Thursday, September 27, 2007

Rough Town.


Pencil Sketch. Copyright Dreamworks.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Luc,

Still loving your stuff. I make it a point to visit your blog every week for new eye-popping work. Thanks.

And, if you can, if you have the time, could you please give me an advice/tips on how to assemble a good portfolio if I'm applying for the position of a visual development artist in the top 4 big animation companies ( Pixar / Disney, Dreamworks, Blue Sky and Sony ). Especially there at Dreamworks. What do recruiters their at Dreamworks want to see in my portfolio and what they don't wanna see?

Because I have read somewhere , that hiring managers and recruiters from different companies have different needs and preference when it comes to the type of material they want to see in an applicants portfolio.

What types and kind of samples should I concentrate in including in my portfolio if I'm applying for the position of a visual development artist ? Should I include nude figure or gesture drawings ? And of course, how many background illustrations ? How many of these illustrations should I put in there without giving the reviewers or hiring managers a splitting headache and throws away the portfolio due to boredom.

You're advice as an insider would be a great a help to me and all of those artists out there who wants to break-in in the animation industry.

Again , thanks for these illustrations. It's a great art lesson in itself.

Keep posting sir.

Thanks.

Luc Desmarchelier said...

Hi Apostle,

It is a bit difficult for me to advise you on the assembly of your portfolio exept in very general terms, but I'll try my best.

My first advice would be: pick what you consider your best stuff regardless of subject matter (unless it seems clearly inappropriate). Just pick your best stuff.

Once you have made your selection, start the process of editing. Try to group together images with similar themes and/or technique (visual affinities) on pages or double pages so they look their best. Try different grouping, variations of sizes,etc...until it flows naturally from one subject to the next. Don't hurry that stage, this can take a while.

Keep the number of images at one to four or five per pages unless you're dealing with thumbnails or images in continuity ( color script or color variations of the same subject, story-boards, etc...) in which case you should put the all sequence on the same page or spread.

Avoid visual clutter (unnecessary borders, redundant text,etc...). Chapter dividers however can be a nice touch.

Make it easy to handle by keeping the size of the book reasonable and the images within it in the same viewing direction as much as possible ( if you have to present some images sideways, try to group them together to spare viewer the constant swinging of the book one way and the other).

Put in as much as you want so long as it's all good and a normal person can still lift it with one arm.

As for figure drawings and the odd sketch at the zoo, they are not necessary unless they show something beyond the simple sketching exercise.

Good luck.

Cheers.

Anonymous said...

All the recent works i'm discovering now are simply great.

Luc Desmarchelier said...

Hi Laurent,
Recently posted, old works actually. Thanks.
Cheers.

Anonymous said...

Luc,

Thanks for the tips/advice regarding my questions about assembling a good portfolio. That was really enlightening . I passed the information among my friends and they all scratched their heads because all of us are guilty of doing the wrong sizes and and putting the wrong kind of material. What a relief!

Simple and yet tremendously important things we think should have been taught or at least discussed by my professors from art school. Oh well...

Most of the stuff I know now as a proffesional artist where things I discovered and learned by myself by studying and observing other artists excellent work, including yours sir.

Thanks to the World Wide Web, we get to see works such as yours in a more extensive scale and more frequency.

Thank you again sir for being very generous with your works your insight and knowledge.

Please Keep it up and take care.

Luc Desmarchelier said...

Apostle,
You're welcome.
Cheers.