of it. He knows he wants to do it, he just has motivational issues because he questions whether he's actually capable of being a game artist, etc. He tries to learn it and feels he isn't progressing fast enough, or something of the sort. I feel he just needs a change of perspective and he can really do it.

But doing that I think also requires having a lot of resources for him to learn from, so I appreciate those resources you all have given.

 

Same goes with anything in games bud, you need the thirst.. Oh you can rotate something, quaternions you say, matrices oh.. Shader pipelines what? PhysX calculations huh? Before you know it you've built a few engines and scripted a bolt on for 3DSmax and built city's.

 

Oh absolutely! We're on the same page here.

 

You're best off heading to polycount forums.

 

if his truly interested he sounds like the sort of person who would benefit from a course and the structure the most. If he wants to work in that industry having a qualification is a must. A self taught developer would no qualifications wouldn't even get an interview where I work even if they had made the most amazing things (however if the work was contracted out it would then be more about portfolio).

 

I personally feel like showing that you have the skills should be enough qualification. We personally don't wish to have to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for what you can already get online for the most part (we just need to find the right resources). And I hope there are some companies out there who feel similarly about that. There are great websites out there that give you a course structure - Coursera/Edx/Game Institute to some degree/etc. Coursera and Edx unfortunately don't have much for the game artists (although they have a good few in the computer science/programming realms). Game Institute does have material for artists, although I don't think my friend is quite ready for that material at this point. Furthermore, there are some aspects of game art that I think it doesn't really cover and that we need to find elsewhere.

We do want the structure from courses, just online and not through having to pay huge amounts of money and go to a college campus, etc. (Paying some money is certainly acceptable, but within reason).

We do plan to do our own work and sell our own products without really working for others, though I suppose we should have that as a backup plan. Because it's tough doing it this way and you never know what will happen.

 

If you can make it by yourself then great, but it is hard. But getting a job from a larger company it doesn't matter what you personally feel not having the qualification when others have it will count against you.

In fact some places it doesn't even matter what the manager thinks they have a policy and if you CV doesn't have the minimum qualification listed you won't get an interview because they aren't allowed. It is the reality. It may not be fair, but this is what occurs every day in the industry.

 

I've worked at two AAA studios and one outsourcing studio and none of them cared that I have no degree, nor did they even check if I had so much as a high school diploma. Where I come from here in Seattle, credentials mean nothing and portfolio means everything.

I think that's very wise.

 

In AAA I always got picked due to experience... Everyone has qualifactions nowadays, not a lot of them have true and tried experience and AAA know this. It's not even limited to Games, IT in general needs industry specific qualifications like MS MCSE or Cisco's CCNP with experience on top. They couldn't care less about what degree you have...

Sit, listen learn and try.. It's very difficult to do it well, when I hear about games all I see is coding but good artwork is very difficult also. There are no shortcuts, it's a long road ahead..

 

Yeah experience is needed too! I am not saying quailifications will get you a job but it lack of can mean you don't get a job.

 

Same down here. Over the years, credentials mean less and less. Partly because there are many folks from my generation (and later) who are self taught who are now leaders in the industry and recognize that it alone isn't a limitation. And partly because the for-profit education market has really become silly and kind of a joke. (and traditional university/colleges are often out of date in fast-paced industry.) The amount of "gaming" schools and courses is so large that it we are always hearing of new ones. It would be a lot of work to research each one just because it was listed on the resume. And ultimately a degree doesn't actually mean they are cut out for the work. It's just not a solid indicator either way.

A portfolio (experience) shows exactly what you can do, what you have done and who you have done it for. It is always the main consideration.

 

That is true if you are talking about specific qualifications, not just education. We'll list as minimum qualifications as things like "x years as a lead" or "x years experience in y technology", things like that. But usually we'll list education as preferred or equivalent experience. We'll interview anyone with a resume that show they have the experience level we are looking for. We would never pass up on someone just because they don't have a degree. But will skip folks with a degree but no experience.

 

Once you have those levels experience your qualification becomes more a by the way. I also imagine in the art area a portfolio is much more valuable.

I also wouldn't recommend a game school/university. I guess I am talking more of the coder/developer view. But if you are starting out you be up against people with specific degrees and portfolios and I was talking more about those type of jobs.

