The Shortcut to getting a Job as a Professional Concept Artist

Seven artists are in a room discussing what is the BEST way to get an Art job. The first artist says "I got my job through HARD WORK! I work 12-14 hours everyday. There are no shortcuts!" The second artist says - "No no no, it's all about networking. It's not about how well you draw but who you know." The third artist says - "You have to get with the times! You have to market yourself on the internet, Facebook, twitter,  art station etc..." Every artist had their opinion on how to get a job and they bickered for hours without being able to come up with a conclusion.

If you ever heard of the allegory about the seven blind men and the elephant - you know where this is going. Everyone has their unique perspective.  Today, I would like to share my point of view with you. I'm going to discuss a methodology on getting an art job - which is based on business principles - and is what I believe to be the most DIRECT way on approaching your job search.

Overview - Traditional Method

First all, I want to say that there are lots of great articles out there. I think every approach is valid in there own way. What all of these articles have in common is the the idea of you being an "artist." You - as an "artist" - work hard to develop your technique, style, skill, build a portfolio and apply to jobs.

Anthony Jones - Shortcut to becoming an amazing artist is hard work.
Ty Carter - Components of a successful portfolio. 
Bobby Chiu - Social networking for artists. 
Chris Oatley-  Concept artist career guide
Noah Bradley  - How to be a professional artist without going to college

The Golden Rule for business is to Put yourself in Your Customer's Place

Even though I am an artist, I view myself as a businessman  and the golden rule for every business man is to put yourself in your customer's place. And with that in mind, I developed the new paradigm of 1) understand your client. 2) build a targeted and focused portfolio from your client research. 3) get the job.  Because we start from the end goal in mind, I believe this approach is much more direct. Even though this methodology has worked for myself - however I also attribute my success to a combination of hard work, networking, social media etc...

Client Research Tutorial - Step 1) Google your client/ employer

Just like how traditional illustrators like JC Leyendecker, and Norman Rockwell spend a lot of time and energy shooting reference photos for their illustrations. I think you a serious job candidate should spend a good amount of time and energy studying their employer before building their portfolio.

Decide on your industry: (animation/ video game/ theme park design) and Google it! Try search terms such as: "Animation Studio LA."  "Theme park design studio". "Video Game Studio OC." I can't speak for the rest of the world, but if you live in Southern California - there is an ABUNDANCE of opportunity that people are blind to (I found a list of 50+ video games studios in OC last I checked)  I think it's neglectful when a student fails to research their industry because they think the only companies that exist are Disney, Dreamworks, Pixar, Blizzard etc...

Compile your research together and find out everything you can about that company. What projects have they worked on? Company culture. Location. Blog. Twitter. Facebook page. Pretend you are a detective and learn everything about them.

Some companies will have a section on their website saying they are looking for potential employees. If you have an opportunity to submit a resume - do it. 

Step 2) Research employees via Linked In

Some companies have pictures and names of the employees on their website - which make it easy. For other companies, you will need to type in the company name into LinkedIn.com for a list of their employees. (the wider your network is, the more search results you will get)

Artists will often have a portfolio website/ blog on their Linked in page. (If they don't - you can google their name to find it.) Check out their portfolio to see what is the level of work that is required to get a job at the company. You can learn a lot about the company by the type of employees that it hires. Also, you can also see their past employment history to learn about other employers that might interest you. If they are a senior level concept artist, they will often have interviews, publications, tutorials, or even classes!

Step 3) Initiate Contact + Establish a Relationship

Now is a good opportunity to also establish contact with the artist who works at the company you want to work at. There are a variety of ways such as email, commenting on their blog, Facebook message etc... (if you Facebook message them, it only costs $1 to send a message directly to their inbox - a great investment! If your message goes into their "other folder" - they will NEVER see it)

If you email them, remember that no one likes to give shit away for free... except for one thing - their OPINION!!

Email format 

1) Compliment - say you've read their interview, follow their blog, like their artwork etc...

2) Ask for opinion on something.  Keep it simple and easy to answer. You should phrase it in a way that makes them feel important. 

