backgrounds (trying for a job) 9-5-03 new background

[CKWorth]

Short story: I'm doing this to impress a potential employer.

http://www.spherenoire.com/forumart/forest2.jpg

Old version: http://www.spherenoire.com/forumart/forest.jpg

Very long story: So there is this small company (about ten people) who are looking to hire a digital painter to paint backgrounds for their animations. I am one of maybe 300 people who have applied for the job. Of all the people I've applied to, they are the only company that wrote me back expressing the slightest bit of interest in my work and me. Since I'm just out of college (I want back in! :cry: ) all I have for my portfolio is my thesis, mostly character art and a handful of finished pieces. Not much background work. So I am trying to do a few backgrounds really quick to show them I can. They've already talked to me on the phone and I've driven to them for an interview. This doesn't necessarily mean anything. They are interviewing everyone who is close in person and do not yet know what to do about the people that are far away. I’ve also done an art test for them and sent them a few other things I did just for them. Maybe I’m going overkill on it but I want the job soooo badly and I am trying to do everything in my power to express that. They have so many applications to go through I don’t know when I’ll hear back again.

Their main concern is that I'm good with color. I'm trying to show them my abilities with color in these backgrounds. I know what you're thinking, my palette for this is heavily Philip Straub (http://www.philipstraub.com/) influenced. The look he has created for some of his backgrounds is the look I wanted for this. His use of color is genius to me.

I did this just today, but it has taken me the whole day. I still work slow.. must-get-faster. I'll be adding more to this thread as I get them done.

[defcombeta]

wow i like, were colour ful, has this animated for tv high quality look. i keep thinking space jam with bugs.

im afraid im in the same boat as you though bar there no industry left in my country so of to the uk or usa i go as soon as i get the money together. only thing i can see though is the sky, a few clouds etc it looks a little empty. but as a colour test this is coool. and a day only thats fast in my book. i do up cell stuff and it takes that long. hmm must work quicker.
:chug:

also since i did have a job in the past my advice for the interview is to relax dont just jush all the information out in 2.5 nano seconds , listen let them ask the questions companies want people who can listen and think and then ask questions.

[frankhart31]

Hey, I went to college with you??? My girlfriend lived right next door to you. Anyways, just wondering if you used painter or photoshop, but I know your work and its always been breathtaking. I think you are on a role here. I also am trying to do some backgrounds for the theme park industry, its tough stuff, I wish they would have had us do more of them in school. LOVE THE WORK

[neble]

I'm not the greatest judge, but I'm not really getting a mood from the picture. If your applying for a position, did you find out what the kind of mood their project is? This could be a good way of impressing them. If you didn't get one from them, pick one then really go into the picture with that mind set. Let that mood work the brush for you. Sounds kinda dumb, doesn't it? You never know.

Your style is working very well though. Personally, I'm starting to like the sketchy images the most.

Try sketching your mid-distance plants up a bit. They seem a little too clean for the rest of the image.

[Atomick]

Turokess,

Seen your work develop here for a while. I think you're making great progress...don't despair, that foot in the door is the toughest part. NEVER give up, though..that's death in the arts. Never.

That said, I think the colors are really lush, feels like a kind of Faerie glen kinda thing. The shrooms in the FG are a nice touch. The tone/mood of the piece is successful.

My primary criticism is the form of the trees. Your flora has a lot of good general definition, but the trees seem lumpy. Trees are powerful things, and grow in certain ways for certain reasons; observe this and "celebrate" it in your drawings.

Like Mike said, some forms are soft...in this piece, I think that's ok in this case. But soft doesn't mean formless. Make sure that you know what you're drawing...and yes, when you're just starting out, that DOES mean using reference.

Anyway, nice work, Turokess, good to hear you're moving forward and at least garnering some interest. Oh, and don't get hung up on Straub. There's always folks that're better than you...let it inspire your ambition, not squelch it.

Best,
-Atomick

[Porkasaurus]

I actually think the shapes are a little too soft. Some parts come across as blurry. The saturation of the sky/air is too much, it fights with the mood of the rest of the piece. I think the same goes for the leaves on the trees.

The bottom %45 of this picture looks great. Try to match the top to that.

[hawkprey]

Man I have my fingers crossed for you.

