Hello
#PortfolioDay
I'm a Senior Environment Artist
@Blizzard_Ent
and a Mentor
@ment_coalition
Working on Overwatch 2, and on my own UE4 metroidvania.
I've been working in games for 10 yrs, 4 at Blizzard.
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As a professional artist you cannot rely on motivation to get you through things. I have found that schedule and discipline has gotten me much further, and that progress helps feed to motivation beast.
Hello
#PortfolioDay
I'm a Senior Environment Artist @ Blizzard
Working on Overwatch 2, and on my own ue4 metroidvania.
I've been working in games 9 yrs, and at Blizzard for 2.5 Recently starting mentoring/teaching.
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What a fucked up day. Half the environment art team cut from OW2, folks I helped hire and train. associate-senior levels looking for work if your teams have openings plop em below.
โWith each map, we are trying to find the โGolden Momentโ through the cities' architectures, culture, visionโand we want that to come across in our design.โ
The Overwatch team discuss their design philosophy when creating new maps for Overwatch 2.
๐
Also went to school w/ Ben. He was talented enough freshmen year of college he could have started working in the industry right away with his portfolio. Instead he was a dick to his peers, many of which work at studios now.
Lack of skill has never been the issue.
I see some mutuals of mine who follow this guy so:
I went to college with this dude. He was a dick the whole time, looked down on everyone even the teachers. To quote the program director "He's so good but such an ass"
Got fired from his first job cus he was a dick. Ignore him.
No funny video this time, but I'm moving into a Lead Environment Artist role on Overwatch 2. Over the past few years I've found so much joy helping others succeed through teaching/mentorship and it really changed my outlook on what I wanted out of my career.
Heyyyy not sure who needs to hear this but I have never gotten a job when they have required an art test from me. 3-10 days of unpaid work, 0 feedback each time. It sucks. I try to always push myself to use new techniques/software during that time so it's not 100% a waste of time
I put more time into this map here than any map for anything I've worked on. It was the first level where I got to own from start to finish, working closely with
@treyspisak
to convert level design > Blockout art > Final art. Super proud of what the team did here to get it done.
I don't know who needs to hear it, but since I've started working I've literally never completed a personal environment piece. I'll doodle here and there, sculpt something, make a substance material etc. I get what I need out of it then move on. That is okay!
I feel all art tests should be:
-Be paid
-Have a reasonable timeline for a working human bean
-Have feedback checkpoints like (you'll figure out more how someone collaborates/takes criticism)
-Be the last resort
Environment Art takes TIME even for experienced artists who have gone through this process time and time again. Sometimes you just gotta let it simmer on the back burner and come back later
Making environments is hard! As I work on the Spanish Town tutorial, I realized that while it took me about 2 months to finish the art blockout (foundation), it took another year to truly finalize it! First half was very logical, second half was more artistic/feeling-based.
I just published a little utility node for Substance Designer that has been really helpful in my workflow. It is a simple to use random bevel size node with a ton of control. It really helps for getting some subtle variation of sizes through your graph.
One of the hardest mindsets to unlearn, especially when you are working in a very competitive industry.
Breaks, exercise, socializing, relaxing, hobbies etc are all so important to keep yourself going in the long term. Marathon, not a sprint.
He was let go from a cod studio, probably for similar behavior.
Folks who think that raw talent is everything in this industry are in for a rude awakening and or a life of bitterness without any self reflection.
The biggest game launches of my career have been WFH. Chivalry 1 and Overwatch 2, almost exactly 10 years apart and the difference in my life circumstances couldn't be further apart.
It's been a wild ride.
Some cool news: My wife and I are moving back to the East Coast to set down some roots. I've been approved for fulltime remote work for Blizzard. This is a dream come true for me, as I no longer will have to compromise where I want to live VS. where I want to work.
@BurnsDesigns
Hi. I have worked as a mentor with
@ment_coalition
for about 2 years now where this screengrab is from. Not surprising but I think paid mentorships are much better than:
Relying on the altruism of very busy people
Paying large sums to traditional schools
I flew out to California to start a new job as a mid-lvl Env Artist in Irvine, my wife and I lived out of an airbnb for year.
5 yrs later and we own our own home in Upstate NY near family, I have a dedicated office room with DOORS, and I'm a Senior II/Env team lead.
I just really, truly, absolutely love to help people out. Tiny acts of kindness can have such a huge affect of people and their outcomes. What may be 5 minutes of feedback on a Tuesday can be a turning point in someone's life. Help lift each other up. Give back where you can.
I've had 3 mentees message me recently to let me know that they scored jobs.
For 2 of them, its their first industry job. The third had been out of the industry for about a year.
It feels gooood
I worked on Overwatch for 5 years. My nephews didn't give one shit about that, but they STILL ask me about my friend who works on Fortnite that I mentioned once in 2017 everytime I see them.
There are now studios offering over 300k, permanent remote, and flexible working schedules to experienced environment artists.
The labor market has changed so much due to remote work, investments in startups, and more senior jobs than people to fill those seats.
I have talked with multiple game studios over the past year who have offered 200k+ & perm remote.
