Help!!! Where do i start???

[KKay]

Hi to all the members out there.

I seek advice from all your wise and knowledgeable heads. :teeth:

At the moment i am living in the UK but hope to eventually relocate to the US or AUS(but that is neither here nor there at the moment).

Anyway, I have just left uni, and trying to get work basically but, really don't know where to start, i have signed up to loads of agencies online, since they are all based in london and i am about a 6hour drive away from there.
I can't seem to get any company work as they prefer more commercial artwork and i can't seem to get any consistant freelance work weather its because of my style or inexperience or all of the above i don't know but suspect that this is probably the case.

I have thought about doing some free projects for exposure and experience, but since i am not earning it means that i am having to get a full time job at some mind numbing superstore or something just to pay the rent. meaning i have alot less time to spend on my work. :dad:

Any input would be greatly appreciated weather its an effective way to get a foot in the door of freelance work or something else. Any input or advice regarding my work would also be greatfully appreciated.

My work is displayed on this site, www.knbillustrations.blogspot.com (http://www.knbillustrations.blogspot.com) .i must apologise for the tackyness of the site as i only had 2 days to put the whole site together.

Kristian

[AndrewAnimation.com]

www.awn.com is a good place to find job opportunities, if you click in the career section. but u have to be good to fight the competition. snail mail may be better than email to separate u from the crowd. emails r a dime a dozen but a cd in the mail catches the attention. just be sure to email first, asap, with a link to your online portfolio. quickest, most convenient way for you AND your potential employer. this 'commercial artwork' youre talking about... in your spare time, you should be coming up with pieces of artwork that FIT this category. that way you'll finally have suitable things to show off to companies, and feel good about the fact that youre showing them an example of what they want. youre not getting work because your portfolio isnt faithful to what you actually CAN do. then again, i wouldnt know. your site doesnt load any of its pictures. all broken, for me anyway. freelance work can be TOUGH to make a decent living off of. i wouldnt do free projects for experience unless the 'experience' column in your resume is still shorter than your 'education' column. in that case, it might be nice to do quick, free things until that's fixed. but honestly, your portfolio is more important than your experience in THIS business. esp when youre just starting out. if i were u, my first option would be to live with the parents while you work on the best quality portfolio stuff you can achieve, esp hitting those 'commercial' areas you need. free food, free housing. if mooching isnt an option, id get a fulltime job at any place that leaves you enough time to come home in the evenings and weekends and do that portfolio thing. and its not as hard as it may seem. you dont need quantity. heck, you dont WANT quantity. just quality. companies would rather see 5 astonishing pieces in your portfolio than 30 mediocre ones. 1 or 2 amazing pieces, and suddenly it looks as if youre a great artist. even if those pieces took you weeks and the rest of the thousands of pieces you did resembles $#!*. its magical. ^_^

[KKay]

Thanks for your input, unfortunately moving back home isn't really an option as i have a lease for the next 7 months which i have to pay weather i am living here or not .

i tried to load that link and also put the address in but whatever page it was for wouldn't load.
My portfolio seems to be somewhat tempremental, which seems to be down to the blogspot server, if you refresh the page the images/pages should load fine.

Thanks again for your input and if its possible to get that site address, i would be very grateful, thanks

Kristian

[AndrewAnimation.com]

oops, sorry i didnt get back to you sooner!! <: ( i was busy with some stuff

the site was http://www.awn.com/ i don't know of a reason why it wouldn't load..

i see..wow, so you're there for the next 7 months.. i'd still try to get food from my mom though, since it'd be free and i can't cook and she can, quite well in fact =D

yup, your portfolio worked this time. i see you know some 3D, and you may not want to take my advice, but from my experience of the industry thus far, i'd urge you to polish your 3D skills, even if at the cost of sacrificing time you would put into practicing 2D, if time is a factor. that's because 3D is IN! and once you know it well enough, it can be a lot faster than 2D, especially when animating!! what i did is i took an intensive 12-week project-based course in 3d max. if you can find a course like that where you are, i'd definitely suggest checking it out. or else, a 3d animation course at a college.

