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[Portfolio] Gemma Suen- Feedback for graduate 2D/3D artist?

polycounter lvl 9
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GemmaSuen polycounter lvl 9
Hi there! I've been building up my portfolio website slowly, I graduated in July and have been trying to improve some of my old work and produce more.
I want to specialize in character art, but was told that it's very difficult to get into straight from uni, so I'm working on environments and finding it pretty fun. :)

Any feedback would be really helpful!
-Do you like the theme or is it stupid?
-Does the website function well in browser/phone?
-Layout/functionality of website.
-Anything to cut out or add?
-If it really is bad, please give me tips on website layout/function (give me tips anyways)?

-Work: what's missing, what needs to be taken out/improved, generally what's expected from a 2D/3D art portfolio.

I will post my work, and I would be so grateful if anyone could take a peek at that too. :0) Thank you for taking interest!

Here is my website:
http://gemmasuen.com/portfolio.html

p.s. I've been thinking about taking out the home/blog page, because it feels pretty useless... any thoughts on that would be great!


Other Links: DeviantART | Sketchbook | Blog | Twitter

Replies

  • GemmaSuen
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    GemmaSuen polycounter lvl 9
    Here is the room I'm working on in UDK, it was actually part of my major project, but some items looked really terrible, I basically had to remodel most of it. I'm still working to improve this room until it looks convincing. I posted the wire frames and lighting screen-caps here: http://gemmasuen.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/dissonance-room-improvement.html

    Highres_Screenshot_00000.jpg
    Highres_Screenshot_00004.jpg
    Highres_Screenshot_00007.jpg
  • North
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    North polycounter lvl 7
    Tip 1 - Lose the deviantart
    Tip 2 - Take out your character concepts; Alot of them have poor anatomy
    Tip 3 - Focus your portfolio. Im not sure if you want to be an env, character, or concept artist, but regardless none of the work shows you are an expert in any of those focuses.

    Keep building the portfolio towards what you want to do. Competition is fierce right now.

    Cheers
  • Aga22
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    Aga22 polycounter lvl 11
    generally i think your work is nice. I believe things are aimed for higher polycounts nowadays, pc's and even consoles (which are quite old now) can push a lot higher polycounts than the stuff you've made...unless you want to aim in the mobile/tablet market. for example the curtains of the bed on the pics above, should be modeled... and the room needs a new lighting to bring up the atmosphere. lighting it with candles or an oil lamp , having shadowy areas, thats what makes it spooky. i understand that as an artist you want the work to be shown, and not hidden in shadow, but in the end, its the feeling that a piece of art gives us that remains, not the texturing in the corner...
  • GemmaSuen
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    GemmaSuen polycounter lvl 9
    @North - Alright, thank you for being to the point. I understand, I'll try to narrow it down. But why must I lose deviantART? I was actually getting more feedback from there than I was from polycount, or do you mean to loose the link on the website? :0

    @Aga22 -:) Thanks for your insight, I'm actually in the middle of improving the bed model as you mentioned it. I'll try to do more high-poly models, I've been told that the lighting is what's letting me down, so I will try to do something about this ASAP. Do the console companies not care for low-poly at all? I thought showcasing low poly work helps show one is capable of optimising with limited poly count?
  • Enexus
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    Enexus polycounter lvl 11
    Nice work all in all. I have a few points for you but I think your on the right track with your portfolio.

    1. You need a little work on your attention to detail on your textures. You have scratches and dirt all over alot of them and it doesnt really make sense. Think about how the object would be used in real life and apply your textures accordingly. e.g. the handle and frame of the door would have more scratches and marks than the door itself.

    2. Have some large images of your best work at the top of your portfolio. All of your work sort of blends together and you have to go through everything in order to find the best pieces. Make them obvious as large images so an employer doesn't have to sift through all your work.

    Other than that it works and makes sense. Nice work and plenty of it. I agree with you about keeping the deviant art. I get great feedback on mine and its a good community for artists, especially graduates.

    Good luck on your job hunt.
  • GemmaSuen
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    GemmaSuen polycounter lvl 9
    @Enexus Ah I will have to look into my textures, thanks for the tips.

