I remember when I came to my illustration interview back in… 2018? 2019? With Jonathan and Chris, I was told that what I was really applying for was my third year of study; that I’d have to put up with some things I didn’t like all the way up to then. I’ve spent a while thinking over my time at UWE; thinking over whether I would have learnt more going somewhere specially tailored to my needs as a concept artist, and to be truthful, I’m still undecided.
On the one hand, I think maybe I would have learnt more of the sheer technical skill and fundamentals going somewhere else; but on the other, I doubt I’d’ve been allowed the freedom to pursue my own creative interests; I doubt I’d’ve delved into writing quite as much as I have here – something that’s become an integral backbone to my work. That’s really what this last module’s been for me; it’s been an exercise in combining my writing and artwork in a way that feels satisfying to me.
I think it goes without saying that if I had the budget; the time, and the skills, I would’ve loved to have made a fully realized animated… ‘something’ as my final project here, featuring Shimmerleaf – but for the scope of something like that, given how time consuming my style can be, the few months I had to work wouldn’t’ve been enough time. Instead, now I have a strong portfolio of environmental work, and a perfect toolkit to pitch a bigger project when I have the financial stability to support something like that.
It’s only in the past year or so that I’ve become so acutely aware of how successful small projects can be – The Sojourn, for example, and audio-drama I worked with in the past few months has an incredibly tight budget and tiny team, yet they’ve managed to win awards by making smart decisions about how and when they spend their money and time, and only after finding their footing working on other things previously. If Shimmerleaf ever flourishes into anything more, I expect it’ll be in a similar manner to this.
I have mixed feelings about the actual work I’ve made for this project. Some pieces I’m incredibly happy with, others… not so much. There’s a few pieces that I think I set my expectations too high for; or got caught up in my own head about to the point where I think they look overworked and unnatural. I’m still not happy with my main establishing shot of the city; the lighting still feels wrong even after exploring so many options. I think the scale of the atmosphere and the scale of the actual scene feel at odds with one-another; I think the smog feels too all-encompassing, when really smog should sit at about ground level. I could go on about this piece for a while, but I think the main point here is that this exemplifies where my skills are still lacking. I’m good at recreating references, but I still struggle to extrapolate where no reference exists – something that I need to improve upon to enter the field I want to.
Although I’ve been told the contrary a few times – I think I struggle to see myself existing in the world I’ve created in a few images; I think building a world requires a fair bit more life experience than I have currently. In a lot of cases, I’m writing things about the world that I have no real experience with myself; that I don’t fully understand the emotional consequences of for those who have to live through them. Although I do my best to research the subjects of my work, unfortunately there’s no quick fix for this. Thankfully Shimmerleaf is a project I intend to continue developing for the foreseeable future. I hope to get a website set up where I can compile all my work on the project, and where other people can come to see everything put together in an appropriate context, given the meta-narrative I’m trying to spin about Shimmerleaf sending transmissions to other realities to educate them about its existence.
But that’s something for the future, right now I have to think about how I’m immediately going to have to become self-sufficient. Over the course of my time at university, my propensity for making fan-art for my various special interests has made me a few friends across both the tabletop RPG and science-fiction communities, and (hopefully, if all goes to plan), I have some work lined up that should tide me over for a little while as I find my footing.
From what I’ve seen, getting into the industry is like breaking ice; having a mountain of personal work is great, but people only seriously want to hire you once they’ve seen your professional work. Thankfully, I’ve already started breaking that ice – as mentioned I already have some commissions lined up, and I have some work that I’m currently keeping under wraps at the client’s request that I’m very keen to show to the world.
I really feel like I should have something profound to say at the end here. I realize this evaluation might’ve had a bit more of a personal tone to some of my previous ones, but it does seem appropriate here; this is a pretty personal experience after all. Whatever comes next, I think I’m going to need a lot more coffee.
Scorpion Design 