Pro Concept Artist Industry

[Anonymous No.4200943]

You can tell shit's all fucked when /3/, /gd/, /sci/, /g/ and /diy/ are all dominated by people who are actually interested in getting jobs in their field

/ic/ used to be dominated by threads about concept art, freelance work, how to make a portfolio, photobashing, etc all related to the art industry and getting jobs.
But now it's nothing but anime porn and whining about talent.
The art industry hasn't gotten worse, if anything it's easier than ever to get into it. It's both bigger and more open than ever before.

What the fuck happened, why has everyone given up. Is there anyone here who actually wants to go pro anymore?

[Anonymous No.4200957]

>>4200943
>But now it's nothing but anime porn and whining about talent.
As someone who has been browsing since 2010, I assure you that this has always been the case. Always.
>threads about concept art, freelance work, how to make a portfolio, photobashing
These threads still happen on a regular basis. Also, think of "photobashing" as the trendy topic of the time - the trendy topic these days is talking about 3D paintovers. Same shit, different flavor.

Lurk more.

[Anonymous No.4200962]

>>4200943
>Is there anyone here who actually wants to go pro anymore?
It is impossible without enrolling in highly expensive art programs such as FZD School of Design and even with it you have a chance to die because you'll be forced to draw 16 hours per day with 4 hours of sleep.

[Anonymous No.4200970]

>>4200943
My target is always to go doujin route

[Anonymous No.4200971]

Everyone realized that only those who draw for fun will make it in this industry.

[Anonymous No.4200982]

>>4200943
>/ic/ used to be dominated by threads about concept art, freelance work, how to make a portfolio, photobashing, etc all related to the art industry and getting jobs.
>But now it's nothing but anime porn and whining about talent.
Being supported by people who like your work is...less of a job than slaving away for someone else in a studio? Bitch, what?
On /ic/ most people strife to be self-employed from what I can see.

[Anonymous No.4201081]

From what I can tell, people here actually have no idea what it means to actually DESIGN something that evokes feelings. There's nothing new, fresh, or unique here. That's why people resort to drawing anime tiddys because their brain finds comfort in drawing shit that 1. It already knows and 2. Gets an animalistic reaction that gets that dopamine flowing.

No aspiring concept artist here is coming up with new shit, researching new and ancient technologies, finding unique inspirations and distilling them into something that no one has ever seen before. Rather it's this circlejerk of drawing anime tiddy because that's all I know and it calms my brain down. That's all it is. That's why they're not getting that concept art job. Because they lack the creative problem solving skills to create something original that no one has seen before. That is literally what a concept artist is expected to do: design something new that evokes the same feeling the director got when he envisioned it so when audience experiences this new design, they feel the way the director did when picturing it. The industry is changing and the expectations are changing, but /ic/ isn't.

If that seems too stressful or not appealing to you, then all the more power to you. At least you know you'll be comfy drawing anime tiddy.
My recommendation? Get off /ic/, stop looking at artstation, and start reading more shit that interests you. Start a new hobby and actually get involved with it. Live your life.

[Anonymous No.4201138]

>>4200943
>The art industry hasn't gotten worse
YES IT HAS! Job security got worse like way worse, blacklisting is a thing now, wages didn't rise of with the demand, demand got way higher, processes were standardized and dumbed down so less expertise is needed therefore lower wages are sufficient, cutting corners and getting this faster is the goal not the quality, employee bullying and emotional manipulation became the norm. You are more and more just an assembly line worker doing one repetitive task creating something you do not even know what it is and not even fully told because you do not need to know it to do your job. Generally all the soul sucking shit that is true for the average cubical workplaces is has became for art jobs as well.

You are full of shit OP!

[Anonymous No.4201171]

>>4200943
>But now it's nothing but anime porn

Cause that is how Sakimichan (and any others) is making THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS producing /beg/ tier lewd art.

That is how Illya Kuvshinov became a character designer for GHOST IN THE FIRGGIN' SHELL despite that he became famous by art tracing and is generally unable to draw more than a single face without using a ref photo.

>Is there anyone here who actually wants to go pro anymore?
Seriously, why fucking bother when you have easier ways to make coomer money?

