Student Looking For Portfolio Crit

[0Hayes]

Hey, my name is Rob Hayes, I'm a 3rd year game design student at the university of central lancashire. As I am going to be graduating in a few months I was hoping to get some feedback on my portfilio so I know what I can work on etc. My goal at the moment is to become an environment artist although I enjoy all concept art, 3d work and level design.

My portfolio:http://rhconceptart.blogspot.com/

Examples of my recent work towards my final honours project:

[Uziel]

Overall your work looks like preliminary stuff, not a final concept or matte painting.

Everybody can come up with great ideas. Translating them into something usable and inspiring is what makes you stand out.

Use textures, photo's and custom brushes to create an illusion of a fair amount of little details,materials,mood and patterns.
You use none of them while they can make the process so much easier.


I think Feng Zhu is a great example of giving info with a concept.
http://www.artbyfeng.com/

[0Hayes]

Hey,
thanks for the advice! Although I have been using custom brushes and textures I don't always use them to such an extent (and with textures I'm still learning how to use them.) None the less, today I've been working on two paintings using more of the above methods. Although the latest is still in a preliminary stage I'm hoping that these are more like what you mean (see my blog for the latest paintings)?

Thanks again, and still any more critique from anybody would be very much appreciated!

[Nrekkvan]

Hey man.

Separate your objects properly. It's especially apparent with your characters. One has to hunt for them in both

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WAfm5B2ONhs/Tx7Yjr_aUUI/AAAAAAAAAcE/Spi72Arl9HE/s1600/Dragon+Attack.jpg and

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IOKg18W8oZA/Tx12SqI7SOI/AAAAAAAAAbc/waTDtpOP8g0/s1600/Sci+Fi+power+plant+concept.jpg

The sci-fi powerplant picture is lacking atmospheric perspective as well, making it look absolutely flat. Character, foreground, background, all on same value AND hue levels.

Loose style usually only works for people who already know how to make a well rendered painting. Make something more rendered and well presentable in say at least 1K pixels wide. Any monitor can display that.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XdvuvluCvk8/Tx6vTpOWB-I/AAAAAAAAAb0/s7mHxQ3iS8c/s1600/Mountain+Monument+Concept.jpg - monuments are horribly oversimplified in comparison with the rest of the painting. They are stick figures style. They are your focal points and grass has 10 times more detail (texture/color) than they do. And perspective on them is frontview, although they are up there.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VFksoYRZq4Q/TxBw1PcWdoI/AAAAAAAAAbU/Tu7htomnk5w/s1600/Chamber+of+Life.jpg This shows some good stuff. The stairs on the upper left don't work though. Ancient ruins full of vegetation and flooded. Don't use straight lines geometry, looks misplaced. Also they are too big, scaling the entire scene smaller, which you don't want with that picture. Perspective on them is confusing, too.

Your colors aren't bad and I like your imagination. Harsh but honest critique, keep it up.

edit: textures (custom brushes) - don't focus on these much at this point, paint them yourself, understand surfaces and lighting behind them. Maybe use something basic like chalk brush etc. In your battle scene picture you have texture up in the sky, don't go random with them.

[0Hayes]

Hey thank you, thats not too harsh at all! Its exactly what I needed. from the help I've been given and through some findings of my own I've decided to just do some more studies from real life, composition, perspective and the like.

Thanks again,
0Hayes