I know what its like to get out of school and jumping through hoops to land a gig. Its painful!

Any smart employer will realize you dont have industry experience but you have skill. They will be more interested in your drive and ambition and the fact you will progress as an artist during your hire with them. Be enthusiastic! Show initiative. Let them know you are still learning but you have HUNGER and do whatever it takes to make a good impression!

In my opinion getting your first gig is more about your attitude and your work ethic and SHOWING POTENTIAL.

I like your painting. If you did this in a day it is impressive. Keep banging away and dont give up.

[keyth]

i totally agree w/hawkprey. just keep pumping out work and send the new work to the same employers (even if it's a lot of them) constantly. it's very, VERY important to let the people know you WANT the job and ENJOY this type of work. i know so many people that sent out their demo reel after grad and thought that was enough....they are still flipp'n burgers. you obviously got the skills. just DON'T GET LAZY. KEEP MAKING WORK AND KEEP SENDING IT OUT.

[CKWorth]

I've been working on this a little more trying to clean it up and make it more finished. Some parts could still use some more attention I suppose, but I need to start another one.

Thanks for the responses everyone! They are very helpful and encouraging.

defcombeta: Hi. Thanks for the comments and the interview tip. At my school we had recruiters who gave one-on-one interviews so I had some practice. Problem is, I've just got a natural disposition of being quiet and soft-spoken. So I hope I didn't come across as uninterested.

MIKECORRIERO: Thanks. Yes, seems we are in the same boat, as I'm sure many others are as well. I've gone back and tightened up some of the hazy parts. I have a bad knack for adding more detail in the background than the foreground. Good luck to you also.

frankhart31: Hi Frank. Nice to see a familiar face (well, sort of, hehe). You are doing backgrounds in the theme park industry at the moment? That sounds pretty neat. This was done in Painter 8 with a customized marker brush, and the airbrush. I wish there was A LOT more they had given us the chance to do in school. Keep in touch.

neble: Well, the mood was just supposed to be kind of light and colorful (big step for me considering most of my previous art). I see what you mean about the mood being questionable. I ended up going for a more refined look, but I've got a problem with keeping the detail appropriate with the distance of the objects.

Atomick: Thanks a lot! Very encouraging. Yeah, no way I can give up, that would be the death of me. My trees are still pretty generic, but I tried to make them seem more natural and believable this time.

Porkasaurus: Thanks for the comments. I've gone back and sharpened most of the objects. Yeah, the saturation of the sky is still a little strong. I got carried away with the blue.

hawkprey: Thanks a bunch! I have to say I wasn’t' really prepared for how difficult it was going to be to find work in my area of study after school. I hope these extra backgrounds I am doing of my own drive to show the company I want to work for them will leave an impression.

keyth: Hi there. Yes, what you said is what I'm trying to do. Not becoming lazy is something I'm always fighting off because it's easy. Well, if my efforts here doing get me this job, I'll just keep at it and something else will come along eventually.

Well, got to start work on the next one. Thanks for the encouragement everyone. :thumb:

[CKWorth]

Digging the post up from the third page. Took me a while didn't it? Architecture and precise thing always come much harder to me. That first background took a day; this one took me two weeks(?) working on it off and on. Here it is finished, though. Now to send them to the employer...

http://www.spherenoire.com/forumart/village.jpg

[Dakardaur]

pretty cool..i likes it....BUT
I dunno, i think that if you added some white in the windows, and maybe some reflections, they would look better. Also, the lil area on the back doesnt look right...dunno, a lil flat maybe?
Its great anyway!

[stormeffex]

graduating college is tough as hell. i hope that you do land a job soon. I wish i was back there too. but, i like your paintings a lot. the first one is great but the second one doesn't seem to have the impact the first one does. in my opinion, the cloud looks too bright and it dulls everything else. toning it down could make this a stronger piece.

good luck on the job.

[MoMusumefan21]

agh, i am not even in college yet, and i am already scared of not finding a job!

Well anyways... I think they are pretty good, expect, what is the job you are going to do? What is the animation going to be about? Its is a sci-fi or other differnt kind of gener? or a educational/kids kinda show?

[softdrawer]

too purpleish to me

[Loga4]

I like it!