 

Really? Are you sure about this? I get email all the time assuring me that I can be an artist or game developer in 30 days if I send them a few hundred dollars. I am told that there are just a few simple tricks that professionals in the industry don't want me to know about, and by just knowing that information I can be a top-paid professional in no time flat. That sounds pretty reasonable to me.

 

Oh I see, must be like all them adds I see where you can earn $1000.00 a day for sitting in your undies, all you have to do is give them your bank account details. ..

 

Right. Certainly is all things being equal, a degree could tip it. And yea, even fresh out school, an artist will have a portfolio where an engineer wouldn't really. Certainly at entry level it could help. But even at that level, if someone with no schooling is applying, but has a ton of work to show may beat out a someone with a fresh CS degree and nothing else.

When I say "portfolio", generally I mean anything that shows off a collection of your work. For an engineer a portfolio may be nothing more than a list of the games they worked on and what role they did. Your right though, an artists portfolio will mean more because it is clearly shows the work. For engineers, even showing code samples doesn't really show "how" they work and solve problems.

Of course, now, it is difficult to find much of an entry level way into the industry. Most companies want experience. We just post 12 positions that we are looking to fill, all senior level staff. We got tons of responses that have the years experience. It is can be frustrating for folks because people can't get experience until they get a job, but that requires experience.

 

I keep sending them my account numbers, but haven't heard back yet. I hope they get back to me soon. Sure my current job is ok, but the fascists here require I wear pants... ALL DAY!!! Sitting around in my undies all day... that is living the dream!

 

I'm a programmer that wants to be an artist. I've spent years searching for the right way for me to start 3D art without going through 2d pencil-and-paper art first. I'm quite proficient with the tools in Blender now, and can generally follow along with the basics of anything. The details that make it awesome, though, still elude me.

I've given up on going straight to Digital and I'm working through http://www.amazon.com/Drawing-Right-Side-Brain-Definitive/dp/1585429201 now. I think it'll give me that missing piece that I need to work in any medium as an artist, once I learn the tools for that medium.

If such a book existed for 3D, I'd go with that instead, but I think that'll be a long time coming, if ever. Pencil and Paper is just easier, cheaper, and generally better to start with.

 

Well knowing the right tools for the right job is quite a battle before you begin, then learning them. Fine detail isn't really necessary unless you're showcasing a tech demo and lets face it a lot of AAA artwork is horrible. I think Skyrim is the biggest culprit of bad artwork and shows how much in the grand scheme it matters because it's a great game and when all the pieces fit together it just works.

What we seem to forget, myself including is were making games. Not segregated pieces of perfection we hope works together, it's about the unified approach "the mix" if you will. Not too much unlike sound engineering where the greats tell you, never single out a specific track like left guitar or main vocal six unless there is a serious problem.

In 3D you're not really an artist in the typical sense today, you're a tech expert with artistic flair.. Our 2D concept artist can't model anywhere near as well as me, neither can I match him in 2D design and concept. Whilst I'll practice it every now and again, I'll stick to my strengths.. Coding and 3D modelling, that's what I do well.

 

That's how I feel about it exactly. When I got into developing video games as a hobby a few years ago I quickly realized that to make anything significant you need to have good art, being a programmer I lacked that skill. I tried to practice and learn but as you said, it's not the tools you learn, it's what you can do with them.

All the practicing I did basically helped me understand and respect what artists have to do to get stuff done. I have accepted that I'm no artist, I'm a programmer. If I want to work on something that requires good art I will need to work with an artist.

 

Could you send us that information again? I don't think we got your email.

 

We all want to know the secret to becoming a great artist, because secrets are easy. We're looking for an easy way to become good at it. Really, I think it just takes practice and a lot of work.

 

If you ask me in most cases half of it is awesome texture work. And it's the subtle details that add a lot. Key word, subtle. If they're not subtle (too distracting or sticking out) they don't bring anything to it. In other cases its a good mix of just basic stuff. Such as Plannetary Annihilation models, which are pretty much models made from primitives, with colors for textures, with highlighted edges. To sum that up. Creativity. Kind of hard for a programmer to switch from logical thinking to something that's more of a flow. xD

I know, I've been on both sides. Started out as a traditional pen and paper artist on and off over the years, then went into 3D art, then found Unity and fully switched to programming while leaving the 3D art stuff to my girlfriend, and just occasionally making a model or texture she couldn't cause she got into it when I got into programming, so noobs all over, lol. I'm trying to get back into the art side a bit more now, by making asset packs for the store. xD

Problems with being a jack of all trades, is that in most cases you can't be specialized in any area. And that's another thing that makes your art less awesome. 'Cause someone out there is specialized. xD

Until you reach like lvl 50, then I guess you beat the game.