    I've updated my site, this is how it looks now (if it's screwed up try to refresh):
    gemmasuen.com/portfolio.html


    Does this look better? I'm not sure how I would separate the large images from the rest of the work. My best guess is to have one large image per section? I also changed the thumbnails so that they fit 4 perfectly on each row, zoomed in on the items a bit and left the others the way they are for comparison. :) Also renamed sections.
  • dii
    General thoughts on the site:
    - I'd delete Links/Home. You've already got your linkedin/youtube/twitter links as buttons in the header, wouldn't be too hard to put G+/blogspot/whatever buttons next to them.
    - Put your email address (and I guess phone if you really want it) clearly visible in the header and get rid of the contact page
    - Put your name, email address, and website url in the corner of every image.
    - I hate lightbox but well... that's just me.

    Do the console companies not care for low-poly at all? I thought showcasing low poly work helps show one is capable of optimising with limited poly count?
    Everybody wants to see optimized low poly models, I'm fairly sure what he means is simply "higher poly than what you're using" but imo your problem is just that you're using your geometry inefficiently. All of your geometry should be going toward supporting the silhouette of your model but a lot of your geo is just sorta there not doing much.

    It seems like you're also trying really hard to keep your models almost entirely as quads which isn't a very good strategy when trying to make an optimized mesh. Everything is broken down into triangles with very few exceptions so you may as well use them. Also don't include quads in the geometry breakdown in the corner of your images because again: Everything is triangles, even the quads.

    Regarding the rest of the scene:

    You're relying very heavily on photographs to texture your objects and the typical problems of this are all evident as a result: Ineffective normal maps and noisy diffuse textures with too much lighting information. You also seem to be just pulling the specular from a greyscale diffuse which is bad for material definition.

    I don't know what your career goals are, whether you want to work on modern games or mobile devices or what but if you plan on working on AAA titles I would really suggest learning a more modern workflow of high poly modeling to lowpoly/baking. Generating normal maps from photographs is generally reserved only for small detail, for larger detail it's a last resort when there just isn't enough time to make a high poly model. And to reiterate what North already said, your portfolio could really benefit from having a strong focus on one thing.

    I was actually getting more feedback from there than I was from polycount..
    That's more than likely because all your work is in the sketchbook forum which doesn't get many viewers and almost never gets critique. If you want feedback start a WIP thread in the Pimping and Previews section.

    Sorry for the wall of words, your work is very promising and there's certainly a lot of it which is good. It just suffers from the usual problems that most student work does and the sooner you can root out those weaknesses the better off you'll be.

    Keep at it.
  • GemmaSuen
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    GemmaSuen polycounter lvl 9
    @dii Wow, thank you for taking the time to write this. There's a lot I don't know it seems, and unfortunately I was taught to avoid triangles (at all costs they said), but I understand now it's ok to use them.
    I'll only count tris from now, and I know about the high-poly to low-poly baking workflow, I just never really used it, but I will try to do this from now on.

    Thank you for the website feedback :) I really appreciate it. I'll try to knock out the unnecessary pages. I was merely concerned that I wasn't giving enough information/links, but I guess employers won't really be bothered by small details, just my work.

    I'm still having trouble deciding exactly what I want to do, ideally it would be AAA titles/indie, but I want to be open to mobile games since I believe my strengths lie in my vector/cartoon and I enjoy that also. Would it be possible for me to just split them to two separate pages? I've seen portfolios that have had a variety of work, just sectioned out clearly.
  • GemmaSuen
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    GemmaSuen polycounter lvl 9
    I've updated my website. My work is not up to scratch but I'll be dealing with that from now.
    I shoved my character art in my 'Personal Work' section, and have gotten rid of the unnecessary pages and pieces. Also I tried to speed up the transitions of lightbox, so they didn't get in the way, and the layout is a bit different, would appreciate any further feedback on this.

    www.gemmasuen.com (it redirects to the portfolio page, please refresh if you have been on my site before)
  • North
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    North polycounter lvl 7
    get rid of that lightbox. Its slow.

    Images are pretty dark. May want to relight your scene
  • GemmaSuen
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    GemmaSuen polycounter lvl 9
    @North - is there an alternative to lightbox? Or do people prefer just having the images open up in new tabs? And ok will do.
  • North
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    North polycounter lvl 7
    The goal of the portfolio site is to show the person going through your art that you are talented as quick as possible. Nice big images
  • Shogun3d
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    Shogun3d polycounter lvl 12
    Honestly, I would remove those social network links/buttons and throw them in your bio page instead. Keep your site clear and uncluttered as much as possible. You want people to see your work, not what sites you're affiliated with. You should maintain thumbnails categorized and organized nice and large in sections.