It is worth it to interview and be open to new opportunities. If nothing else its great practice for interviewing, negotiating, and getting a sense of your market value
I've published another simple
#SubstanceDesigner
utility node that I've been using a ton in my workflow. This one simply bevels a shape and outputs a perfect 45 degree angle normal which is super handy when working with trim sheets.
Just take care of yourself. No company is forever, no project is worth your health. As we've been seeing being good at your job and making good games isn't always going to be enough.
Prepare for the worst, and keep your health/life as the priority.
Wrapped up my first week at Moonshot Games, a part of
@Dreamhaven
. I am super stoked for what the future holds!
Don't worry though there will still be house reno content here for some time to come๐
70 billion acquisition. ~10k employees. That's ~7 million/employee.
Let's hope some of that goes towards retention, bringing salaries in line with market value, investing in the long term health of teams/projects, and promoting diversity within our workforce.
I recently hit my 4 years anniversary working at Blizzard, and have now officially been working from home on Overwatch longer than working in the office which feels really strange. I made so many friends and had so many new experiences those 1st 2 yrs. These last 2 very Different
๐ฅHot of the Designer Noodles๐ฅ
FREE tutorial on how to achieve:
โจSculpty
โจChunky
โจStylized
๐งฑBRICKS! In Substance Designer!
#SubstanceDesigner
#gameart
#Textures
Version 1.0 of my Sculpted Edges
#substancedesigner
node is now available.
This is a node that helps to recreate a stylized sculpted edge look similar to that of Trim Dynamic or Trim Smooth Border in Zbrush.
#gameart
#stylized
I am now fully 2 weeks into being funemployed. The background radiation of anxiety and stress just keeps getting lower and lower.
It's really amazing how much my baseline had changed slowly like the boiling frog.
@JeryceDia
I've said it before and I'll say it again: after working professionally I have never completed a personal environment project outside of work. Anyone who is able to finish something, anything, is incredibly impressive.
@TheCartelDel
It's very disappointing to see. I would have left years ago if I hadn't been approved for remote. It has completely changed my life and financial future for the better and that option should be available for everyone.
Are you a character doodler? Wanna doodle doods for Overwatch deuce?
Blizzard Entertainment is looking for: Character Concept Artist - Overwatch 2
#job
I 'member when I was getting in to game art all sorts of people saying that if I wanted to do stylized art, it had to look like WoW. ooooh how the times have changed. Persue what you like and are passionate about. Trends change quickly.
I'm pretty stoked that an area I did for Havana in Overwatch was chosen to be a
@polycount
banner and featured on the front page. If not for the community there I definitely wouldn't be where I'm at today.
#gameart
#gamedev
I saw this image in an old thread on polycount and it really resonated with me. It says painting, but this could be pretty much any skillset. Currently feeling stuck in the green zone, but thats just a part of it.
Check out the thread
Want to learn more about the art behind Overwatch 2? ๐จ
LIVE NOW, join
@sean_mmills
and
@itsmelimmy
for a special Q&A with
@Annunziata3D
and Paul Warzecha, two members of the OW2 art team!
& birdsketch (IG)
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My 1st son was born in October and it has been a wild ride in such a positive way. Working from home has allowed me to be present in the little mans life in a way that I can't even imagine doing this any other way.
Shoutout to the indie/studio folks who have purchased my
#subtancedesigner
utility nodes and paid for the proper license, even though I have absolutely 0 way of knowing how they get used. I appreciate it more than you know ๐
Today is my birthday. I still haven't decided if I get a do-over for 30, for if I've just got to skip to 34. Anyway, I'm treating myself to 5 weeks vacay, doing a cross country roadtrip w/ my wife on our to settling down in NY ๐
10 years ago today, 1 Decade, I graduated from college. I was the first in my family to graduate. It was a crazy few years. I almost dropped out multiple times, and still have some resentment about the insane cost of the education, but I know I wouldn't be where I'm at otherwise.
Overwatch has completely changed my life for the better. The game is a constant source of inspiration, as are all the folks that I work side by side with. I may not have been there for the beginning, but I am here, now for the new beginning.
#SeeYouOnTheOtherSide
My first complete environment vs. my most recent.
There were so many times I wanted to give up, throw in the towel. So many people in my life told me that art and games wouldn't get me anywhere. I'm glad I didn't. I love what I get to do everyday.
#gameart
#gamedev
2010 vs 2019
The Autopsy Theater wasn't my first environment, but it was the first I was actually proud of. I spent 4 SOLID months on it in UDK.
Simon Fuchs, Travis Castillo, and Philip Klevestav were also major contributors to the OW Toronto scene
#CreatorJourney
2019 vs. 2022 โจ
Discovered 3D back in 2019 and got hooked in a second. Crazy to see those two screenshots side by side and really grateful for all the support (and youtube videos lol) that helped me get there.
#CreatorJourney
I really don't got much personal or professional art to share this year, but that's okay. I've helped a ton of folks lvl up in '23 and hope to continue that forward.
If anyone is interested, heres a bit of sales data for my substance nodes for 2021. I posted about them a few times when they released, and occasionally when Artstation has a sale, but haven't pushed them too hard or made videos. Gumroad sales were smol