Onegai shimasu (おねがい します)  🙇

Not long ago I found an old pencil drawing I did in collage. I thought it was lost to time. What really struck me was that this is a grand example of what really interested me and still does: dark subject matter, a bit of whimsy, SxiFi, hard surface, lighting, reflections, black and white. I used this piece as part of my portfolio to get into art school. My art has evolved since then. Yet, it represent my foundation. The same will be said of your art in the future. 

Yes, your art will evolve. And, you’ll continue to rely on the items that you love. They are a part of you. You may not realize it… you’ll be using the basic items you’ve learned years ago 😬

Onegai shimasu (おねがい します)  🙇

When going into an industry, you’ll most likely know what you want to do: a speciality. You may have to do other things to get there first. When I got into the game industry, I wanted to make robots. My first job was to make UIs with a max resolution on 640x480, and two colors: green and black. And I did my best. I learned a ton about UI/UX. Later, I was able to make robots. Only, by then, I discover I wanted to do other things.Things change. You’ll change.There will be times that you will have to make a choice: do I do “x” to get to what I really want or do I take a high paying gig that is not what I really want to specialize in? I had a chance to take a well paying position. And I walked away from it. I took another job that did not pay as well,  however, I was happier. Although the other job was for a very prestigious company, I would have had to have made sacrifices I did not want to make. We’ll go over the “Power of No” at a later date

Onegai shimasu (おねがい します)  🙇

A friend recently ask me a very good question: Have I ever insisted that an art piece has to be done MY way? 

My answer was a mix: I don’t recall ever making anyone make an art piece MY way. There are too many variables and a bunch of ways to achieve the same goal. I prefer to set a flexible goal. How it’s achieved can vary. So long as the goal is met.

I do insist, however, that the process be done right. Example: if the goal is to make a clean 3D asset, I have taught how to do that so that any game engine will read the asset and render it, efficiently and easily. This will prevent future problems. If said asset is made haphazard, it WILL fail. It may even need to be rebuilt (I’ve seen it happen).

Some of the methods may seem odd. However, efficiency from the start WILL prevent headaches in the future. It’s wise to understand what is required from the beginning, while being flexible to change

Onegai shimasu (おねがい します)  🙇

I was helping a friend with a logo. She wanted some changes and asked me if it was tough to do. Because I worked on insane stuff in the past what she asked for was simple by comparison. I found this image I worked on in 1998, as an example. Was done in Illustrator. Before layers, transparencies, etc. It was really friggen tough. I can’t remember exactly why it was done in Illustrator.  And it sparked this post.

It brought up something that I feel is very important: us old folks know our stuff. It might be a good idea to listen to us. 

Some of my teachers made a HUGE impact on me. My high school English teacher had me read Brave New World. It was the birth of my love for SciFi. She had me read other books that ignited my life-long sense of curiosity and critical thinking. One of my college teachers, who taught me airbrushing, helped sharpen my love of movie posters. My design teacher showed me to draw what was there, not what I think is there. My photography teacher saw that I was color blind. So she had me concentrate on black and white.

All of my teachers and mentors had a life-long impact that I could not see at the time. I use what they taught me now every day, now. What they lacked (like layers) was made up in problem solving. They pave the way for me and I didn’t know it.

Remember, even DaVinci learned from his teachers.

Onegai shimasu (おねがい します) 🙇🏽

The image you see was assembled with the help of an AI tool. I assembled it for a couple of reasons: I wanted to be familiar with this AI tool as a pre-vis tool and I wanted to see if I could match the lighting in photography with a light rig. The AI tool did a pretty good job.

This blog post was inspired by some recent conversations I’ve had with various folks. 

The AI controversy continues. I’ll stick to my view: people who call themselves “AI Artists” is insulting. It minimizes the creative process and skill that took years for one to develope.

Would you want someone to do brain surgery on you because they have access to AI even though they’ve never done surgery? My guess is the answer would be “hell no”.