[Anonymous No.4201178]

>>4201171
>why fucking bother when you have easier ways to make coomer money?
it's pretty depressing that you can make a better living working at a call center than someone who spent years of their life specializing in a skill.

[Anonymous No.4201195]

>>4201171
>That is how Illya Kuvshinov became a character designer for GHOST IN THE FIRGGIN' SHELL despite that he became famous by art tracing and is generally unable to draw more than a single face without using a ref photo.


this depresses me so much

[Anonymous No.4201208]

>>4200943
concept art has largely moved away from painting images like yours op to a mishmash of 3d & photos with some light painting over the top to make it all look passable. people who enjoy drawing or painting & want to make that their job don't have as much of a place in movies and games anymore except a few on the marketing side. even being a character designer means less and less since AAA is all about the photorealism meme and using real actors now. say what you will about porn artists but at least they still get to draw as much as they want

[Anonymous No.4201221]

>>4200943
There is more to art than concept art. The market is saturated. Everyone wants to be a concept artist. Feng Zhu turns out a couple dozen of them every year. Photobashing is soulless trash. You will either make art that will stand for centuries or you will make art that is looked at for a second and then discarded.

[Anonymous No.4201222]

>>4201138
>>4201171
>>4201178
>>4201195
feeling all of this
and the worst part is that it's an issue with no tactile solution, it's only going to get worse. the current generation of budding artists will be discouraged and offput by the state of the industry, and when it comes to making a career decision many will drop their passion entirely. those that continue will have the soul sucked out of them by the corporate menace, or be strongarmed by need/want into selling out and riding the coomershit wave. and will that even persist? what happens if it dies out? even less options..

i abhor what the art world is coming to

[Anonymous No.4201227]

>>4201222
There are still comics I guess

[Anonymous No.4201722]

>>4201222
It's about who you know, and company's unwillingness to take risks on newcomers. It becomes super hard to get in because why would a director need to hire someone new when they can depend on an industry veteran.

[Anonymous No.4201737]

>>4200943
i do want to go pro, but i want to work as an illustrator, like for magazines, books, tshirts. i tried concept art but im just not the good person for it, i totally dont feel it. i could do concept art for next life is strange or something, i just cannot force myself to like fantasy or scifi, so i just gave up. but i have no idea how to become an illustrator who makes actual money... i just dont know how to find people willing to pay for my art (no i wont post my work here because i just cant take the namecalling anymore)

i think this whole "only coomer art gives you money" and "sakimi does shit art and makes money so its the only viable option" mindset is highly specific to /ic/ and noone else thinks like that. its a really limited view on world.

>>4201195
if anything it should probably motivate you... if he can do it then you can as well

[Anonymous No.4201748]

>>4201227
western comics are dead, manga is culture-locked and generally pays poorly unless you manage a breakout

french comics are pretty cool though

[Anonymous No.4202116]

>>4201748
Manga pays about 100$ a page commission starting out + royalties. At 30 pages a month, that’s 3000$ guaranteed income. But yeah, it’s culture locked.

[Anonymous No.4202818]

>>4202116
>At 30 pages a month, that’s 3000$ guaranteed income
Jesus, that's fucking abysmal.

[Anonymous No.4202823]

>>4200943
conceptart.org died, patreon became a thing, and anime became more mainstream, that’s all that happened

[Anonymous No.4202832]

>>4202823
more like conceptart.org killed itself. oh well it was fun while it lasted.
but fuck the people who ran it for talking me and thousands of others out of going to art school, just to turn around and shill their shit courses

[Anonymous No.4202835]

>>4200943
>Is there anyone here who actually wants to go pro anymore?
After being in /beg/ for 5 years, that sounds like a laughable idea for me. I just wanna git gud as a hobbyist now.

[Anonymous No.4202837]

>>4202818
Welcome being a Mangaka/assistant in Japan!

[Anonymous No.4202839]

>>4202116
That's dogshit pay you fucking nigger. God I hate these turd world posters who think a hundred bucks is a lot of money

[Anonymous No.4202850]

>>4202116
Do all these professional manga and anime people live with their parents? Or does Japan have socialist policies that help support them?

[Anonymous No.4202862]

>>4202850
What?
$3k a month is a decent salary, not great but decent.

[Anonymous No.4202867]

>>4202862
isn't the cost of living in Japan expensive as fuck though?

