Some people aren't interested in working for a business – or even their own – and would like to go the freelancing route. I was fortunate enough to meet artist Richard Brown via LinkedIn, and he was kind enough to grant me an interview about artistry, freelancing, and working in games.
1) Tell us a bit about who you are and what to you do.
Who am I? I'm Richard Brown (www.r-b.me.uk) and I am currently an unemployed artist, taking the time to look after my baby daughter and pursue fun and short term freelance art gigs when I get the chance. I have mostly focused on the environment side of art because it is something I really enjoy doing and where my background has helped me out considerably.
At the moment I have been working on a few small term contract gigs on a freelance basis which has broadened the scope of work I have done, mostly for iPhone projects as well as a few other gaming devices.
2) Do you have any interesting insights to share on your career in art that may help people who want to break into the field? How did you get in, why, what worked for you, and how did your hobbies/interests play into it.
Before I got into games, I studied industrial design and technology, which at the time I thought would be a lot of fun, but the reality wasn't exactly what I had in mind but I stuck with it because it did offer a really good broad base covering design, electronics, programming, art and other things related to the design world.
When I had to do an internship, I wanted to explore other avenues where I could use what I had studied, so I worked for a couple of small media companies creating tv commercials, corporate videos and events, which was a lot of fun as I was able to put my 2D/3D and design skills to good use but it also showed me that it wasn't for me in the end.
Getting into games wasn't my initial intention, but there was a games company in my home town so I got in contact and pestered them for a couple of weeks and they brought me in and that's how I got my start and taste for the industry. I started out working on 2D graphics, mostly throw away place holder art, but also had time to learn how to use 3DSM in a game environment, learn about a games pipeline and the technical requirements, all the bare bones basic stuff that sounds really boring, but I loved it and it has taught me well. I was able to learn how best to texture environments, props and characters and finally was allowed to create my own props and interior/exterior buildings which was really rewarding.
The general design background and love of architecture really helped on that score because I was able to take a basic design spec sheet for a building and flesh it out with my own ideas and make them my own but still fit in with the over all art theme.
Over all, I think a broad background has been my biggest advantage. There wasn't many specific game courses back then which I think was a good thing because studying something so narrow really could limit your out look on things and close you in on something to specific which might not be used once you graduate. Looking at game specific courses now a days, they do seem to have gotten a lot better, but I still feel that a more broad understanding of design, art and management processes will leave a much longer lasting skill set to help you out through out your career in games and in other fields should you wish to explore other avenues.
3) What other careers have you had that helped lead up to your current one? Do you have insights on any other career areas you want to provide?
Other careers I have been involved with, perhaps careers is a little strong, but I have spent time working at a theme park and a summer at a farm which gave me a good understanding of peoples interactions with things, especially with their environment, which I think has helped open my eyes to the way some things are designed and built. Working at media companies also helped me appreciate good organisation and interfacing with clients and vendors, which is another valuable skill.
Basically working with people, what ever you do will give you an outlook that you can use in a positive manner even if at the time you don't think it is very important. Anything that broadens the mind and breaks the narrow field of view of working on one specific class will only help you out in life.
4) What do you think is the best way to reach and encourage people interested in art and related careers? Is this extensible to other careers?
How to reach out and encourage people in art. Firstly you have to enjoy art, you don't have to be a natural talent though that certainly helps! As long as you enjoy art and appreciate different kinds of media, it will all help you focus on what you are especially good at and motivate you to learn the skills you need to take that path.
Read up on some design journals to see what is fresh, browse through various magazines from those specific to art, photography and even home décor. They'll help you see how your art can take you from just ideas on paper to products and environments in the real world whether those be realistic or in a fantasy setting.
The best part of game art, as long as the prop or the environment looks feasible and believable you are doing a good job, it doesn't actually have to work which removes a lot of those constraints a product designer or architect faces.
These broad skills will also help you move on after games into a tangent if you feel you want to try something new, you'll have a good foundation to move into the media world, working on movies, tv and print but they aren't your only path available.
5) What social media, job search techniques, etc. apply best to careers like yours?
Finding work and how to go about it. The best route is usually through good networking, the people you know and the friends you have, so sites such as www.linkedin.com are invaluable for keeping in touch with work/school colleagues. Also don't be afraid to go to game, design or media events, talk to people, ask them what they enjoy about their work, ask them about the kind of projects and positions that they have. That gives you a point of contact when you apply for jobs which helps get you noticed.
Another way to get exposure is joining a 3D or concept art type of forum, which there are many. It'll let you see what other people are doing, you'll learn from them, be able to get critiques of your work and also find projects that you can work on, whether it be a fun mod project or some contract work.
When in school, don't be afraid to take on unpaid internships, paid is obviously better but don't forget you are also learning a lot of what goes on in the real world from actually being given small tasks to just shadowing senior people. This doesn't have to be just a school task, look to doing a summer internship even if it is only part time, get as much exposure as you can.
6) What do you see of being the future of art and other entertainment that involves it? The market and technologies are changing rapidly.
The future of art, this is a hard one to answer. We are seeing a lot of out sourcing companies appear all over the world, some of them offer great quality of work, but there is more chaff than not so often the lower cost isn't realized in the final deliveries when you factor in the time and skills required to manage this.
This offers hope that home grown talent will always be required, there is something about being in the office, at the same time zone and just understanding the artistic theme and technical requirements that make you a valuable resource.
Being able to offer more than just an artistic eye will help considerably. Being able to be a jack of all trades is also a good skill to have, especially at smaller studios and start ups, but with art work becoming more time consuming and technical it is harder and harder to keep up on all the skills to a good enough level, so there is nothing wrong with specialising in a specific area that you like working on the best, with the right skills
you'll be able to find the work that you want and still being able to offer other skills to help fill in the space when needed.
7) Any closing thoughts?
Final thoughts are to enjoy what you do, don't get complacent on your skill set, don't burn your bridges, keep networking and at it!
Thanks Richard!
- Steven Savage