A person who attempted to copyright an image assembled with the help of AI, failed to copyright it. You can watch a vid that explains it here:

https://youtu.be/5WXvfeTPujU?si=P_yXfQZSmwOf9ROT

I’ll be noting the games and film industry, which I’m familiar with: it takes a great deal to complete a game or a film. Writers, producers, programmers, artists, audio-designers/musicians, etc. are making choices in their craft to creatively finish their tasks at hand. They rely on their training to come up with unique solutions to problems that AI CAN’T develop on its own.

I follow a photographer who tests new hardware and software geared to photography. She was able to swap a sky in one photo with another sky shot she took (with a similar lighting) and using AI in the software she was testing. The final photo turned out great. Because she took the alternate sky photo, all art is hers. AI helped her with the composite. Totally cool. In this case AI is helping the artist in a very tough task. IMHO this is a very valid use of AI. It helped with images SHE made, ergo, the art IS hers. AI will be incorporated in the average software we use to help speed up our work. That is a given. When AI is used responsibly AI can be a boon.

AI tools can be used with abuse.

My son talks about other students who write term papers using AI. Yet, the students can’t string a paragraph together that makes sense, on average. Fortunately, their teacher saw this and the students were called out. 

There is no shortcut to genuine critical thinking, dicipline, creativity, and honed skills.

Onegai shimasu (おねがい します)  🙇

Just because someone has been in the industry a long time does not mean they deserve respect. Respect must be eared (and given). Treating coworkers like garbage will only get you so far, and word travels fast.

I've known art/creative directors who think they are the top shit and expect to be revered. Even worshiped. I've seen people looking for their first jobs melting down into fanboys/fangirls when they meet the industry folks they revere. I’ve known junior artist, who happen to have good talent, expect to be respected and worshiped. Some of these folks (junior and senior) can't even do the simplest art tasks. Especially for what they are demanding from others.

It's wise, from the onset, to treat each other with grace and dignity. Don't get me wrong, Its alright to admire someone, especially if that person is your senior. So long as there is a mutual exchange of respect. Mutual respect goes a very long way.

Onegai shimasu (おねがい します)  🙇

I encouraged my students to save images of the first item they modeled and not look at it for 6 months. Then look at it after. The reaction is always the same. Disbelief and shock that they made such a rotten model. This is important as it will demonstrate concretely how far one has come. and where one will be many years from now. I showed them a photo of the fist drawing I did in school and how much it sucked compared to my graduation images. Today, I can hold my own with pros (while I look at things I made a few years ago (and cringe).

It's not fair to yourself to compare your work (code, film, models, paintings, etc.) with high end pros. You won't be as good as them at the moment. And that's ok. It's good to favor them. To admire them. To emulate them. Learning their techniques will help develop your own. 

Remember: they all started just like you. DaVinci was not born with his skills. He had to start somewhere. He sucked when he started. It took years to develop his style.

You will develop your own style. Who knows. At some point someone will look at your work and be inspired by it 😊

Onegai shimasu (おねがい します)  🙇

Let's face it. Ours is a unique industry. While you're in it you will meet a wide assortment of people who like different things and have different view points. I’ve met good and brilliant people. And I’ve worked with assholes.

First off, this is becoming a very open and welcoming industry more and more. It’s becoming less and less of a “good old boy network”. There are more women and LGBTQ+ entering the industry than when I started. It’s growing more every day on all fronts. And it's awesome 😁

75% of my VFX class were women. About 1/2 of the Game Art class were women. It was about 20% women in the Programming Class (and growing every year). Culturally, all these classes are very diverse, and were getting more so.

Diversity can't be escaped. Yet sometimes someone can cause a problems. They will attempt to take it out on you, no matter who you are. I had the misfortune to have to work with elitist types. All I could do is respect their work and keep going. I don’t know where they are now. And I don’t care. 

It is the things that you WILL and WILL NOT do that will always speak as to what kind of person that you are (what you will of won’t do will ALWAYS come back to you). Sometimes, all a person needs is a little help.
Or, said person may need to complete the struggle on their own, and they just need room. Don't carry a burden for them. This can be very difficult to detect in yourself.

This industry is getting more unaccepting of bigotry. I know that there are still issues everywhere. Personally, I’d rather be a part of the solution. And I really believe in starting with yourself. No need to attempt to change the world (you’d go mad). Just your corner of it. You’d be very surprised at how far the effects will ripple.