[Anonymous No.4202868]

>>4202862
For a job where you have enough time to shit and sleep, yeah

[Anonymous No.4202878]

>>4201171
>Sakimichan is /beg/ tier
This is delusion of the highest caliber.

[Anonymous No.4202881]

>>4202850
In Japan you are not supposed to have a life outside your job. Your job is the only thing there is.

[Anonymous No.4202888]

>>4201171
pyw

[Anonymous No.4202892]

>>4202881
I know that, but if you're working so much that your entire life is work $3k is pretty low.

[Anonymous No.4202926]

>>4202892
And if you are a freelance artist, it is dogshit.

[Anonymous No.4205697]

>>4202892
anon, they work so much they dont have time to spend their money, so why bother asking for bigger salary :^)

[Anonymous No.4205714]

>>4202818
In what fucking universe is 3k a month abysmal ?

[Anonymous No.4205796]

>>4201221
>Concept art is saturated
Lol this myth is just ridiculous. Consider how many artists it takes to make a single video game or movie. Then consider how many video games and movies are released each year.

I recall Trent Kaniuga saying that in his experience the majority of people applying for concept artist positions do not really know what a concept artist's job is. Most people do not get jobs for that reason, their art isn't good enough, or it doesn't fit the project they apply for.

Its just a competitive field because your portfolio needs to be look like it could be on the front page of ArtStation for you to start getting real jobs.

[Anonymous No.4205867]

>>4205714
$36k a year without any other expenses and living in tokyo/first world city is trash.

>>4202850
you practically live in a closet and work 7 days a week. enough people want to do it that they can keep paying that low of price, same as for animators despite how much money is in anime (most of it going to marketing).

a video about a relatively new freelance animator. there's a foundation that offers subsidized/crowdfunded housing for animators in tokyo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tvj-XnVKQI8&t=7m14s and &t=8m35s

[Anonymous No.4206106]

>>4201081
>concept artist here is coming up with new shit, researching new and ancient technologies, finding unique inspirations and distilling them into something that no one has ever seen before
>Because they lack the creative problem solving skills to create something original that no one has seen before.

I guess that's a cute ideal to have if you've watched 1-2 FZD episodes, but the reality of today's creatively bankrupt & soulless concept art is starkly and depressingly different than that fluffy and comfy fantasy of the past. Better get used to it soon, though.

[Anonymous No.4206376]

>>4200943
Coom is where the money’s at, no more concept art anime girl doing wacky poses

[Anonymous No.4209923]

>>4200943
>Is there anyone here who actually wants to go pro anymore

Ah yes; I would love to spend my days drawing [read: photobashing and slapping on filters] hastily drawn, soul-draining and virtually indistinguishable N E A R F U T U R E, S P A C E E X P L O R A T I O N and/or V A P O R W A V E masterpieces in the hope that some balding, overweight, middle-aged middle manager, someday, somewhere, will see my art and say "this guy's flavorless paste is exactly the dynamic vision this place needs" and then I can continue producing more flavorless paste except this time for a little bit more money and in an actual office as my overall health and my mental health continue to slip because of a combination of poor diet and a mind-numbing and occasionally hellish work environment.

Yay, I made it.

[Anonymous No.4209944]

>>4205714
Sadly he is right, Tokyo for example is a ludicrously expensive place to live at just finding a shitty 1 room rental apartment is a small fortune. Did you ever wonder why most people rather deal with a 1-2 hours commuting time and live in the suburbs instead? Because shit is that bad.

[Anonymous No.4209945]

>>4205796
>Consider how many artists it takes to make a single video game or movie.
Concept artists are just a small percentage of that number.

[Anonymous No.4210031]

>>4205796
>lol this is a myth
>famous tutorial peddler said this isn't true
do you work in concept art?

[Anonymus No.4211277]

>>4209923
tell us anon, which studio did this to you and why did you let them do it?

[Anonymous No.4211284]

I want to become a freelance illustrator.

[Anonymous No.4211326]

>>4200971
As someone who draws for fun, I can't understand how people do art without the drive of making your imagination come true on paper. I can't!

[Anonymous No.4211383]

>>4201171
>>4201195
>>4201222
No. I refuse to let these freaks win.
If you're in art for the right reasons you should not let these bad apples get in your way! There must be something we can try to prevent this (apart from trying to outskill their art).

