Seeking Portfolio Review and Advice

[Jay EL 920]

Hey guys,

I'm Jason, and I'm new to this site. I'm currently studying Game Design and want to become an Environment Concept Artist. I'm just about halfway through my program, and I really want to take the skills that I've accumulated thus far to a higher level. Bear in mind I've only started drawing 3 years ago, so I'm quite a newbie.

That being said, I've put together my 1st portfolio (certainly not the last). I would like any general advice on how I can improve as a concept artist.

jasonjalbuenadesign.weebly.com

Lastly, Beyond the work I wanted to get anyone's input on inspiration, motivation and fear. I love art. I do. I want to have a thriving career doing concept art and spend a lifetime drawing. My problem is I don't seem to live and breathe it as much as I suppose to. I look at my fellow classmates and I can tell that all they do is draw. It's their elixir, their therapy. My question to everyone is, what do you do to up your motivation and stay inspired? Also, how do you deal with the fear of failure? Sometimes I find myself a little apprehensive, staring at a blank canvas for a while because I don't want to produce a bad drawing.

Any or all advice is appreciated. Many thanks for taking the time to read this. =)

Best,
Jason

[Hitsu//San]

It's too early for me to give you advices and stuff about what to learn, you have to learn a lot about every aspect of drawing and painting. The fact that you seem not to apply so much may be solved by asking you a question first: What do you study about drawing?

[Jay EL 920]

thanks for the reply. Not sure I fully understand your question, but to answer it I try and study everything about a subject. As of right now, my visual library is growing. It's almost next to impossible for me to draw without a little research. Since I want to be an environment artist, I try to expose myself to architecture and complex shapes. I live in San Francisco, so my visual library is all over the place. I try and look at photos of cityscapes and urban textures. Any recommendations for other reference sources?

many thanks,
jason

[Hitsu//San]

So you don't study at all about drawing? There are lots and lots of thing you'll need to know about the technique before doing a single line in a piece of paper, first of all is perspective as a tool to showcase events. Then there are camera positioning and camera types as well. You need to study the rule about background, midground and foreground wich is essential for an environment artist.

There are so much things to learn about this subject, doing research for places is boring and almost useless if you don't know what you need to look for.