3) Tell them about yourself. Who are you? School, experience etc...  Sneak some more questions in there if you can. And a link to your portfolio.

Example

"Hey  John! I just wanted wanted to say I really love your artwork man. That environment painting you last posted on Facebook is so awesome. You are an inspiration to me. 

I'm a student in art school right now, and I was wondering if I could ask your opinion on something? What do you think is something that can make an artist stand out if they are applying to your game company? 

I'm currently going to school at xxxx and blah blah (tell about yourself and background). I really like the games that your company as worked on. I love xxxx game and xxxxx game.  I actually submitted a portfolio and resume through the company website.  If you have time, would you mind glancing at my portfolio and let me know what you think? (www.chris-chien.com) - that would totally be awesome. Otherwise - no problem!

Have a great day man!

- Christopher

Be Persistent

If they don't reply to your initial reply - don't hesitate to send them another email a week later! Chance are - they were very busy - and simply didn't have time to reply. If you send two emails, it shows that you are persistent and serious about your career. If they still don't reply, you can try respectfully sending a third email 1 month later. But if they still don't reply, don't sweat it. There are plenty of other companies out there and people who will be happy to answer your questions!

Now that you've established a inside contact at the company, try to maintain a casual but respectful relationship. Remember you a detective doing research! There is IMPORTANT information you need to know about getting a job! Within 2-3 emails exchanges, ask the following questions.

Important questions

1) Who is in charge of hiring? This is the person who you should be contacting!! Sometime the person hiring is not an artist - but instead an Human Resources person.

2) How often do they hire? This way you can get a sense of when they might have openings.

3) Do they have any internships? (Some large studios like Disney like these programs, but are very competitive to get in. In a video, Disney artist Victoria Ying said she applied 3 times before getting into Disney Animation's Visual Development apprenticeship program.

4) Do they have entry level (non-experienced) positions? Some really large studios only hire senior level concept artists, which means if you don't many years of experience - you don't get a job. If that is the case, see if they can suggest some smaller studios that hire entry level positions)

5) **What is the job description for their ideal candidate? What does the ideal portfolio look like? Examples? What are the submission guidelines, portfolio requirements? Art test?**  This is the GOLDEN question! Remember how I told you that a businessman should think like their client? You need to find who is their "dream artist." Once you are thinking about THEIR needs instead of your own. Once you shift your thinking to helping others instead of promoting yourself - you will see a world of new opportunities!

Step 4) Build the Portfolio

This part is a little bit more open ended. Now that you've established contact with your future employer, do whatever it takes to make yourself that ideal job candidate. It might mean furthering your skills by taking class, workshops, self-study, books, blogs, conventions etc... Or if your skill level is already sufficient, and you just need to do art of a certain subject matter or style! This step could take anywhere from a couple of months to a couple of years depending on where you are.

Follow up with your contact whenever you finished revamping your portfolio to see what they think. Although a job is not guaranteed, you can become the first person they think of when they have an opening.

Case Study: Myself

Back in 2012 - I showed my portfolio to one of my art teachers. He simply asked me - "What do you want to do?" "I want to be a theme park designer" - I told him. "Well, this actually looks more like a game design portfolio."

And there I had my "AH-HA!" moment. Back in 2012, I wasn't getting theme park jobs because I didn't have a "theme park portfolio." And I wasn't getting video game jobs either. Over the course of the next year, I researched a lot of theme park companies, talked to theme park illustrators, joined a club called the "Themed Entertainment Association," attended theme park conferences and read theme park blogs and books. I only added 3 new illustrations to my portfolio, and I was able to get my first theme park job and I've been working in the industry ever since then. Did my technique improve in those 3 illustrations? Not really, but the illustrations were much more informed, specific and useful! I was able to paint a much clearer vision for my employer; I was able to sell them the idea of me working on their projects.


Ok - lastly, I need to tell you that every methodology has it's pro and cons. Here I will discuss some things to help prepare you.

Pros of Getting a Job FAST

- Positive cash flow. Once you get a job - no matter how small the company - you are earning money. Furthermore, your job can fund your further education and development of artistic skill through workshop and classes.