Onegai shimasu (おねがい します)  🙇

You’re a creative person. You may have good ideas you want to share with the rest of the world. The company you’re at wants to know what the ideas are and want you to tell them.

This may or may not be good. This is where it’s important to read the contract before you sign and ask question to clarify. It may state that all ideas you have, and document in some form (whether at work or at home), belongs to the company. 

Or higher ed schools. Yes, schools.

This is a common practice because the company/school you’re at wants full commitment from you. Full and complete commitment.

While I was at a company, in my early career, I was told that the company was looking for new ideas and to submit them. I wrote it up and turned it in hoping that it becomes real. 

I found out a few things later: 

1- Only new-to-the-industry folks turned anything in. 

2- All the ideas were put into an archive file and never looked at. This was devastating. 

Fortunately, it was not my best idea. So, years later, I’m glad it was never made. 

This taught me a valuable lesson, though.

Now, the following is for your personal ideas. Not ideas that might help at your current job/class.

If you have original ideas, it may be prudent to not present them to anyone… yet. If it’s possible, in between jobs, to set up a Holding Company (where no $ is made) so the ideas can live in there. Fully protected and yours. A web site need not be made or anything.Later on, the ideas created at that point might still be with making, changed, or leave them. There may be a time you’ll need to disclose them at the next company you work at and state they are yours. I did that several times.

What’s ultimately important is to protect yourself and your ideas. No one else will do it for you.

Onegai shimasu (おねがい します)  🙇

One of the toughest experiences you’ll have in the industry is The Interview. You must remember that the prospective employer has already seen your portfolio, resume, code (whatever) and they liked what they saw. Now that they have you in front of them, they want to check if you’d be a good fit for them. It can be stressful and very intimidating. Sometimes it’s designed to be.

The toughest interview I experienced was I was interviewed by the creative director, then the art lead then the whole art team at a lunch. 12 people total.

Another was that I was a guest speaker and one of the main directors was in the audience (I had no idea). She came up to me after, we talked a bit, and she offered me a job right there. I still had no idea who she was at the time!

Sometime, you’ll get VERY odd questions that are designed to check out your personality. The oddest question I ever got was “Father Sword or Atlantean Sword?” That’s the whole question. And I new exactly what they meant. A great lively discussion followed. I found out later that they loved the discussion. 

I did some research from my industry friend on what odd questions have been asked:

“You come to a fork in the road. Do you turn left or right?”

“Name a Micheal J Fox movie that is NOT a Back to the Future film.”

“Have you ever attended a clown school?”

“Can you quote a line from a Monty Python movie verbatim?”

“If you ha a Time Machine what form would it be in?”

Questions like these are to find out more of your personality (bonus if a good discussion rises). To see if you’d be a good fit in their team.

Always remember that you’re there to see if the company would be a good fit for you. At one interview I had I had a sense that the interview was not going well. Eventually they said I was not a good fit. I’m glad (really glad) that I didn’t get a job there.

Remember that even if you didn’t get the job it was experience to be interviewed..

I do recommend a few things:

Research the company you want to be at. Just because they made something you like does not mean it’s a place you’d want to be at. Can you discover what their culture is like? Who are the key people there? What have they made? Do you know anyone who works there and are willing to talk to you about them?

Dress well. Good hygiene is very important (I interviewed a person who looked rotten and had SEVER bad breath)

You don’t need to wear a suit, unless that’s the culture of the company or it’s you usual attire.

Be yourself. I’ve seen interviewees who think they know what the company wants. The interviewer may have a very good BS meter. They want to get to know YOU.

Ask meaningful questions. Don’t be a bump on the log.Do your best to relax. It’s ok to be nervous. I’ve said I was nervous at an interview at the beginning of my carrer. And it helps. Remember that the interviewer may be nervous, too. It would be bad to appear desperate. Desperation is bad cologne.

Know your rights as an interviewee: https://www.findlaw.com/employment/hiring-process/legal-rights-during-the-hiring-process.html

There are some things that can’t be asked by the interviewer.

There’s more. This is a good start though.

Best of luck 🤘🏽