[KKay]

I found out what the other problem may have been with the portfolio, people have been downloading the pics and ripway have suspended access to my account til the amount of people trying to download the pics drops. So til then my site is pretty much invisible :needle: So if you Andrew or anyone else out there knows of a good free site to store images sources on, i'm all ears.

Alas i agree when it comes to food from mums, what i wouldn't give for a nice sunday roast dinner, instead of a micro-pizza. But she lives 400 miles away, i guess there is always snail mail.

Thanks for the advice with the portfolio, i was actually half way through a degree in games design but dropped out because the 3d modelling side was never as appealing to me as the 2d work. But it is something that i will definately be devoting a bit more of my time to now. Thanks for for taking the time to make a comment, looking around this site you seem to get around quite a bit so a definate thankyou for the advice.

Kristian

[KKay]

And i did manage to find my way onto that awn site in the end, thanks again

[AndrewAnimation.com]

i would search google for an image site. then u can keep em on there and link to them from your site..doesn't yahoo briefcase do something like that? i'm not sure

i agree that 2d is more appealing. i never imagined, even just a year ago from now, that i'd now actually prefer 3d over 2d when it comes to animation, due to the relative speed and ease. not to mention it looks like the easier way to make a living these days. however, 3D gets very cool when you finally get as comfortable with the software as you are with, say, photoshop or painter. it takes time to learn but i think once you pull through, you'll find you can expess yourself just as well in 3D as you do in 2D. plus you'll have a job in the field.

=)

[inspector Lee]

Don't know if you're already familiar with these sites but: Game industry.biz has a job board that lists lots of jobs in the game industry, especially in the UK (click "jobs" on upper left). Game Industry.biz (http://www.gamesindustry.biz/index.php) Aardvark Swift is another site that recruits specifically for the game industry in the UK. Aardvark Swift (http://www.aswift.co.uk/)
Also, I am finding out what andrew said is so true. Almost all game companies (even the big ones) want their artists to have multiple skills, and that means knowing some 3D.

[KKay]

Thanks Inspetor Lee

I can't help thinking now that maybe i am looking in the wrong places for work. I have spent several months working as a tester for a games company where i am presently situated, To get a look into the games industry. Nice atomsphere although alot of backstabbing between or the senior members of staff. Ths bosses there would also treat anyone who isn't a producer or exectutive like crap unfortunately. I spent my xmas week last year working a 120hour week because the bosses were too cheap to hire more than 3 testers to test a game that was atleast 6months from being completed but due wanted finished within 2 months . Sorry going abit off topic there.

I do enjoy doing concept work, but tbh have always wanted to get to the kind of place where artists like Masamune Shirow (http://www.asgard.gen.nz/anime/shirow/) are (Writer and Artist of the Ghost in the Shell Novels), granted i am decades off being anywhere as near as good as him but, his type of actual job/work that he is able to get mag covers, posters etc is the type that i would like to be aiming for but have been unable to really find any forums or job sites quite like the ones here at Concept Art to help me get an idea of where to really start. :bashful:

I am now definately considering reapplying myself to the 3d work as there does seem to be a massive market place for it, as well as it being probably my best option for getting permanent work in the US.

Thank You inspector Lee for your opinion, You and Andrew do both make alot of sense. unfortunately Too much sense the more i evaluate my situation the better i think it would be to move home for several months and so i don't have to worry about the hussle and bussle of having to get a full time job just to pay the rent so i can spend time drawing etc.