- Learn faster. Many professional artists will tell you that their real learning started when they finished art school and started working professionally. The studio environment, other artist will inspire you. The fast deadlines will make you work faster and accumulate more experience. The job hurdles and challenges will make you stronger as an artist.

Cons of Getting a Job FAST

- You might not be fully prepared for the job and might disappoint your employer.  Sometimes your portfolio looks really awesome, but you aren't able to deliver on the job because the deadlines are too fast, the subject matter is out of your comfort zone, or you are juggling multiple clients.  Even talented artists at Disney or Pixar have talked about disappointing 1-2 clients during their career.  I've disappointed my employer on my first assignment as well.  Everyone makes mistakes - it happens to everyone you shouldn't be afraid of making a fool of yourself.

- If all you care about if getting a job and making money, you might be not artistically fulfilled or happy. Contrary to what many artists do, I make it a point to separate work and play. I create illustrations for my clients - which I enjoy doing - but I also do other types of art and hobbies that are totally fun and give me pleasure. It's important to have a work/ life balance so you don't stress out too much.

- This advice is only for getting your foot in the door - so you can make money and gain experience. But once you get the industry, you still need invest in your long term artistic career.  You may need to constantly develop your skills and work hard.

- Just because I'm advertising this methodology as a shortcut does not mean that it's the fastest. As you have experienced on the freeway, sometimes the most direct route is not always the fastest or easiest. A longer path might prove to be faster or even just more pleasurable. Everyone has their own preference.

- This methodology does not work in isolation. I have combined my knowledge of business principles with my work ethic and art training to get to where I am today. I believe you may incorporate this new methodology with what you are currently doing to get even greater results!

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Thank you for reading this article. I have worked on this article for about 1 an entire year and spent a lot of time thinking about it. I hope it helps you. Do try it out, incorporate the golden rule of business into your life and let me know if it works! Thanks!

- Christopher

Darren Quach & James Paick workshop at Brainstorm

Yesterday, I attended a Darren Quach + James Paick workshop hosted by Brainstorm school. It was located at James's studio - Scribble Pad studios in Glendale. There were 30 students. And it was a very very small and cozy environment - felt like a Starbucks or coffee shop. The popularity of Brainstorm can be attributed to it's Facebook group - which boasts 15,000+ members, and has recently become popular because of the "Batman" challenge. Brainstorm's first workshop sold out within a couple of days. The Facebook marketing was brilliant - although I don't know if it was done on purpose (if is was... genius!) Facebook marketing is unstable though- groups such as "Daily Spitpaint" or "Viritual Plein Air" seem to be cool for about 1-2 months, but then quickly lose "coolness" as the group loses it's "intimacy" due to too many members. (Or people just get bored)

Signing up for class + Price + Format
Brainstorm School uses the platform Storenvy - which is really easy. You just click and pay online. Very simple. This seems to be the standard nowadays - no more writing checks!
The class was $185 - which is on the higher end of art workshops. CDA has 5 hr workshops for $120. Inland Empire Art Institute offers them fore FREE! However, Brainstorm offered 2 instructors instead of 1 - to justify it's price. Darren did a 3 hour demo. Followed by a 1 hour lunch break. And then James did another 5 hour demo. Followed by a 1 hour Q+A session.

Darren Quach

- Quick sketch. loose
- used free transform tool for about 30 minutes fiddling with proportions.
- Line art
- Colored it in. Add photo bash towards the end.

Notice how the proportions changed dramatcially

Space to Detail Ratio
Cluster your detail, instead of having detail all over the place.
Think about your space to detail ratio. 90:10, 80:20, 70: 30?
Generally larger objects (space shuttles), have a lot of space, and have detail clustered together.
Generally smaller objects (children's toy), have a lot of detail uniformly all over, and little empty space. (exception would be high tech devices such as iPhone/ apple products)

In the demo, Darren clustered his detail around the cockpit - which is where he wants the viewer to look. There is a lot of empty space on the "wing" - where he doesn't want the view to look. Don't have detail uniformly all over the object.