    While it's fine to have your WIP up, I wouldn't post it up as the first thing you want potential employers to see. Instead, focus on finishing that project (don't be distracted by website stuff until you have quality work to show). You want a solid piece.

    The most important aspect is a solid image/environment potential employers see, and what you want them to think is "Wow, this looks good, imma click". It's at that time they should view that link and the pages opens up to more nice large thumbnails of breakdowns, props, what not.

    If you want to organize your props, textures, environments, do so in a very easy to follow and organized fashion. Clearly label a section for full environments (with breakdowns following it) a section for props, etc to show off your major strengths.

    It's ironic how you built your site, because it's very cutesy, fun, and the first thing I see is a creepy old room that is very dark. Just doesn't blend well with the site, yet when I scroll down you have a lot more work that caters to the website theme a lot better. Figure out a way to tie the two together, just don't make it confusing to navigate.

    In terms of crits for your bedroom scene, I am concerned about your set dressing and placement of objects, as well as the quality of your textures, lighting, and assets located in your scene.

    1) Center the Photo on the wall somewhere that's aesthetically pleasing based off this camera shot.

    2) Scale of chair lamp and table compared to bed frame feels very small.

    3) Rug feels very large.

    4) Curtain drapery is not very convincing, texture seems low res.

    5) Wallpaper is very noisy and distracting.

    Why is the lady in the frame bald? Perhaps use this to your advantage to tell an interesting story, place a wig somewhere hanging from a coat rack.

    I would suggest moving the camera to the right a bit, to capture a stronger angle of the scene that is compositionally pleasing (think about the rule of thirds, major areas of detail vs low areas of detail. See your ceiling? It's all white with normals, it takes up a large portion of your screenshot.

    I just barely noticed the corner statue in the top right, while providing some criticism, it looks interesting, yet I can't see it.


    Do some research

    What circa-era scene are you trying to accomplish, and during that time what time of furnishing and art style was popular? Baroque? Victorian? Dive into some art history for inspiration and references to assist in populating and stylizing your scene.

    See this image?

    It's part of the Disney Suite with inspired decor from Victorian and French Provincial styles. Ask yourself why that image looks nice, is it the camera angle? Perhaps that would assist in good shots. In terms of its simplicity its a square room, very simple yet everything comprised in the shot is very curvy, very stylized, very decorative and utilizes very full, plush furniture with victorian style trim.

    DreamSuiteBedroom_Disney.jpg

    When you step back and take a look at your work, you need to remind yourself that you're trying to visually sell your environment. Make it interesting, bring in a window and bring pools of light for mood, counter act with color through light using cools and warms.

    You want a very powerful piece as your center for your portfolio so don't lowball yourself, set high standards and look at what other artists are doing, similar to your field.

    Follow up on some similar threads and read about their approach, such as Tor Fricks mini baroque env.

    http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=101239

    Hope this helps, good luck!

    The best piece of advice I could give you is this.

    "Never model for the sake of modeling"
    "Never make an environment simply for your portfolio, instead make an environment you yourself are immersed and spending time within, and then ask yourself, how do you feel?"
  • dii
    Agree with North, I prefer to just have a column of full res (1200+ pixels wide) images with no thumbnails.

    And by pick a focus I mean more like pick environment art or character art specifically to improve on (at least at first) because it can be really slow to try to work EVERY field at the same time. You can work in as many styles as you want within that focus though but its good imo to have people be able to hit your portfolio and know "Ahhh this person is an environment artist" and know that's the thing you'd like to be doing.

    And yes every time you apply somewhere I would suggest putting together a page of your work tailored specifically to the position/studio you're applying to. So if you were applying for a character art position at Blizzard for World of Warcraft for example you'd have a separate page, mostly hand painted characters or something and link them to that then include an additional link to your 'main' portfolio with a wider range of stuff in it in case they want to see what else you're capable of.

    These are just my opinions though, this topic has been discussed a lot here and if you're interested in the generalist vs. specialist problem or building portfolios this is a good thread and also check out the GIM Portfolio podcast
  • GemmaSuen
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    GemmaSuen polycounter lvl 9
    @North - Alright, I've taken lightbox out :) and I have an idea of how to display my images. But I've decided to concentrate on my work first.

