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!

Feedback.

I was just about to begin this blog post and read a little more down the page,

“We'd like to look at film in some detail, we're planning more on digital art origination and visual art theory. There will be more formal lectures covering things like key games, and we're planning to integrate the video tutorials into a more formal structure. We'd like to get out of the Uni more, and increase the amount of non-computer work, like sculpting for example. We've even had a suggestion for doubling the amount of traditional art...”

This sounds exactly what I wanted to hear, I love the arts side of it and would love to work in both digital and traditional but a chance to express my traditional art would be amazing. For me personally I think this course is structured really well, the pace is just enough to keep you on your toes but give you enough time to really enter your thoughts, I really enjoyed the sculpey task we were set and more hands on 3D like that would help some people get there head around the Max modelling. Recently our tasks have really taken a creative leap while staying in the boundaries of skill building. As far as the films, I agree we should analyse and crit them, id really enjoy seeing how various media bounce off one another.

GDC2010

I have to say I didn’t know much about the GDC and was surprised to read how amazing it looks, I have always known about E3 but this appears less of a convention. I was just flicking though the timetables and stumbled across a ‘Building an Open-World Game Without Hiring an Army’ talk. Its things like this that make me want to be in the games industry, I really love seeing people’s problem solving initiative and I admire it. This particular talk was on the game InFamous, which I myself have played so I could relate to what they were over viewing. I remember playing it and being amazed by the detail and style of the city, now knowing there was only a dozen artists im even more blow away. There is one part with a giant tower erupting from the city and I remember looking down at ground and thinking it must have taken a lot of people a long time to achieve.

From just reading the overview it appears they use various techniques allowing everything to fit with everything else and are able to change the appetence of buildings without changing much of the model structure. Then shortening the field of view and focusing on unique structures and how it all added to the final effect. I found just this small overview enough to make me wish I was there, I take a strong interest in the evolving game world and the creativity that goes into making things look right even if there’s not much to work with.

Where will this all take me?

So far ive really enjoyed the course and its really taught me so much already. I really enjoy the visual design side of things and am angling for something down that path, I can feel myself improving with every lesson with Chris and every task he sets, and now that the core knowledge is being put into place our weekly tasks are really opening up and I hope I can carry everything I have learned over onto these new tasks and really prove myself. I had never done 3D before here, I enjoy the development of the ideas and the execution of the tasks but I find my self getting bogged down on certain parts, its all about remembering processes and the more I work the closer I get to grasping it. The creative elements are not stopping me, I just need to get my head around how to go about it and hopefully the pace will quicken. So yes, I take a keen interest in all the fields I just feel that my visual is developing at a stronger pace. Im not closing any doors and will have to wait for feedback before I move on down this thought process.

Creativity and me

Creativity is ummm.. creative. Creativity is really amazing, everything around us man made was brewed up from someone’s mind, just merely a thought that this one said person chose to expand on and show others who in turn took into their creative mind and expanded and refined. Its amazing how much technology has exploded, they say we are merely a speck on earth’s massive calendar but we have changed the world more than any other living creature. I think what it really was, was curiosity which lead man this far, wanting to know the unknown and then wanting to play with it some more after. But I also feel creativity helped, having the ideas, strokes of genius on how to go about doing stuff.

Its pretty ironic I cant think where to go with this blog, and even more ironic that I see my self as creative and resourceful. Ever since I was little I would play with the simplest of things.

“I could sit there in a waiting room and let my mind wonder with what I had to interact with like a pair of glasses for example I could see it as a robot walker standing on its long thin legs, slightly curved at the end for counter balance with two great solar panels at the top for power.”

When I was bored in school or while revising I would constantly be making things with stuff I had in my pencil case or just the paper in front of me. At college I made a whole crane rig system out of thread and card and a hanger hook that could move a hook around my desk just to see if I could steal my friends ring shaped crisps.

I think everyone has creativity but a creative personality is that which studies the idea long enough for it to blossom, to adapt and change thought processes and absorb all the information. Imagination is a powerful thing and that coupled with creativity allows the ideas to come from your mind.

Creativity is everywhere, from the start of time it has expanded and altered our world even in the smallest of ways. (Just like those curly laces you had when you were a child that you didn’t need to tie).

Who's right?

“Some game companies want highly trained graduate artists and programmers. Some claim they really prefer creative individuals with a good Liberal Arts background. They can?t both be right can they?”

I can see sense on both sides, while on one hand its obvious why companies would want experienced pros I can also understand why companies would look for creative fresh original talent even if its from a more libral arts based background. Obviously they’d have to be good at arts too but im sure this background has its pluses.

Just speaking off topic to fill in some space, I think this course is really a true game arts course as apposed to the many others I viewed, while all claiming to be game design and very arts based this is the only one I knew of under the name of Game Art Design, here I feel I am taught way more arts based stuff than I ever thought I would be on any of the other ones (which is great!). I felt as though they had pushed the art aside and just built up on core skills generic to the industry.

Anyway.. maybe im more pro- highly trained graduate artists, after all it would take too much time and money to train up someone who knew little of the industry but was hired on an intellect basis.

Music and Sounds in games

Music plays as important a role in games as it does in Film and Televison. It is used to create suspense, a sense of awe and dramatic quick passed action, without sound in our games most would be lifeless and not be able to hold attention long enough for even the first cut scene. My personal favourite is when sound is used to emphasise a vast landscape filled with a safe friendly vibe or sense of mystery. Sound in games however can be used on other levels unlike film and other media. Because a game is interactive, sounds can be used to help the player, or manipulate their own play style. For example, secret areas can be signified by a short twinkle or a dramatic 5 second track, a heartbeat can tell you that your character is low on health or is struggling. The more the player plays along side these sounds the more subconsciously attuned they become to the game and the more enjoyment and reward the player will feel. For me I remember the shrill dramatic sounds of the Tomb Raider games, even finding a secret area ended with a sudden loud chime which almost every time scared the life out of me especially when I was on my toes after a dramatic music build up. Also the cinematic within Halo for me are filled with beautiful orchestral vibes that I just cant get enough of, it really enhances the games feel and drama.