My Current Portfolio (large dl)

[The Brett]

Hey everyone, I'm just about finished compiling my current portfolio to be sent out. There are still a few holes and I have an idea of what I should be filling them with, but I thought I'd better get some second opinions.

I enjoy illustration, animation, web design and concept work. I know I need environments and vehicle concepts and that's what I'm learning to do right now since I've only really ever did character art.

I'm really curious what employers, especially ones who outsource and hire on a contract basis, want to see. So if anyone has any advice for me, I'd greatly appreciate it.

Thanks a lot,

-Brett
www.thebrett.com


Life Drawing
http://www.thebrett.com/images/ld02.jpg

http://www.thebrett.com/images/ld03.jpg

http://www.thebrett.com/images/ld04.jpg

CD Covers & Posters
http://www.thebrett.com/images/ld08.jpg

http://www.thebrett.com/images/ld09.jpg

Illustration
http://www.thebrett.com/images/ld12.jpg

Concept Art
http://www.thebrett.com/images/ld14.jpg

http://www.thebrett.com/images/ld06.jpg

http://www.thebrett.com/images/ld15.jpg

3D Models
http://www.thebrett.com/images/ld16.jpg

[Skank]

i like it man, youve got some great stylings goin on here

:jump1:

[WerxOne]

very nice, i like your figure drawings and the 3d hcaracter is pretty cool, good to see the concept built in 3d.

[BlueMech]

You have a wide range of styles there. I easpecially like the life drwings at the top!

[N D Hill]

pretty tight man.

[fukifino]

My first thought on scrolling through it was "uh oh, all his figure drawings are women..." I'm glad you balanced that with a mostly male dominated concept section to show you know both genders.

I'm not in the biz so don't really have any advice, just wanted to share those thoughts. :) Everything is pretty badass though. Good range of styles too.

[steiner116]

cool i like it, youve got some very nice renders in there, tight illustrations and the cd and poster work is very cool!

hell id hire you! :)

very nicely done :clapping2

hope you get where you want to be!

[young paddy1]

very nice your work is pretty damn fine, and you can tell it was all done by the same artist except for the illustration side which goes off at a completely different yet equally cool tangent.
I reckon everything is of great standard and well balanced throughout the folio, but I have to crit even though I don't want to.

The guy with the ram horned helmet in the concepts section is holding a blade that would be completely useless in battle, if it had more of a counterweight on the other side of the grip it would make it easier to handle, at the moment the tip of the main blade would almost certainly head floorwards during any swing.

don't get me wrong he looks all cool and brooding.

[pvrhye]

Great work. If I was going to point out a weak spot i'd say the "character paintings". You might want to drop them, or you might want to go back into a few if you feel that you can do better now. Or you might want to ignore me because I might be crazy.

[steiner116]

The guy with the ram horned helmet in the concepts secion is holding a blade that would be completely useless in battle, if it had more of a counterweight on the other side of the grip it would make it easier to handle, at the moment the tip of the main blade would almost certainly head floorwards during any swing.

I dont know it does look cool, like a bladed nightstick :) but i guess it would be hard to use it any other way :/

very nice work all the same :smirk:

[Dementist]

Cool work, Brett. I checked out your website and really enjoyed the design. (especially the bouncy-ball swordsman!)

If I had to identify a weakpoint in the portfolio, I'd say it was the two "Rock" posters. Something about their composition just rubs me the wrong way. Too much text, not enough image, perhaps? Image doesn't blend into the text?

Could you tell me what medium you used for the first two life-drawing pages? I'm looking to do some studies this summer, but all I currently have available is plain ol' HB art pencils.

[bear]

Most of it looks good but one thing that stands out is that the lower parts of the legs and feet are missing in all the character paintings and concept art images, makes it look like you don't know how to draw that part (even if you do know that or not).

[Jason Manley]

you need to get rid of almost half the stuff in there.....some work is pro...other work looks lazy .....some looks great...others look below mediocre. NEVER SEND WORK THAT IS NOT YOUR BEST WORK. PERIOD. Lesson number six in the conceptart.org handbook. you have too much crap in there...i cant tell what you want to do...some look like you want to be a cartoonist...others like you want to do graphic design...others like you need to learn to finish your paintings too. sorry to be a hardass but sometimes honesty is needed before you get your pile of rejection letters. you are judged not by your best pieces but by your worst. for example, your figure drawings show that you dont take the time to look and observe...nor that you take the time to finish things or even be accurate. instead of reflecting positive responses parts of your portfolio just suggest laziness in your work. your portfolio says everything about you. you want to be sure it says ONLY the right things. use a more discerning eye= J

[Elwell]

Listen to Jason (like you need me to tell you that).
What he said about the life drawings was spot on. They all look generalised, not like drawings of a real, individual person at a specific time.
Be absolutely merciless about weeding stuff out. You've got three really strong pieces (the last character painting of the guy with the sword, the illustration of the girl on the bar stool, and the 3d model), but your work is all over the place. Focus on the markets you really want to reach and develop smaller, stronger books for each one, rather than one big "look at all the cool stuff I can do" portfolio.