This principle  also applies to environments. A large space to detail ratio gives a scene that EPIC feeling. Currently, I do a LOT of detail all over for my theme park illustrations, I want to move towards a better detail: space proportion.

Line weight trick
Duplicate the layer. Erase the interior lines - where you want lighter line weight. This gives you a line weight variation without haven't to retrace the image.

James Paick

- break workflow down into different parts. Focus only on one part at a time. Easier for brain. This is similar to the way John Park and Khang Le paints. 

- Graphic composition

- 3D space/ topographic layout

- Photobash

- Lighting Pass

- Vehicle/ People elements

graphic shapes

create a layout/ path

transform/ distort

Photo Texture

Lighting pass/ Add props/ Vehicles

What I realize is that James paintings, they don't look that awesome until he does that lighting pass - which is about 75% through his process. When he does the photo bashing, it's really not THAT cool or exciting. But he is patient and methodical, he just works patiently until the painting is ready for the lighting pass and BOOM it's awesome.

This process is almost the reverse of traditional painting. In traditional painting, you kind of do the lighting pass first, and then you work your way into the detail. However, for James' workshop, he does all the detail (photo texture) first, and then does the lighting pass in the finishing stages. 

This process kind of drove me crazy, and made me feel very impatient - but it was actually very efficient for James to work this way and he had a great product in the end. 

Why are you so fast James Paick?

James said he attributed efficient to his personality trait of breaking things down and categorizing things. He used to do martial arts as a kid, and you have to break down and practice the movements one by one, and then you link them together really fast. I guess how that relates is that James practices the individual components of creating a painting separately, and then links them together in the end so it's fluid. 

I can relate this - this is kind of similar to the way I practice popping and dancing. It's just muscle memory. Deconstructing and breaking down steps is also a process really encouraged by Tim Ferris - who is is a master as meta learning. 

How to master any skill by deconstructing it

Other Notes

- Another thing worth mentioning is that James has a strong background of games and always like blueprints as a kid. You may notice above in the "layout" phase - he created a topographic map and free transformed it onto his painting - it was like creating a  blueprint. 

- When deconstructing your workflow - remember to practice all the step. If you have 10 steps, you need to practice and review all of them. Not just the ones you like the most. 

Q + A Session

One of the unique attributes of Brainstorm School is it's smaller size. At the end of the workshop -  we took all the chairs and formed a circle. Then we had an informal discussion where we could ask questions to Darren, James and John. I haven't seen this format done before at other workshop and it felt very valuable. They also did a raffle in the end with some free sketchbooks, prints and hard drives. 

Informal Portfolio Review

After the Q+A session there was an informal portfolio review where students could show the instructors work. I think stuff like Portfolio Reviews could use more formal structure such as lines and time limits and stuff. This part was kind of hectic and unorganized - hence they called it "informal." 

On the contrary - One of the most organized portfolio reviews I've ever seen was hosted by Shaddy Safadi at the Massive Black workshop - he allowed each student to choose only ONE work to critique - and he set a timer of 1 minute on his iPhone. Students could get back in line if they wanted more pieces reviewed - but everyone had the same "1 minute" of critique time. I felt something like that is really effective - and I hope more studios/ schools pick up on that.  

Overall Experience - "House Party not a Club"

The school advertised that lunch would be provided for all students - but that wasn't really true. I asked if there was a vegetarian lunch option - and even though they told me "yes"  TWICE - mind you - lunch was just a platter of turkey wraps from Costco. The staff was pretty helpful and directed me to a Trader Joes which was only about 2 blocks away - and I walked their with a friend who - like me - ALSO had dietary restrictions. Vegetarians are really common nowadays - ESPECIALLY - in the art field. C'mon - keep up with the times Brainstorm. 

This was probably an honest mistake - especially for their first workshop. While James and Darren are very experienced instructors, what they lack is a dedicated admin staff like CDA. It's probably not that big of a deal - especially if you like the fact that James is operating his own art school. This is more like "house" party rather than going to "club" in LA. 

