Year one was defiantly a shock, but a shock in a good way, a point in the right direction. It showed me how hard and serious things were getting and motivated me to challenge my self. It was so much more intense than the other art years I had previously taken and I have no doubt this year will be any different if not harder. Over the summer I’ve really thought about where I could have improved and how I really intend to go for it this year and catch up on a lot of self study hours. One of my biggest downfalls last year was time management and as I sit here typing this the night before its due, I’ve come to realise its still a work in progress.

On a more positive note I have really started to do personal work in both areas of game art but I’m really trying to push visual design as I feel I’m on the verge of seriously stepping up my skill level. I’ve studied peoples work on Facebook and magazines and am picking up techniques that I’m adapting and learning from.

Last lesson we talked about dream jobs and future goals and mine would have to be working for Insomniac Games http://www.insomniacgames.com/, the makers of my favorite guilty pleasure, Ratchet and Clank.

They’re the ones who got me into game art in the first place, finding the concept art tab in the pause menu after you complete the game was the first time id really seen game art and loved it. Since then I’ve been obsessed with the art that goes into games and would love to introduce my artistic creativity. For ages I was all about the concept artist but as I’ve become more aware about the industry I have learnt it is a very specialist job for very specialist people and even if I did manage to develop the mad skills it takes to pull it off I think I still wouldn’t want it as a job. Its just too self dependent and hard to find work but luckily for me Id love to work on landscapes or characters, hell id even be happy making all the small boring assets as long as it all required some form of creativity and flare. I’m still indecisive about 3D and 2D but enjoy them both and as the year progresses I will have I better idea of an ultimate goal.

Until then I intend to continue studying every aspect of game art and exploring each new technique and skill I pick up along the way. I want to get fully submerged in Photoshop and start reeling off speed pieces slowly evolving a style. I just can’t wait to get creative in year 2!