Reflections, Ambitions

First I would like to become more prolific with my work. Just get more done. 

I felt I did the bare minimum for the first year. Admittedly I spent a great deal of time getting my head around 3ds Max. But still, I would like to have had more to show for it. 

I want to keep the level of work to a consistent and ideal standard. Which is a challenge, especially for subjects we haven't quite dealt with yet. 

But I think this needs to be maintained like any piece of work we would be tasked to produce in the industry and certain standard is expected. Better to get into that mindset sooner than later. 

On the flip-side of that I need to stop pressuring myself with workloads. If I organise myself better I won't panic down the line if something doesn't go to plan. 

I got myself worked up into a real mess last year. Admittedly a lot of it was due to my funding being rejected, then approved, then rejected, approved, etc. 

I just didn't need that at the time, ...."sigh!" :p

I feel I've always been a little disorganised. I think the excuse of being an artist is getting a bit thin now. Time to get my s***t together and start being more self aware. 

I was going to write 'professional' but it felt like I was talking some spiel. 

I'm not writing a CV here.

I'm feeling generally more confident about my work now. 

After the first year I was really unsure about my style and approach. 

I had spent so long doing things a certain way that I was fighting against anything different, even subconsciously. 

Now I've adapted to the new way of things my own style is starting to emerge again but reinforced by the informed approaches we have covered. 

I can see areas I have improved upon that would have slowed me down previously due to that missing fundamental knowledge. 

Which is very uplifting. 

One other key element to improving upon last year is to take a step back from my work and really look at it. 

Observing and correcting the errors before it's too late. Previously I don't think I could see the forest for the trees. 

It's like what Jolyon Webb said to us "the sign of a good artist is being able to spot and amend your mistakes". 

At least that's an approximation of his meaning.

My abilities in 2D still outweigh my 3D but I use all my knowledge to improve upon that subject. 

It's working so far but sometimes I need to speed up. 

I get really hung up making sure topography is correct for my models. It's an uphill struggle, mainly against myself, but I'm getting there with each project. 

So to be concise:-

I need to refine my artistic judgement. Increase my output of work. Organise and plan my workload. Maintain a consistent level of quality. 


As far as my ambitions go I've always been good at generating ideas and I've felt that improve as I've been on the course. 
I get very introspective about certain character ideas or reasons for levels looking and feeling the way they do. 
I can easily get a very rich personal history from some simple sketches of a character. 


Although this is all internal to begin with adding these personal touches to the appearance of a character or scene tells a lot. 
I'm not saying concept artist, maybe a character artist? I'd like to develop this skill more over the year. 
Good ideas are sometimes out of reach, so I'd like to be a dependable source of them. 
It has been the case for most of my life, so why stop now?


Having a rich visual education helps too. I am like a sponge for visual information. Hopefully it can all be of use. You never know. 
I can usually get a handle on what motifs a director is using to send the audience visual cues. Especially when they are cleverly buried in a scene. 


I admit a lot of my own development has been through pop culture. But I'm no heathen of the arts. 
I aim to expand my knowledge base because I like to be well informed. I prefer to genuinely know what I am talking about. 
I can honestly say I'm not there yet. This endeavour can take your whole life. But it's not a bad aspiration to have.