John Park Workshop at Art Institute - Notes

ISOLATION AND FOCUS

John started the workshop by asking us "what makes a good image"? The students said things like.. design, detail, composition, value, color etc... lots of stuff. John's point was that there SO many things to juggle at one time. His approach was to isolate one element and work on it one at a time.. -> composition -> design -> props etc... Because he kind of works on this artistic principle one at a time - I found his approach to be really improvisational - he was really creating his piece as he goes along - instead of sketch out the rough idea and fleshing it out. This was a very fast and direct approach - he finished his piece in a 2 hours with full detail and polish - with another 1.5 hrs left of the workshop to spare!

COMPOSITION 

I didn't take photos of this segment. But basically John take a cool image, posterized it. 

- duplicate, rotate, scale it -> to make his graphic black and white composition. 

This is similar to method that James Paick & Charles Lee uses for the initial part of his composition. 

UNIQUE VISUAL LANGUAGE - make textures from photos and stuff. 

John recommends creating your own visual library so you aren’t regurgitating the same thing over and over again. Basically, he took a T-rex skull, and made patterns of it so that it became a floor plan, tower, pillar etc...

I can see lots of applications for abstract, sci-fi, fantasy for this technique. In John's line of work - he needs to create a lot of designs for his art director. With this method, he is able to create a visual language that is unique and completely original - cuz he JUST CREATED IT!

PROPS

John taught us to make props THEN  make the environment.** (Kill 2-3 birds with one stone)

I think this was a valuable lesson - because I feel like it makes the painting feel more authentic then just "stock image" props. In a production environment - you are able to accomplish multiple tasks this way as well!

Other tricks and notes

- John does mostly key frame and mood pieces. 

- do the photo textures, then make a mask for the lighting. 

Soft Shadow for people - dab it and then stretch it out. 

- paint on top of the person. add some stuff. 

- matte painting trick - copy layer gaussian blur and lighten layer. mimic photography. 

- unsharpened mask, and mask out the focal point

This was the demo that John completed for the workshop in 2 hours. The uses of photo textures is really clever. He makes his own photo textures through his unique compositing method. The person in the white has suit is cut out from a photo - but he painted on top of it to add interest. My favorite part of the workshop was when he added that person.  Once he added the guy in - I could understand why John had to do prep work with the environment and made those design choices. 

Figure Invention taught by Lucas Graciano - Notes and Review

Figure Invention at Watts Atelier - taught by Lucas Graciano

"Really great, innovative and fresh drawing exercises!" - reviewed by Chris Chien

This was a special 5- week course at Watts Atelier. It was only $220! What a steal compared to the $600-$700 price tag of CDA. The scenic drive from Irvine to San Diego was beautiful and almost NEVER had any traffic. The students there were very talented and it was a great energy.

That's student work you see on the walls. And...any instructors at the school were also previously students. 

Week 1: Drawing Mannequins

At first I thought this was pretty basic. But I found the exercise very helpful. I'm glad the instructor had us draw from photographs instead of the live model (I find that it's very easy to get distracted by all the details on the live model) It was much easier to concentrate on the task at hand with a simple photograph. You could take your time and really focus on simplifying the form. 

Teacher's Demo

The teacher gave us handouts, and we turned them into mannequin drawings. 

Week 2: Change the pose

In this week's lesson, we mannequin training really paid off. We copied a photo from a photograph and we had to rotate the pose - like it was on a turntable. It was a some guesswork - but if you understood the form correctly - you could do it. It was a great challenge. 

The left and right drawings are different. The left one is drawn according to the drawing. The right one - I reversed the pose (if you look carefully - the legs are different.)

In the left drawing - I drew it according to the model. And the the instructor had us draw the same drawing, but in a slightly higher perspective. 

Week 3: Face. Mastercopy + application

At first - I wasn't sure the purpose of this exercise - but this ended up being my favorite lesson! We did a master copy. And then we stylized the photograph as if that artist did it! Really helped me internalize things and STEAL techniques so it's my own - rather than just copy. 