Kristian

[AndrewAnimation.com]

yea!! move back home! too bad bout that lease though. it must be fun being a game tester.

as for your goals/dreams, it'll take a while but your only real path is to do what your hero guy did, which was to get good. i think getting into 3d would be a good idea for you, as it's bound to improve your overall artistic sense, even if it's not 2d. and how about that new ghost in the shell 2 movie? there's a lot of cg in that.

yea so suck in whatever pride might get hurt by living under your parents (like i do) so u can practice til your head explodes! at least until they force u to leave, if they're like that

[KKay]

Cheers Andrew, (i keep calling you andrew, i am assuming that is your name if not my apologises)

The games testing thing was fun, repetative at times but I got to work on the a few good games. The Mega Man Anni Collection released over there in the US, the Guy Game also only a US release although watching spring break women show there boobs for 2 months was definately one of the job perks. I got to say any job where you can watch Dvd's listen to music and joke about while playing games as well as take the games home to test/play and get paid for that time to, has got to be rated as one of the more appealing jobs out there. :wink:

My only fear of moving back home is getting stuck there for too long, last time i was home was almost 2 years ago over the summer and it was the longest 3 months of my life, although i did get a lot or artwork done, lets just say the home inhabitants are more the questioning factor to this decision. I will see how it goes, i'm going out job hunting tomoz so hopefully something remotely arty will catch my eye, but i doubt it, in what is one of the worst towns in the UK Middlesbrough (theres a warning for everybody if travelling to this area, this place has more beggers than the whole of the south of England combined, alas i wish i was joking. :nohope: )

As for Ghost in The Shell 2, i have seen the trailers and wow, it really does look like they have taken the Japanese Animation genre to yet another level, even the new final fantasy 7 movie looks as stunning as the one that flopped, except this time atleast it looks like its got a half-decent storyline. can't wait for both, just hope they get cinema releases and not straight to DVD or Vid.

Sorry i do have a tendency to ramble when typing, so i will finish this message now.

Kristian

[AndrewAnimation.com]

yup my name's andrew. wow, that job sounds sweet! the guy game got really bad ratings in a video game magazine that mysteriously appears in my mailbox even though i dont subscribe.

yea id rather my mom and dad werent around too, but i dont have a choice since im aiming for a very sweet job in 3D, meaning a LOT of practice, as well as visible proof of skill thru portfolio pieces.

i dont think even if those films hit the theatre, that they'll do too well because theyre not aimed at kids. kids movies = parents coming along = ticket sales

[KKay]

It times like now i wish i was Pairs Hilton lying on a sunbed with not a worry in the world. except where do i go out to, to party tonight. and does this 250 thousand dollar hair clip go with my 7 million dollar diamond ring. nah it don't, i will buy a new 7 million dollar ring instead. :dur:

[AndrewAnimation.com]

planning's the answer..just plan in steps what you have to do to get from where you are to where you wanna be :P

[Duncan]

You might already have it, but I'd suggest buying a copy of "2005 Artist's & Graphic Designer's Market" Every freelance illustrator should have one. Has listings world-wide from companies who buy illustrator's work and how to submit samples to them so they can buy your work. Results might be a bit slow because of the process, but you never know. Worth a look.

[KKay]

Cheers for the recommendation, i can't say that i have ever actually heard of the Artist's & Graphic Designer's Market, is it actually a book or special edition magazine, and who publishes it? It sounds like a brilliant resource to have.
Thanks Duncan.

Kristian

[Duncan]

It's pretty hefty, about the size of the phonebook, the really thick ones. It's rather like a phone book too, geared towards artists. It's divided into different media, books, magazines, and more, then in each section it'll have companies that buy illustration, the art buyer's name, their preferred method of contact and loads of other useful info. Some even tell you what copyrights they buy and how much they pay. There's also helpful articles in each edition on a wide variety of illustration topics like legal issues, how to present your portfolio and such. Look it up on amazon.com, they might be able to tell you a little more.

[KKay]

That sounds like a really great source, i actually went out looking for a copy the other day to find that all book stores will keep me waiting for atleast 3 weeks for a copy:(

So by the like i wont be able to get a copy til xmas at this rate, that being the case i was told the latest edition of this books comes out in early Jan so will probably wait til then for the moment.