[Anonymous No.4211443]

>>4211383
Globohomo rendered this impossible. California, which relies on mass migration and importation of foreign workers to drive wages down, has a stranglehold on art industry jobs and careers with precious few outliers. Those major companies are then subsidized by the government. There is no mentorship and few alternatives to break the coomer cycle beyond a one and a million comic crowdfunding campaign hit.

Accuse the Japanese of tribalism all you want, but they actively look out for their own on social media and return the favor. They understand the importance of a high trust community.

It's sad, but this is hand we have been dealt with. How the hell will we create an alternative when they keep getting shut down, the algorithm shutting out legit artists while propping up coomers, while too big to fail companies are endlessly subsidized by cheap foreign labor and government cash?

[Anonymous No.4211449]

>>4200971
On the contrary it's only people who treat art as assembly line drudgery to get over with as quickly and efficiently as possible who make it today. If you care about your art you will never be able to strip it of everything that makes it yours so it can meet industry standards.

[Anonymous No.4211492]

>>4202839
It's a little bit less than half a minimal wage where I live.
So it is actually is a fuckton of money.

[Anonymous No.4211586]

>>4211277
I was thinking about gitting gud and going to art school when I was in HS because I've loved sci-fi concept art my whole life and then I talked to people who actually worked in the industry and checked out some industry lectures and then I realized that I would probably end up killing myself if I ended up working as a concept artist so I decided against the whole endeavor.

[Anonymous No.4211591]

>>4202116
a mangaka pockets, on average, about 30 dollars a page
just let that sink

[Anonymous No.4211592]

>>4202116
a mangaka pockets, on average, about 30 dollars a page
just let that sink in

[Anonymous No.4211622]

>>4211586
Irs like you either sell your soul to coomers or get ground into paste by the industry. Hopefully, we'll be able to pave new paths forward for artists.

[Anonymous No.4214256]

>>4200943
>/3/, /gd/, /sci/, /g/ and /diy/ are all dominated by people who are actually interested in getting jobs in their field
Are you really sure?

[Anonymous No.4214763]

>>4200943
Point to the path and I'll go down it OP.

[Anonymous No.4214874]

How do you even standout? I look at artstation and everything looks the same, all the usual photobashing, texture overlay, all the same shortcuts, you have no idea how capable these so called concept artists really are.

https://youtu.be/mz1_ic6AIIU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iv53OVGl52Q

[Anonymus No.4214920]

big questin: how to make 6000bucks per month as an freelance concept artist / illustrator / light nswd alloved too?

[Anonymous No.4215067]

>>4214874
Most of these pica are garbage. Generic scifi stuff with no story , detail or tamperament. Meh

[Anonymous No.4215070]

>>4215067
I mean meaningful details. Stop with the rendering drones, a fucking line of davinnci is better than this

[Anonymous No.4215081]

>>4214874
So someone just paint a medieval tavern, full of soldiers resting, with a beautiful female looking at bartender with a shy interest while shes on the verge of falling along with the disk full of meals she is holding. Paint this well and you will make it in artstation . Tired of losing mentality and nihilism here, moso of these so called "pros" are watching ugly urban walls all day, you can easily beat that

[Anonymous No.4215084]

>>4215081
most of*

[Anonymous No.4215098]

>>4215067
Now compare with the pre-chink concept art of the 70's and 80's sci, it's no wonder movies and games these days are so bland, they lack the emotional investment of the past where they would have to actually build stuff, spend time planing a sketch, painting it.

[Anonymous No.4215110]

>>4215098
Yes. I am a gamer, and though modern games art is "standards fulfilling" its boring. Sociopath CEO breathing deadlines behind artists necks take their toll. Art is not industry, it is expression of soul.

[Anonymous No.4215112]

>>4215110
PS: to all of you that think your soul will have only tainted things to express, this can be fixed. Jesus Christ is saviour

[Anonymous No.4215133]

No overlay textures here!

[Anonymous No.4215355]

>>4215133
that also took days and many hours to make. from thumbs, to comps, to sketch, preliminary painting, finalizing sketch, final drawing transfer using rulers/french curves/compass, painting, masking for airbrush. the texture is free from the medium but no one has time to work like this anymore unless you're syd mead. watch his dvd and it's completely impractical to work this way for 99.99999% of people.

