Portfolio CA addendum - Need Advice!

[mindfields]

Hello guys, I'm building my concept art portfolio and require some badly needed critic. This is the story. I've gone to some gaming companies job interviews and after doing all phone, first and second personal interviews and tests all goes to hell. I mean, most of the companies I apply seem interested, but at the end of the day I just don't get the job. The comment I mostly receive is that my artworks look too finished and they fear I'll not be able to do content on time. They require more concept (AKA quick) style artworks. Right now most of my portfolio is fantasy art I've done for Wizards of the Coast, Fantasy Flight Games and myself. You can see my portfilio here: www.mindfields.us.

Just make sure you come back to give me advice

What I'm trying to do is create some very conceptually exploratory pieces that might help me to pump up my portfolio a bit more.

I decided to create a portfolio addendum based on "The Wizard of Oz" apart from other unrelated pieces. Why Oz you might ask? Because it has a human character, a robot, a city, a beast and a well... scarecrow :S. All nice elements to build a portfolio.

All pieces are to be considered finished.

I'll start with Dorothy:
Well my Dorothy is not a child in my story, but a fully grown woman which happens to be a punk. She's against the wizards' opression and political machine. She's looking to know why she was brought from her land against her will. Right now my aproach to Dorothy is a LA style glam punk. Later I might do more sketches based on 70's punk.

http://www.mindfields.us/pic_dump/dorothy.jpg

Emerald City:
Emerald city is a messed up place. It is called like that not because it is made of emerald, but because it has many brass buildings covered with rust. From the distance the city looks green, hence the name. Here I'm trying various aproaches.

Industrial:
http://www.mindfields.us/pic_dump/enviro-2.jpg

Futuristic:
http://www.mindfields.us/pic_dump/enviro-3.jpg

Retro-future:
http://www.mindfields.us/pic_dump/enviro-1.jpg

Distopian (?):
http://www.mindfields.us/pic_dump/enviro-4.jpg

For Tin Man I'm doing for a top heavy 50's silhouette for the moment. Tin man is an automaton with no remorse or heart. He's a protector / executer.

http://www.mindfields.us/pic_dump/tin%20man.jpg

Scarecrow will be a man who's lost his mind a long time ago. For this character I got inspired by a dude who always hang out on Venice Beach, CA. You can always find him skating and playing guitar with amazing skill. He's always over accesorized. Such a real life character... I took very different directions here.

http://www.mindfields.us/pic_dump/scarecrow%20bum.jpg

These next pictures have nothing to do with OZ but are part of my portfolio for the moment. Again your honest critique will be really apreciated.

Thanks! I'll post more pics soon.

Fire away your crits!!!

http://www.mindfields.us/pic_dump/ship_mechanic.jpg

These silhouettes are based on a character from Arthur C. Clarke's Rendevouz with Rama, a highly visual novel I recommend to anyone doing sci-fi stuff.

http://www.mindfields.us/pic_dump/raman%20scout.jpg

[girlwithglasses]

Hello,

I don't feel qualified to give you crits on your portfolio, but I can give you some common sense advice. Firstly, if these companies are citing a lack of evidence of your being able to come up with concept work quickly, why not provide them with some? The work in your portfolio and here all looks quite 'finished', as if you've spent quite a bit of time on it. Why not have a section of your portfolio dedicated to speedpaints, or quick concept works on a set theme? Set yourself a theme and a time limit -- an hour, two hours, three hours absolute max -- and see what you can come up with in that time. Put these on your website or have a blog dedicated to 'sketches of the day', so the companies you're applying to can see some evidence that you can produce work quickly on any topic.

Secondly, if you're getting to the second or third interview stage, it indicates that these companies are definitely interested in you, but maybe you're just not quite 'closing the deal' when you meet them? I don't have any experience of interviews in the arts / design world, but generally, when companies call you in for an interview and you go around and meet the other staff, etc., it's to assess how well you would fit in with the rest of the team - by that point, they are usually satisfied that you have the skills needed. It might be worth reading up about interview technique or doing a class on it, because it can be easy to give a negative impression because you're nervous or shy (OTOH, it can be easy to give a great impression despite being totally useless at the job!). Your work is obviously doing its job in selling you, now you need to work on selling yourself! :D

I hope this is can be of some help, despite not being a critique of your work. :)