As for the OP, I also suggest Blendercookie.com. The getting started series. Or other getting started series out there. And make sure your best friend is committed! You're entering a relationship and a business partnership, which translates into family business, which sometimes end up pretty bad. So make sure he wants this as much as you do. I have a best friend too who wants to make games with me but isn't committed. He wanted to years ago but to this day won't finish a single thing or commit which won't bring anyone good, especially if you're relying on him. If he's not committed, you're really better off doing it alone than relying on him to do his part when he isn't going to. I told my friend that if he shows me hes committed hes free to join whenever (sort of an ultimatum, you don't have to be that strict right away). I suggested him to make models for the asset store. But he'd still rather just play games. Granted he has a day (and sometimes night) job, so I don't hold it against him at all. Its just better to ground life in reality, and not dreams.

 

Thanks for the advice, it's been helpful. From what I gather, we should focus mostly on 3D modeling with blender resources. We have some digital painting resources as well, although my friend doesn't really have a USB tablet or graphics tablet to use - still relying on a mouse. We'll hopefully fix that in the near future. I imagine that will apply for the texture creation part of it.

"We all want to know the secret to becoming a great artist, because secrets are easy. We're looking for an easy way to become good at it. Really, I think it just takes practice and a lot of work."

Well, I'm not necessarily asking for an easy/quick/unrealistic way to do this. I'm just looking for general guidance, even if it means putting years of effort in. We just don't want to spend those years doing it wrongly, or in a way that might not be as effective.

 

Don't worry about not having a tablet for textures. It does make things easier in some cases, but I still just paint with a mouse sometimes. Depends on the person. My girlfriend got into texture painting just a couple weeks ago for "The Island" Unity art contest of this month, and she's only using a mouse to paint in Blender. And I have to say some of her texture work looks better than my tablet painted textures. I guess I just suck that bad. xD

In his case I think he'll be fine with just a mouse for now. There's reaaaally cheap basic Wacom Bamboo tablets tho. I reckon the cheapest one is under 40$. And every artists dream 19 inch pen display Cintiq for $2k, lol. There's a cheaper pen display one for $1k tho.

If you both need a photo editing sofware but can't afford Photoshop, there's GIMP as a free alternative. I use it. It works great. Also Krita, sort of new and not very known, but there's a lot of brushes to choose from. You'll probably either be using hand painted textures or photo realistic. Blender has a texture paint mode. Its a bit fickly like all of Blender, but I use it for hand painted textures. A tip, after he is done with practicing making textures, he should make texture brushes, they'll come in handy.

 

What about the Monoprice tablets like this one http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=108&cp_id=10841&cs_id=1084101&p_id=5553&seq=1&format=2? I've heard good things about them.

Anything specific that you'd recommend? I'm trying to get into making textures. I've recently bought the Substance Indie pack.

 

This is a very condensed - sort of tl;dr version of the advise I usually give.

If he lacks basics he needs to finish training courses with a set goal of some sort first - say: digital Tutors, Lynda, Eat3D ....
Basics and a solid foundation are the most important part of being an artist. It's not enough to only know how to make things pretty but also why things need to be a certain way. Games are a specialized field just like motion graphics or visualization. Each have other tricks and techniques. Yet the foundation is vital for all of them.
The best thing if he lacks direction would probably be to follow a training series which has an ultimate goal. Digital tutors have a few of them, as do 3D Buzz. I haven't followed many of their series so I can't say much about general quality. The ones I've watched were pretty good, though.

If he already has a good grasp on the basics. Go for a small project. Problems arise from working on things. Especially if there's no video to tell you what to klick any more. Start small but set a goal. Problems WILL come and each time he bites through one his understanding of things will get stronger.

Schools are good if he wants to attend but it's important to only attend if it's the desired path of learning. And also not just because a school is expensive menas that it's good. Do reasearch first!

