Back Again

      First blog back on the game art course. To be honest I’m kind of surprised that I’ve made it this far. Having started this course with little to know knowledge of what art is in comparison to what I know now. But saying this I still have a hell of a way to go to actually become a good artist, especially in comparison to the rest of the class. In comparison to myself a few years back, I believe I’ve had a steady incline in the production of work, however I know I need to get my a$$ in gear this year if I actually want to achieve something. I am honestly worried about my level of art in accordance to the rest of the ability of the class. I enjoy doing art, but the stress is something I need to work on, as getting stressed will not be helpful at all. I need to make sure to manage my time correctly, and practise. I need to really get started as soon as possible.

Second Year Reflection

     It’s that time of year again, deadlines, stress and hopeful progression to the next year. Universities are useful for structuring your path towards the career you hope to work in. For me, this was in the gaming industry, which is why I chose to study a degree course that would focus my skills and allow me to concentrate on achieving this goal. Without a degree, you are less likely to make it into the games industry, as it is difficult enough with a degree that has tamed your skills for industry. Universities differ from college and school education immensely, as I came from school after sixth form straight away then I wasn’t expecting such a vast change. Universities give you more freedom to learn for yourself instead of having to spoon-feed you information and hold your hand all the way through the year. I enjoy the freedom, though the quick change I had to go through to be able to put up with the heavier work load was something that scared me greatly. I find it difficult to learn things for myself sometimes as there is a vast array of information on the internet and 98% of that is practically useless as it has nothing to do with what you actually want to find out.

    Universities come from the medieval ages, taking place hundreds of years in schools such as monasteries. The earliest universities were created from cathedral schools, although this was quite rare at the time. Universities were also founded by kings, for example; University in Prague. A majority of schools in the medieval ages then became higher-education colleges and universities. Nowadays, higher education is still separated from the compulsory education like it was when universities were first created. This means that people have a choice as to whether they wish to continue to acquire knowledge or whether they wish to go straight into employment.

    From my university education, I expect to receive training and information on my chosen career and help about any issues during the time of the degree. Also, if any employment opportunity arrives, I aspect that my tutors would let the class know, as they have ties to the industry, they can use these to get people in industry to come and give us there opinion on the matter and help with any questions we wish to ask.

     Hopefully, if I am able to complete my three years’ worth of university education I’d like to get a degree. This degree, I’m hoping, will allow me to be more visibly pleasing to employers, even if not in the gaming industry. As hopefully companies will see that I can put in the effort and teach myself new things, and most of all, stick with something I want to do. Although I am currently afraid of not being able to get a job at all, because from hearsay, even people with university degrees are still not able to find work and are having to go on job seekers.

    This is how I hopefully will be able to get a well-paid job and actually afford to survive comfortably. Completeing this degree will show that I am capable of sticking to something, teaching myself and reflecting on what I am told. These are all important aspects of a career and hopefully employers will see that.

    In reflection to the second year, I believe I have improved some of my skills and I will hopefully be able to continue this onto the third year. Looking back, I think I’ve also managed to plan my time efficiently and finish my work with plenty of time instead of panicking to fix things last minute.

   Most projects I have enjoyed, others I’m just glad are over. It’s all part of my learning curve and I believe that I have come a long way since first starting this course.

VROOM VROOM

Vehicle Design Final - Based on the human form.

Digital

Been trying out some digital. not really used to it yet but i think i'm learning...

Life Story...

Personally, I’m really enjoying life drawing at the minute. I feel like it’s the thing I enjoy most on this course. It’s something I strive to perfect, the human form is so unbelievable beautiful and incredibly intelligent. I love emphasising the curves of the female figure. I find this is the style I tend to lean towards. I’d love to have different size life models too (Don’t get me wrong, the life models we have now are great) Perhaps a male figure or maybe a women more voluptuous to give me a different understanding of the human form.

I seem to be grasping forshorting better now. Before I attempted to draw the model outright in perspective. However I find it best to produce the image, measuring parts of the body in comparison to others.

Assets

Here are a couple of assets i've made for the group project! I'm enjoying working with most of the team as it's interesting have a different perspective on things! And i',m now totally addicted to making rust. hmmmnnnn..... rust *Drools*

Life Changing or Career Building?

      I believe that with the education into a career such as game art design, there isn’t a choice between specific technical skills and developing learning attributes as I believe they are both important in having a rounded and broad spectrum of skills that have been learnt.

    We cannot know the future, however we can imagine. In the time it takes to learn certain skills with regards to game art, technology will advance, but it shouldn’t advance too drastically in a short amount of time. Humans are interactive species, we love to gloat about the upcoming new technology that will be available for purchase soon. This means that most people will be in the loop with technology, whether it’s through hear-say, internet, newspaper ect. Skills needed are unlikely to change too drastically for your education to be meaningless. Often skills can be transferred to other job roles and can easily be picked up or changed according to what advancements have been made. It will not just be you not understanding how to progress in a company, most other people will need to be re-educated in some aspects as well. There is no point in worrying whether your skills will be useful in the future as it will happen with most aspects in life. Things are forever changing, for example, you learn a small amount of instruments, yet now, you can get all instruments downloaded at a press of a button on your laptop. Things do become out of date and the only way to keep advancing is to be able to see this change, cope and learn from it.

    However, saying this, it is still important to plan for the present. It is important to meet the current demand from an organisation as planning for the future would be useless to get you hired as they want to see what skills you have there and then instead of what you may be able to do in the future. (However, I am not saying don’t discuss some advancements, just concentrate on the here and now.

     It is important to be a rounded person if you don’t mind where you would like to be in the games industry. If you want to work for a specific company then you will have to research into whether the company prefer technical over artistic skills or vice versa. Many companies will want you to be the “jack of all trades”, but be experienced in one overall part of the gaming experience. It really depends on what a company requires and what you can give, if both criteria match then there will be a high possibility that there may be a job for you.

    It is difficult for education to accomplish all the needs that both the student and industry want. The industry will change the criteria for it’s employees on a regukar basis, as they have the money and power to do so. So it is important for communication between industry and education so that universitys and colleges can supply graduates with training they need to be of use to the industry. It is all required to be able to work in a circle, as the industry needs the employees for work, as do the employees need the industry. It is not a linear answer to such a broad question, it requires communication and planning to achieve an overall positive outlook for both industry and worker.