Tips for students from professional artists
“We're all students, we never stop learning, and success is achievable for anyone who has the time and dedication for it.”
All depends on the goal. If you just want to design cool stylized characters/creatures, then it's just a matter of drawing and design chops. If you want to just design realistic dudes, then it's design/drawing plus photoblasting chops. If you wanna be a 3d environment artist, then you have to know everything and be a wizard. More skills is always better. Just make sure you give people at least one compelling reason to throw out other applicants and go with you.
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I always find it important to stress that art is a marathon, not a sprint, to understand that it takes years of hard work after graduation to get to the level they need to be at. It is unfortunate that schools have very little time to allow the students to focus on what they need to learn to become experts in their field. in order to obtain accreditation by the government schools usually, need to teach a curriculum filled with other classes.
In my experience, it is important to explain to them what the path looks like for them, to imprint upon them to focus their art to be able to hit a desired quality bar and for them to also spend time learning art fundamentals. If they are not work-ready after finishing school, express the importance to keep themselves fed and to keep the dream alive, many other popular artists had to follow the same path so there is no shame in that.
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...help them by explaining what you would be looking for in a junior art candidate, then pointing out what's missing in the work they shared with you. That keeps things goal oriented, and while the student may still be crestfallen that they aren't where they feel they should be, you've given them an avenue of training to follow. Remind them that art training never really stops, it just gets tougher and more self-directed once you leave the nest.
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1) they need to look at professional work (not fellow students) as a gauge of where their work needs to be to get work, and 2) that you need to always be studying their craft in order to get better.
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Art is the evolution of the human consciousness. Each artist must walk alone on their path to enlightenment. If you explain what you're looking for when you distinguish quality work and fairly present the challenges, it gives them an area to focus. Hopefully they embrace it and put in the work.
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The art paths are so unique and personal that it used to be super hard for me to say "give up ur style and learn a popular one." But I got over that one a little bit ago by remembering that the goal of most of these kids is making a living while doing art. Now I tell people shelling out big bucks at school and wanting spots in the industry that their personal style will always be theirs, but they need a "make money" skill set just like any other job.
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“...focusing less on the art and more on helping them set goals. In my experience, most students fail because they simply don't have good goals. Removing the opinions and subjectivity from the equation can dramatically help. Its easy for anyone to brush off feedback and suggestions that can be perceived as opinion. Staying logical and using data with direct comparisons works great.
... find comparable examples from existing games and ask how they feel like their work lines up with these industry examples. Then there is a good conversation. If you steer them into realizing the situation for themselves, it can be far more effective for them actually learning.”