And lastly: have fun!!! Nothing kills motivation faster than people always bitching and telling how much the art sucks. People will come and say that - especially on forums. Always remember: Practise makes perfect. And not every comment has to be taken seriously. Select which ones sound reasonable and which one sound just spieful or jealous.

Things to check out:
http://www.ctrlpaint.com/ - for free 2D advice. Super solid foundations. Super important stuff I wish I would have had access to sooner
www.digital-tutors.com www.lynda.com www.3dbuzz.com - paid content but with a vast amount of material
www.eat3d.com http://www.thegnomonworkshop.com/ - less basic and more advanced (save for later, probably)
www.polycount.com - forum and wiki but it's easy to get lost in all the content.

And lastly of course: this fine community here. Make him post stuff if he wants feedback.

(edit) and regarding tablets: Wacom or nothing. Really. They are expensive but worth it. The cheaper ones are enough to start with. In my experience A5 (or medium) is the most comfortable size to work with if it's not a pen display.
I don't own a pen display myself, though and it's not really necessary. 80/20 rule - the last 20% of increased quality and comfort will cost you 80% more. In case of wacom even more

 

An artist is a person that studies life. He gathers knowledge and incorporate it into his work, hopefully triggering one or more specific responses in the audience. Its a life commitment, in many ways similar to design and engineering (specifically thinking on programmers this time). I'm saying this because many people think that art is the easy way out... when it in fact requires a tremendous amount of practice, experience and knowledge to master. The best people in the world haven't just specialized in specific tools, they often specialize in a style, theme and even objects.

I started with art as a toddler, it was the best way to shut me up. I personally would recommend that your friend start experimenting to find the "thing" that he enjoys the most. He might change field over time, that is normal. The important thing is that he enjoys what he is doing so much that he starts making progress on his own without someone hanging over his shoulder like a mother.

There exist a crazy number of specializations within the games industry and many different methods to accomplish the same task. The trick is to gather the basic art knowledge and find a set of methods that work for your friend.

I don't get along with 3D sculpting (haven't found my issue with it yet) but high-poly modelling with sub-meshes fit me perfectly. Two different methods, same end result. Both with its own pros and cons.

Example list of artist specializations:

• Storyboard Artist
  
• Concept Artist
• Character Artist
• Environment Artist
• Prop Artist
• Texture Artist
• Light Artist
• Animator
• UI Artist
  
• Level Designer
• Shader Programmer
• Technical Artist

Many of these can be produced with both Traditional, Digital 2D, Digital 3D methods or a mix of them. Some are more technical and require some programming and math skills as well.

The best way to get started if your friend want to get his hands dirty is to follow some basic tutorials. Get something done, evaluate if it was fun and what he can do to improve his results the next time.

The internet is filled with tutorials and knowledge that he can piece together into a complete picture but they tend to be average. There exist REALLY good art books but my personal experience is that they are hard to find, and even harder to get a printed copy. You can pay for online courses and videos but a teacher, mentor is priceless. I had a lot of preexisting knowledge but an artist that used to work for Pixar (among other things) as a concept artist helped me tie together my "traditional art knowledge" a million times faster then I could have done on my own. Also, I could find flaws in my own methods by watching him working and to be able to ask questions Another, former 3D artist from a games studio helped me with the digital art stuff. My time at university was simply priceless... still, my primary areas are design and programming

People did drop some link to basic stuff... I guess all I can say is that YouTube is filled with long nice tutorials if you search a bit. Other things that your friend should take a dive into is topics like the composition of a 3D model for a game. What are they made of? How are the different things combined? etc. He should also look into topics like color theory, shape theory, composition theory, layout theory etc... a fun topic is font theory, it really shows how tiny details can drastically change how we perceive something.

 

Funny, I heard bad things about them. xD
They're sort of the cheap alternative of Wacom tablets. I own something like this. I think its a new version of my tablet. Mine is a bit old. http://www.amazon.com/Wacom-Bamboo-...8&qid=1414696898&sr=1-2&keywords=Wacom+Bamboo

Texture brushes are basically tileable textures that you can use as a brush in Blender for example. Wall, brick wall, wood, tree bark, wood floor, stone floor, roof tiles, etc. Anything you can reuse, so you don't have to paint from scratch every time. Naturally in majority of cases you'll still need to do more than just brush over a model, but it does help a lot.