Where Would I Like To Work?
- Optimistically, I would like to continue working part-time as a waitress short term. When it is financially viable, I would like to live entirely off the income I make as an artist. I think I would like to work for myself so freelancing is ideal. One day, later in my career when I have a lot more experience, I would also love to be employed as an in-house concept artist for companies like Valve (a gaming company) or Hasbro (who own the ‘Magic: The Gathering card game’). I would consider that a major career goal.
- However, I intend to start small and would be very happy to keep working part time waitress and part time artist for a couple of years.
Dream Role
- To be a concept artist for movies or games.
- A good starting place for seeking out opportunities in games is to look at a directory of game development companies that are currently active. The list updates every week and you can limit the list to certain countries or even cities. https://gamedevmap.com/index.php?country=England&state=&city=&query=&type=
- Sandra Duchiewicz is a concept artist whose career I admire- She has worked for major companies like Hasbro, Adobe, Games Workshop and Unit Motion Design. The articles she has published online breaking down important things about the concept industry have really helped with my understanding of this role: https://www.artstation.com/telthona/blog/1rWz/how-to-get-hired-as-a-concept-artist
- The salary in the uk ranges from about £17,000 to £20,000 at entry level. It is rare to get into this field without prior experience (hence why I will freelance in illustration to build those skills). https://www.prospects.ac.uk/job-profiles/concept-artist
- Growth Opportunities - Next year, I will enter the Silent Book Contest again. It is a good brief for making narrative based work and I think I could use it to demonstrate environment concepts and experiment in making a cohesive stylised body of work. (https://silentbookcontest.com/). My current housemates are, in majority, artists and they are planning to organise a gallery show at the end of summer. They have invited me to take part which will be a good opportunity to show some of my work to the public (hopefully leading to traction on my social platforms and website).
Who Do I Know? - Industry Connections
- Through LinkedIn, I have managed to make a handful of significant connections. One is Alice Harper, a freelance animator who’s made impressive moves making background art for international studios. She’s a good friend who hopes to start her own studio some day and has offered me work before. As a previous student at Falmouth, she has connections to the other end of country.
- In my last project, I made concept art as a commission for a Dungeons and Dragons game. The market for this has recently become a lot bigger because of the restrictions of Covid-19 forcing gameplay to become online through skype/discord/etc. Short-term commissions that ask for a prop like a weapon to be designed are great for bulking up my portfolio. There are plenty of reddit threads and discord severs i can promote my work on to try and draw in commissions.
Networking
- Another connection i made through LinkedIn is the aforementioned Sandra Duchiewicz who often interacts with people on there.
- I did also make connection with Claire Hummel, another incredibly impressive concept artist. I sent her an email asking for tips but, unfortunately, she has not replied yet.
Moving on from LAU
- I am staying in leeds and so are a lot of my friends.
- I will keep working part time as a waitress, upping my hours a little. I hope to keep 3 or 4 days off to dedicate to art (and free time). I need to maintain a healthy work/life balance.
- The specifics are subject to change depending on if I need more money at the time or when deadlines are approaching, etc. Thankfully, my work is flexible and I was hired under the understanding of only working weekends so anything more than that, even after graduation, is up for discussion.
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