    @Kaburan- Thank you so much for writing such a detailed critique. I think I need it more than ever right now, because I'm just lost looking at my own work. I'm going to try to finish off the bedroom first before I make the changes to my website, and I will keep posting here to show. I am after a grungy dark Victorian theme. I have done some research but mainly from b/w books, which doesn't help too much with colouration. :D the image/thread are amazing, thank you. I'll read them thoroughly even if it is baroque.
    I have an idea of how to split up the portfolio, using large banners that lead to a separate page with just large images. :)
    The theme of the site was something I wanted to address, I'll try to grab a neutral background for now and alter the rest later. Again, thank you so much, this will help! I will get started with room today. And I'll pay extra attention to your last tips. (^-^)b

    @dii Alright! Then I will definitely separate the sections with banners, I've noticed this is a very popular way sectioning out specific pieces/parts of portfolio. :D I'll update my site when I get the room environment sorted.
    Thank you for the links on generalists/specialism and portfolios. This is exactly what I needed!

    Thank you all for giving me so much help, I really appreciate it! I'll probably not post for a good while until I get some progress on my work. Until then I'll try my best to follow my feedback.
    :)
  • LMP
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    LMP polycounter lvl 13
    I'd get rid of the green squid background... it's distracting and I found my eyes being drawn off the art, where you want me to look and over to background.
  • GemmaSuen
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    GemmaSuen polycounter lvl 9
    Alright! Have some updates finally. I changed the layout/visuals of the site quite a bit. Some people have already given me feedback and told me it was a lot better. www.gemmasuen.com I got rid of all the things that could have been distracting, cleaned up a lot of the code too... no lightbox, and a lot simpler.

    I also am working to improve the bed, any feedback would be great! And I forgot to put in that the drapery on the bed is using a separate map. Forgot to include that to the image.
    mWIHH.jpg
  • Blaisoid
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    Blaisoid polycounter lvl 7
    i see a bunch of edge loops that could be taken out without much quality loss. and you could invest those edges to make the hanging cloth less blocky.
    in general you spent lots of polygons on tiny trims. normal map can handle them just fine, there's no need to keep them all as geometry.
  • GemmaSuen
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    GemmaSuen polycounter lvl 9
    Alright, thank you. I'll take them out. I'll see if I can improve the drapery!
  • Mask_Salesman
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    Mask_Salesman polycounter lvl 13
    Lights! Your env needs them! No ones gonna see any art in the dark lol. Take advantage of UDKs fancy lighting, even if it's just with gas lamps/candles and dynamic lights. Your shooting yourself in the face otherwise.

    Gud luck with it :)
  • GemmaSuen
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    GemmaSuen polycounter lvl 9
    @Mask_Salesman Thanks for the response! I will definitely make sure my lights are better when I get back into UDK again :) Thanks!

    Update:
    Reduced polys, and I found out the AO wasn't actually being used in my last render (oops again..) So I also decided to rebake the maps while I was at it. Off to make the Diffuse.. sorry I'm so slow to update. I'm still learning new things, much more than I was ever taught so I make a lot of mistakes and have to redo things haha!
    Qf6zh.jpg
  • GemmaSuen
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    GemmaSuen polycounter lvl 9
    Been away for a bit- had a work placement at a film studio :), here's an update- still work in progress. :) I also got a job finally, but it's more generalist art. So I'll probably keep this up. I put my scene into maya, since I got some feedback from a Creative Assembly artist that the lighting was bad- he told me to try use a different engine/render so I tried using viewport 2.0... hope it looks a bit better, also been messing around with my materials a bit.

    victorianBedroomWIP01Maya_1.jpg
    victorianBedroomWIP01Maya_2.jpg
    victorianBedroomWIP01Maya_3.jpg
    victorianBedroomWIP01Maya_4.jpg
  • Aga22
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    Aga22 polycounter lvl 11
    much better! you re now only missing something on the floor and ceiling. love the bed with the drapes etc. too bad it's getting lost in the darkness. maybe you should add a candle or something on the table near the bed.
  • GemmaSuen
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    GemmaSuen polycounter lvl 9
    Aga22 wrote: »
    much better! you re now only missing something on the floor and ceiling. love the bed with the drapes etc. too bad it's getting lost in the darkness. maybe you should add a candle or something on the table near the bed.

    It does look a lot darker than I remembered when I was rendering it. I can try to increase the candle light that's right next to the bed. I have windows, floor and ceiling to do now. Thanks for the feedback! :)
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