And as i am know an official employee of a Blockbuster Video Store "Yay" (That 'Yay' is in the most sarcastic tone known to man). It means that i will be continuing to try and make it, away from home and working in my spare time which may be becoming even more limited with another possible full time job on the table to do at the same time. As well as my art stuff. Theres something about trying to make it on your own that is so much more character building i think, or thats what i am hoping anyway:)
Well Matt Groening did the same thing kind of and now hes " totally dead famous like".

Sorry went off track, i will definately be getting a copy of that publication, if what you say is true it really does sound like a treasured source for any artist/ illustrators library.

[AndrewAnimation.com]

www.amazon.com =x

[Gilead]

12 years ago I was trying to get work as a fantasy games illustrator and having very little luck I had a full time job as a store manager which left me with no time or energy to do my art. So I started looking for a part time job to help pay the bills so I could drop the full time job and do art part time.
What I found instead was a job in a grocery store doing signs and silly commercial art. This was not what I expected or wanted to do, but I became rather good at it, lots of people hired me for a variety of jobs and before I knew it I was making more money than I ever had and really enjoying it all.
This job led to me going freelance as a signpainter, which led to freelance mural work, which has led to some illustration work.
I'd still rather be a fantasy illustrator, but hey doing art of any sort for a living beats the hell out of running a cash register.
You mentioned not wanting to do commercial art, but I'd advise you not to turn it down. You never can tell where you will end up untill you just start going. Todd Lockwood painted beer cans and sattelite dishes for a long time before getting the fantasy work he was after.
Since most of my work is in public, I get most of my jobs from people just walking up and watching me for a while and then asking if I could do this or that.
I mention this for the sake of anyone reading. If you're going to sit down at a table and draw a picture, great! but don't sit at your table at home all by yourself drawing in secret. Go to the mall, sit at a table in the food court and draw. Don't get self concious by people looking over your shoulder. Dont be surley if they ask you questions. Dont get annoyed if you hear the same dumb remarks a hundred times. It's part of the job. Art is for public consumption so get it out in front of people any way you can.
As for free art, it's a good idea if you can afford to do it, but only for groups that really cant afford to pay you like free newsletters, fanzines etc. never do free work for companies that are going to make money off the art. They can afford to pay and should.
Good luck.

[AndrewAnimation.com]

that does it--the tables in front of the mcdonald's in the local mall's food court now have a new name: the studio

[KKay]

I' m with you Andrew, maci D's it is, although the maci'D round my way tends to have bums trying to sell me drugs, i think its cause of the whole long haired starving artist look i was aiming for is definately making its way in.

Thanks for the advice Gilead that is definately i good idea, i have to admit that it works, my dad would do it at times around local resturants and bars and he is a shite artist, not shite good, but shite bad, and people would actually pay him for pieces, god knows why, he really cant draw. But anyway that idea is defiantely has defiantely been noted, Thanks.

[klinesmoker]

Man, I'm glad to see this thread here. Having a similair problem on my end at the moment. Of course, when it all boils down, Wyoming isn't exactly "liberal" in its artistic acceptance. Not to mention being 19! Ouch in a bad way. Gilead that is an amazing idea, one that I think I will put into use. It falls into the category of can't hurt, might help around here and I extend a very sincere thank you. :wink:
Thanks for the advice on this thread here. I am a little concerned at my lack of 3d skills. I have focused primarily on 2d. Any suggestions on how to work the 2d angle from a commissioned perspective? Any sites, that is, that provide a database of some sort for peeps seeking commissioned pieces (outside of here)? If not, oh well! Time to crank the pc and bust out the fresca.

[adenton]

I have wondered the same thing. Is doing illustration full time a reality that can be attained and if so what are the steps needed to get there. I've been doing only game art for the past three years but getting a check every two months just dosent cut it. You are not alone in you wondering and I wish you the best luck. As far as game art goes I just created a list of game comapny urls and sent emails to their respective art directors. I'd alos like to hear what you all think. Thanks for the great thread.