OMGDC!

This week I spent every available moment updating and reworking my resume in preparation for GDC. I had intended on uploading some additional items to my portfolio here, but the 14 hours I spent designing my resume and uploading game design info to Wikia for project samples was enough, I think.  It's crazy how much work it is to present yourself! I'd rather be arting.

Here's the first resume I made:

 And here is the one I made after I pulled my head out of my ass:

Which one tells a better story about me and my qualifications to design games?

Actually, I can't take all the credit for performing my lower intestinal craniectomy. I heard a talk from three alums who now work in "the field," and my conversation with one, Nathan Harling, was particularly helpful in figuring out what matters when you're writing a game design resume.

Let's hope the wisdom pays off!

Week 5: The Variety Show

I am quickly learning my limits in terms of how long this artwork takes. I think I'm in denial about the length of time consumed by this process. Finding reference eats up quite a bit of it. This week, I worked for about 7 hours and produced these:

Itchy Bear design progress

Woodpecker rough

Extra Bear.

The squirrels, rough version.

A stag. His hindquarters will be hidden behind a tree.

Ideation of the stag's design. I kind of fell in love with antlers.

 Still not quite hitting my goal, but there are definitely some things I'm happy with in here. I'm learning some good things about the process of concept art generation for 3d assets through this process. Modelers are pointing out inconsistencies that I wouldn't have noticed on my own. Next week, I'll be polishing some old work and posting a link to my portfolio in preparation for GDC, which I will be attending March 1-6. Wish me luck!

Week 4: More SBI Concept Art

Well, I didn't hit my goal this week. Part of that is an excess of ambition: I don't want to admit how long this stuff takes. Another part is that I am avoiding or have difficulty following the workflow that I know will give me the most quick and efficient results. Doing a lot of rough sketches, most of which I know I won't use, is draining for me. I want to make something I'm proud of, now. This is what I made this week:

Squirrel head variants. Designing the head helps influence the body.

Squirrel bodies.

Bear body. Scope that caboose!

Last week, I said would finish roughs of:

• Five animal characters (heads and arms only) for the final group shot
• The squirrel
• Two adult Woodpeckers
• Two juvenile woodpeckers
• 5 more tree designs
• 5 more rock clusters
• Complete Sven Model Sheet

I think it's a reasonable goal to finish all that next week. After that, it's a week of portfolio polishing for GDC!

Week 3: Seven Bear Itch Concept Art

This week, I focused on defining the visual style of Seven Bear Itch through digital paintings of environment assets and a model sheet bust of the main character, Sven the Bear.

Occidental Juniper

Black Oak

Rock Formation Sketches

Sven the Bear

With the shape language and color palette for the short well-defined, next week I will be producing a large volume of asset art, not fully rendered, but developed enough so that modelers can work from it. This art will include:

• Five animal characters (heads and arms only) for the final group shot
• The squirrel
• Two adult Woodpeckers
• Two juvenile woodpeckers
• 5 more tree designs
• 5 more rock clusters
• Complete Sven Model Sheet