A Brand New Day

So where am I now? Well I managed to survive my first year on my journey to becoming a game artist and I am now taking my first steps into the second year where I am hoping to pick up the pace on collecting the skills and learning the tools of the trade which will make me a ninja god when it comes to making game art!

The first year was hard as the sheer amount of learning was quite intense; it really pushed me to use my artistic abilities not only creatively but also critically as well. At first I freaked out at the fact I was going to have to use this complicated 3D software package that I seemed to have the great ability of breaking just by opening it. But now after discovering it’s actually not that bad I found myself enjoying what I was doing, like solving the technical problems with making an asset in game to be efficient and on a budget as well as having to make good artistic judgments to make sure it fits the brief and the environment its supposed to have come from.

I’ve seen my drawing skills get better as I looked back at older work and then found when I came to do it again it seemed easier and found I was producing better quality images in a shorter space of time, allowing me to make more interesting compositions when I knew I wasn’t limited by a lack of technical skill or understanding what I was actually seeing in front of me.

Year 2 for me is where I want to start to find where I fit in the world of games and what I can bring to the table as well as further develop and flex my creative muscles. That being said I have come to the great realisation that I need to put a lot in to what I do to reap the rewards of being a good games artist and ultimately have fun with what I’m doing. I have the image in my mind that year 2 is the training montage in Rocky 4, the hardest fight is to come and only by working hard will you have a chance of making it through to the next stage. Well that and the fact as a student we are really broke like Rocky is in the film and we have to make do with the tech we have!



Where I want to go from here is really the next stage for me as the road I'm traveling down is a little foggy at the minute and I need to start finding that place I want to be In and have that goal to help drive my work and start growing my portfolio in the right direction.

Splinter Cell Conviction

I have been waiting for this game for sooooo long and iut has finally arrived! I've not enjoyed a game this much in a long time and I have been surprised to discover that it is powered by unreal technology. When the deafening unreal animation came up i was taken by surprise as i had not expected that Ubisoft would use a game engine like Unreal, being that its most commonly used for big meat headed guys with more scars and crators on their square chins that one of jupiters moons. However, 'Batman: Arkham Asylum' was powered by Unreal and that to stunned me and gave me quite a few hours of enjoyment, and a few parrells can be drawen between to the two games. They are both dark, gritty and for the most part a stealth orrientated platform game, though Batman is naturally very acardey.

Splinter Cell has gone in a new direction as seems to be the theme over at the Ubisoft offices, only instead of people slating them for dumbing down Prince of Persia but awarding its art style, the critics have been drooling over the new Jason Bourne/ Jack Bauer-esque action approach. Instead of being given a laod of cool weapons to take out enemies but then being told not to use them or you fail like in the last game Spliner Cell: Double Agent, you now get to use them and with great effect as well! Visually it's very impressive and with the new added feature of having the game go black and white when your lurking in the shadows and highlighting useful objects in their natural colour has been not only a clever visual style but a useful one in terms of gameplay. Another great additrion is the HUD has been completely stripped down and now the missions appear on objects in the environment as if they are projected and keep the flow of the game going without irritating cutscenes every time you take a step [cough, Metal Gear Solid, cough].

Where to go now?

Being on the course has been a big learning curve for me and at times has seemed to be a huge mountain to be able to climb in such a small amoun of time. Though i know that a trait of mine is to expect sometimes too much too soon, especially when it comes to my artistic skills. I've started to see that with time and perserverance what i've been learning does pay off and starts to come through in my work and I have to have patience and not expect to be the best straight away. It's early days still for me to even have a clue to where I want to head in the future, but looking at the 3rd years heading off into the world that is the games industry it made me realise a few things. They didn't get good over night and i've still got another 2 years to get to the standard they are and hopefully surpass them if i'm lucky!

I guess that wondering where to go is part of the learning process and is always going to be a question that i will constantly ask myself. I tried to think back to the reason I wanted to do game art in the first place and the company name Ubisoft jumped straight to mind. They have always produced interesting art and styles in their games, but have also managed to back the visuals up with involved characters and stories. I guess I imagined myself creating art for a purpose for games generating the assets, environments or characters with the great story behind it and allowing me to bring that to life.





















Well for now I guess i'm on my way and getting closer to finding where I want to go, though as time goes on and my skills improve my goals will be moving around and will ultimately shape what i'm looking for.