 Instructor Demo: doing a "Mucha" master copy. During the master copy - he really stressed the importance of going slow and taking your time. Most people rush their master copies and just go for the big picture. But this instructor really instructed us to get the structure down but find the small subtleties as well!

(Left Top) That was my Mucha master copy. 

(Left Bottom) This was a copy of the photographed STYLIZED with what I learned from doing the master copy. This was a SUPER helpful exercise. And really helped me digest what I learned from doing the master copy and put it in use!

Week 4: Drapery from Model

Instructor's Demos: In this lesson - he taught us the 7 different types of folds. He really broke it down. Then when he was teaching us that the folds should really help explain the form. DO NOT COPY WHAT YOU SEE. Sometimes the folds go against the form, or the fold changes as the model moves. But if you understand the different 7 types of folds, you can make it up and it will look realistic. 

 

 

 

Above are my drawings. The lesson was super helpful. Later that week - I drew a cute cosplay girl with a nice dress. I think that week's lesson REALLY helped me make the drawing look so much better. I learned to not just copy the photograph, but interpret in a way that shows the information more clearly. 

Week 5: Draw Model from Memory + Change the Pose

Instructor's demo: This was a GANGSTA lesson. So the model would pose for 5 minutes. And you would just memorize the pose. Then for the next 5 minutes you would draw FROM MEMORY! It was so crazy.  And then to take it even further - you would take the drawing you created, and draw the model from an alternate angel view! Then the model would pose from the back view and you can check to see if you were correct/ make any changes! 

(above) These drawings were created from memory. Afterwards, the model would get back in the pose, and you could make any necessary corrections. This really challenges your brain and pushes your comfort zone!

(above) These were drawings I created. We had to recreate them from memory after staring at the model from 5 minutes. And then translate the drawing to a different angel! In the drawing on the right, the instructor told us to draw the model from a higher up angel! This was really challenging - cuz there was no way to check if you were right or not! 

 Class Pros & Cons/ Observations

- Only $220! Great Deal for 5 weeks. I don't feel like a 5 week course is inferior to a 10 week course  you probably will learn the most important essentials anyways.

- Class is not reoccurring. The school constantly changes it's course schedule from term to term. So you won't be able to get the same deal/ take the same class I did.

- Small class size - about 10 students.

- Great Handouts every class! The class was well structured and the teacher was very organized.

- No homework/ critique. Is this a good thing or bad thing? You decide. You can show the teacher some of your work during the breaks - but there really isn't a formal time for it.

- Very solid classes. Each lesson had a different theme and lesson - so you were learning something NEW each week - with practical exercises that you could do at home.

- I was a little annoyed that people kept asking me how many classes I was taking. The culture at Watts is that students take 3-5 classes a term. And students don't have any homework. I come from a culture where you do a minimum of 3+ hours of homework for every 1 hour of class (at least that's the expectation at Art Center and Carnegie Mellon). It seems strange to me that students and instructors glorify the class hours - and skimp on the homework hours. But whatever - it's just very their school's culture. You can always do extra homework on your own time.

- Despite what I just said previously, most of the students have very exceptional skill from taking lots of classes.  In my opinion, the collective technique skill of the students (in terms of figure drawing) is superior to that Concept Design Academy, Kazone, 3 Kicks Art Studio and LAAFA. You can easily reason that it's their primary focus and hence their strength.  The advantage is that you are surrounded that a higher level of talent and that pushes you more. I would definitely go to Watts to learn figure drawing - and go to another school to learn perspective, digital illustration, concept art and stuff.

Had a great time with the class. I take classes at Watts every once so often. While the San Diego drive is scenic - it's still long 60 minute drive from my house. I think these fine art classes are good for refreshing your art muscles - but there will always be a jump between academic drawing and commercial illustration - and it's up to the student to make that jump. Instructors who tell you that landscape painting and figure drawing will directly help you get a job are... probably just trying to get you to take more classes with them. lol

 I really enjoyed the class and I had a lot of fun. I would recommend you taking the class - except it's not offered next term - and there is no way of predicting when it will be offered. lol. :) Good luck.