[one2hit]

What Jason said. It is obvious you have talent but your portfolio confuses me. You need to figure out what it is you want people to understand about you when you give them a portfolio. Right now I think character design is your strongest asset. The cartoon stuff is too simplistic in design to judge your artistic abilities with and you should refrain yourself from putting spash pages in of hands, feet, and faces. Anyone can draw a good hand if they practice long enough, but not everyone can draw a good hand atached anatomically correct on a good body. hrmmm that doesn't make a lot of sense. I'm really not feeling the 3D model either....Looks like a skinny robotic version of Riddick or something.

Anyway I would like to see more of this kind of stuff if you have any:
http://www.thebrett.com/images/ld14.jpg
those are just fantastic.

[The Brett]

Wow ... it would appear I have a lot of work to do. I added another headshot to the concept art section and will be working my ass off this week since I'm going to be in New York for a few days next week and would like to be able to drop something off to a few companies in that area.

I'd like to thank everyone who responded. I never expected to get so much feedback .. I really appreciate it, especially the hardass stuff :)

Skank, WerxOne, BlueMech, Exo, fukifino, steiner116: Thanks a lot for the encouragement.

young paddy1: The real answer ... Looking at the ram-horned helmet guy, I can totally see where you're coming from. That weapon would be pretty lame in an actual battle. The bs answer ... it's magic.

pvrhye: I always thought my character paintings were among the strongest part of my portfolio ... but after reading all the reviews, and thinking pretty hard on the matter ... I'd have to agree with you. I need more like the fullpage swordsman, and less like, say, the girl with the glasses.

Dementist: Those posters are probably the oldest pieces in there. I'd probably include them in a graphic design or illustration portfolio .. but otherwise it might be time to retire them ... *sob*

bear: I noticed that too. I actually don't mind drawing feet at all .. but for some reason it just all turned out that way. My next ones will definitely have feet attached to them.

Jason Manley: After reading your reply (several times), I have to say that you might have hit the nail on the head. The painting with the long-haired swordsman took about a day to do, while some of the others were done in an hour or two ... and it definitely shows. Aswell as the lifedrawing, and quite a bit more that you didn't have to mention. I guess all I can really do is thank you for the advice and inspiration and post again when I think it's ready. I was wondering though, how long is the average portfolio? What's an acceptable range of pages that's not too few and not too many?

Elwell: I need to get back into the lifedrawing alot more than I have been. I was planning on making separate, specialized portfolios for the different jobs I'd be applying for. I should have said that earlier on though. Thanks for the advice.

one2hit: I totally understand what you're saying about the hands, feet and faces. I'm starting to realize that what teachers tell you should be in your portfolio, and what the "real world" tells you should be in your portfolio are not always the same. And that model was finished about a month before Chronicles came out and EVERYONE who looked at it was all like, "Hey ... Riddick!" Alwell, win some lose some.

Thanks again for all the advice, encouragement and inspiration. I'll update the pages when I feel that they're up to snuff.

-Brett

[one2hit]

well I mean like...the bald headed goggle wearing figure has been done a few times before...no matter who did it before riddick, it still wasn't totally original. But then again, what is these days?

[The Brett]

Alright, I did a redo of a picture I thought was my absolute best work about four months ago. In case you can't tell, the first one is the original, and the second is the redo :)

http://www.thebrett.com/samurai01.jpg http://www.thebrett.com/images/07030401.jpg

-Brett

[one2hit]

dood! that picture would be awesome if you could paint the flame, instead of tack on "cut-out" style images of flame. You could make it bright and whispy! It would be so sweet, right now, that "mario paper" style flame doesn't match the painting.

[Rickxu]

:clapping1

how nice they are! awesome! i really enjoy to see such wonderful concept art works! i can't wait to see more. ya , very impressive. they are full of inspiration.

keep it up!

cheers