Concept Art: How To Break In and Stay In

Legendary Disney artist Armand Serrano told me: "They hire you for your art, but they keep you because of your ideas."

There are a million concept art portfolios out there...

...and very few compelling concepts.

A professional concept artist designs the future. They don't simply copy current trends.

They envision environments, props, characters, costumes, color palettes and compositions that audiences have never seen before.

A professional concept artist is collaborative and infinitely curious.

A professional concept artist has an inexhaustible visual library.

A professional concept artist is a master of the fundamentals and knows numerous efficient, focused techniques.

Here's a collection of my best interviews and articles to help you stay focused on what really matters to concept artists who are serious about breaking-in, staying-in or getting a better gig...

Is Your Concept Art Portfolio Versatile Or Just Confusing?

By Chris Oatley

Is your concept art portfolio versatile or confusing? It’s easy to tell when it’s someone else’s work but it’s much more difficult with our own. [ Painting: ‘Girl Before A Mirror’ by Pablo Picasso ]

Every good concept art portfolio showcases the artist’s versatility.

But many artists think they are demonstrating versatility when they are actually demonstrating a lack of focus.

It’s good ol’ fashioned fear-of-commitment.

In my post about The 5 Common Pitfalls Of A Concept Art & Illustration Portfolio and our ‘Paper Wings Podcast’ episode Ten Steps To A Winning Portfolio we advised that artists demonstrate specialization in favor of versatility when applying for a job in a creative “pipeline.”

Artistic specialization can drastically benefit your career as a concept artist (whether you’re a character designer, layout artist, environment painter or some other type of conceptual illustrator).

So, today, I’m going to challenge you to reconsider the way you’re pursuing your creative dreams as I debunk The Myth Of Versatility…

Five Tips To Make Your Character Designs More Dynamic & Believable :: PWP #9

By Chris Oatley

How can character design strengthen the emotional impact of your story?

Are turnarounds really a waste of time?

How can you avoid cliches in your designs, and make your characters both surprising and memorable?

In this episode of The Paper Wings Podcast, Chris and Lora give you FIVE tips that will help you make your characters more dynamic and believable.

Press PLAY, and get ready to learn how to set your characters apart, and take your stories to the next level!

READ ON to DOWNLOAD our FREE Character Design Cheat Sheet to learn how YOU can enter to WIN a WACOM Intuos4 Tablet and to download the episode Cheat Sheet!

Portfolio Pit Stop :: PWP #3

By Chris Oatley

We’re back with a special Paper Wings Podcast!

Chris & Lora were together in L.A. this week, so we decided to take a detour from our planned schedule and do a LIVE episode.

Instead of releasing Part 2 of our portfolio episode this week, we used Episode 3: PORTFOLIO PIT STOP to answer some of the many listener questions we received.

Listen in to hear our thoughts on:

Do the principles we discussed about animation portfolios apply when assembling a freelance illustration portfolio? Are “leave behinds” a good idea? How do you brand yourself online and make your portfolio stand out in the digital realm? What should you wear to an interview? What if I can’t attend comic conventions? And more!

We also take the opportunity to share our (mis)adventures on the California coast, and discuss our vision for Paper Wings– specifically the Paper Wings Talent Exchange Program!

And don’t forget to subscribe to the newsletter to receive details about a chance to win one of three Intuos4 Tablets from WACOM, the first Paper Wings Challenge sponsor! Newsletter subscribers will get the contest rules FIRST, before the next episode is released. So sign up today!

Ten Steps To A Winning Portfolio (Part 1) :: PWP #1

By Chris Oatley

How do you build a portfolio that will land you that dream job?

How do you make work that stands out in the crowd?

More importantly, how do YOU stand out in the crowd?

We talk about the seldom discussed aspects of getting a job that go beyond selecting which pieces to include in your portfolio in this first of a two part series.

The Paper Wings Podcast starts NOW!

Interview With Disney Environment Painter Akiko Crawford & ‘The Avengers’ Set Sculptor Duncan Crawford :: ArtCast #54

By Chris Oatley

Here’s a great interview with my Disney colleague Akiko Crawford and her husband Duncan Crawford. Akiko is a VERY talented Matte Painter and Environment painter who works in Visual Development like I do.

And Duncan has worked as a sculptor on Super-8 and LOST (and he talks about that on the show), Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Green Lantern, Thor, Iron Man 2, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Transformers and Spider-man 3 …just to name a few.

We talk a lot about their personal paths to success and they share some insight that might get you thinking differently or in a fresh way about how to get or keep your job in the entertainment industry.
[Read more…] about Interview With Disney Environment Painter Akiko Crawford & ‘The Avengers’ Set Sculptor Duncan Crawford :: ArtCast #54

Concept Art: How To Break In and Stay In

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