Rejection - Ouch!

[Wetterschneider]

I've been submitting to a few companies around the country and I've received the usual stock of "will keep on files" as is expected. I've even gotten a few "no thanks" which didn't really faze me until the one company I really wanted to be part of turned me down.

How do you deal with it? On one hand it hurts, I thought my portfolio was quite appealling, but now I feel pretty worthless. On the other hand I feel smarter and happy I gained a more realistic perspective of my own talents (which aren't bad, nor all that).

I've decided to just keep working on my weaknesses and keep submitting to other places. What else is there to do?

[drbriefs]

Well, I believe you should learn all you can on various visual artforms, and it really depends on what type of job you're applying to. Maybe they just weren't "wowed" so to speak, the pieces you made maybe aren't related to their type of genres, etc. There are lots of reasons why not, the hard part is finding out why they did (when they do hire you). Just look at the artists on the concept art.org main page, I saw those and was greatly humbled. Your tale was a little vague, so it's hard to pin down why. Also, google is your friend ;)

[Wetterschneider]

I'm sure the "why" is definitely that the material in the portfolio did not reflect the needs of the project they are hiring for.

The question is more about how do you deal with the emotions (the disappointment, frustation, and humiliation) of being declined. Guess I wasn't too clear on that. But how do you deal - practice, shrug it off, drink heavily?

thanks,
Scott

[bRyaN]

Drink heavily.....j/k

Shrug it off...re-evaluate your portfolio, substitue your older works with the newest stuff you got, resubmit...rinse and repeat..

Show the companies you are applying for continuing improvement..in some cases they really do keep your stuff on file and compare..

Other than that your only other option would be to quit(and work at a job you don't love), and that's usually not an option, most people want to be happy..

Keep your head up, and keep on trying..

[mcotie]

I was there and All I can say is hang in there.

Send emails to artists that that you respect and are in the biz and ask for their critiques and input on your work. (without even mentioning jobs) just get feedback. Many artists won't reply, mostly due to their work schedule.

Try to get a few freelance gigs to keep you busy and get your mind off of finding an art job constantly. I think the most important thing is to stay busy with your art; moreso now than you have ever been. Even if youre not getting paid for it, at least you will grow with skill. Painting and drawing some nice pieces for yourself will keep your confidence up.

Good Luck
Mitch

[poopinmymouth]

well, one thing to keep in mind is that when your thinking about a studio its just you and them, and you wanting to get the job. where as from their end when they are thinking about you, there are 1.8 trillion reasons why they might not pick you. I just try to realize why it was I got denied, and take solace in that, then i play a little game I like to call "fox and the grapes" Those grapes were prolly sour anyway!!!! lol

[Muttonhead]

Never give up. Unless you want to feel even more worthless. It's tough, and most of us on this site go through it all the time, but so has every other successful artist out there.

In many ways, I think being an artist is a much more mentally demanding job than most, simply because it requires an inner fortitude for dealing with constant rejection that many other jobs do not require. Most people land there first 9 - 5, carry on with that for a while, and then have to deal with acceptance/rejection only at the point in which they are applying for their next job, whereas a freelancer or artist may have to deal with it on a regular basis year in and year out.

But when the successes come, it makes it that much sweeter.

Remember: there IS no accounting for taste, so you can't let people's subjective opinions make you feel like you are worthless. But at the same time, don't allow yourself to become too over-confidant either, there is always room for improvement.

That said: Booze, Cigs, Coffee, and maybe a bit o' Porn here and there usually does the trick for curing those rejection blues if you are in to any of those things! Ha!

-Muttonhead

[Lono]

come on man,,, life is all about rejection.
it trancends your art and your economics,, and it even plays a fundamental role in love.. believe me,, dont go diggin for it, cause youll find it everywhere.
best to accept it and embrace it as a valuable and unavoidable ingrediant in what is known as ""the human struggle""..

the embrace is the secret.. youll never understand what that really means until you actually do it. try and dissect that one and youll dull the knife for sure...

id give you some empty pep talk about how your future is ripe for the plucking with the right ammount of determination and the right ammount of patience,, but the fact is,, you may lose the use of your arms in a car accident on your way to McDonalds tomorrow and then youd have to find out what your REALLY made of..

plz pardon my bluntness,, ive had a few. :beer:

-Lono

[Wetterschneider]

I, uh, think I'll skip Mcdonalds today...

Thanks, all of you, for the thoughts. I will embrace rejection and use it to fuel my ongoing training and work. Not in a bitter "I'll show them" kind of way, though.

Back to the sketch book for me.

[bRyaN]

Originally posted by Wetterschneider
I, uh, think I'll skip Mcdonalds today...

Thanks, all of you, for the thoughts. I will embrace rejection and use it to fuel my ongoing training and work. Not in a bitter "I'll show them" kind of way, though.

Back to the sketch book for me.

That's the spirit....and like Jason Lee said in Vanilla Sky..."The sweet ain't as sweet without the sour."

[tyboogie]

whenever i feel blue i just look at dilbert...he always makes me feel better

http://funktion-studios.com/tyler/puppy.jpg

[nick reynolds]

37/80+ resumes and portfolios, is the amount of replies I have gotten in the past 2.5 months. Only 8 of those 37 ended up being "lets talk more emails", "Take this test and send it back" or I got a phone call a couple days or a week later. The rest where we will keep you on file or you’re not what we are looking for. Two companies actually told me what they would like to see in my portfolio, so I could work on it and reapply.

An actor in school once told me how he dealt with trying to find work. "You go to the audition and when you leave you forget you where ever there." That way you don’t dwell on the unanswerable. "What did I do wrong," "did I say the right thing," all that will do is get you down. I adapted that and I just found companies and emailed them my work with my resume and a cover letter. Then I would forget about it and just keep on working on my portfolio. I swear every phone call I got came when I was working on improving my portfolio; I never got a call while I was playing video games. :confused: Makes sense though.

I just got my first game industry job yesterday and I'll be moving to LA in 11 days. (The count down begins.) All I can say, seeing as I’m just a youngin' is focus your work to one subject... characters, environments, props, animation, etc... Show allot of what your good at and a little of what your ok at. Your site has allot of good work and allot of ok work you should cut down on the ok work and keep the focus on your good work. Show that you have range, but not every piece of art you’ve done this year. Make a misc. section for the rest of your work or even an archive area.

I hope this helps; just forgetting about what you've sent out really helps. I was surprised on one phone call because I had forgotten that I had even applied to the company.

Well good luck and I hope for the best, all you can do is keep working hard.

[bRyaN]

THat makes perfect sense...

And congrats on the new gig..good luck with that..