[Anonymous No.4215359]

>>4215355
The method you describe totally ruins the expression part of painting

[Anonymous No.4215360]

>>4215133
Also jet blast will torch the green gardens around the platform

[Anonymous No.4215385]

>>4215355
I don't buy it. From what I have seen artists working in gouache are about as fast as digital artists. Sure, they don't have the same flexibility with revisions etc., but when it comes to the actual painting part digital isn't necessarily faster.

[Anonymous No.4215388]

>>4215385
this, trads painters grind for speed to keep up with both the modern era and with their own deadlines

[Anonymous No.4215822]

>>4200943
Don't go to an incel for relationship advice.

At one point everyone here was "trying" to git gud, but they all turned into bitter porn artists. its the same people. I think there is just a type that can never/will ever work for a team or real client, they can only satisfy their own voice/desire because it's easy/mastrubatory.

[Anonymous No.4215832]

>>4200943
lead by example, faggot

[Anonymous No.4215865]

>>4215385
>I don't buy it. From what I have seen artists working in gouache are about as fast as digital artists.
Have you seen how Syd Mead works to create images like those pictured?

[Anonymous No.4215877]

>>4215865
Syd Mead's process is so fucking comfy

[Anonymous No.4215881]

>>4215359
this is like telling a writer that the more drafts you write, the worse the novel gets. everyone has his way to work.

[Anonymous No.4215909]

Some of you guys aren't getting it, there's a reason Sid Mead's works he did decades ago are still influential, his works inspired a ton of media, movies, video games like WipeOut, toys, while the the cheap and fast concept art methods have produced nothing memorable.

[Anonymous No.4215951]

>>4215909
There needs to be a new guard.
I wish Reykat got hired for a movie one day. Her semi-abstract work is just crazy and she doesn't stop getting better.

[Anonymous No.4215952]

>>4215951
bad digital and can't tell what's going on

[Anonymous No.4215961]

>>4215952
most of her art doesn't make sense but it's phenomenal

[Anonymous No.4218619]

>>4201737
not that anon but why would I feel motivated seeing some sophomoric plagiarist win big because apparently nobody cares about plagiarism anymore as long as you just change 1 tiny thing and regurgitate the same shit to a paypig audience that only wants a neverending supply of meaningless fanservice? I actually am motivated but things like this aren't included in my reasons I just enjoy my hobbies

[Anonymous No.4218811]

>>4200943
I visit few boards, and /ic/ might be more underage than boards like /vp/, desu.

[Anonymous No.4218884]

>>4202926
Fuck that makes me happy. If I manage to rake $1k as a freelance illustrator I'm all set.
Yay go go eastern Europe

[Anonymus No.4218891]

>>4214920
bumperino

[Anonymous No.4220257]

>>4200943
nobody wanted to use 3D and/or photobashing so it became a dead-end for a lot of people.
Combine that with shitty souless entertainment projects mass-produced in bulk. A lot of /beg/ stunted their development by not even using photo reference.

I think most now are choosing to instead chase style meme, flavor of the month, or like "muh soulful donut steel" or something.

[Anonymous No.4220313]

>>4218619
is concept art really just that? I see lots and lots of people who are very popular on artstation who have no followers on social media, and if they're "popular" they have 4-6k followers at the very best. I don't know the concept art environment but it seems like you are conflating being a social media celeb with being a working professional in the industry, maybe it's not as grim as you think.
Are there any insiders here who actually got jobs from AS?

[Anonymous No.4220431]

>>4200962
Wait, wha-
I've been saving money for it, but I had no clue about the 4 hours sleep thing. I can probably endure that rhytm for maybe a month, but a whole year sounds insane.

[Anonymous No.4220445]

>>4200962
If they really force you to draw 16 hours a day and sleep 4 hours then it's a straight up scam, and the retarded regime is just a way to pin the blame on the student if he fails. There is concrete medical data pointing that this would be an absolute shit way of getting things done.
Speaking of which I should tone down my own schedule and get more sleep because I've been drawing noticeably worse.

[Anonymous No.4220457]

>>4200962
just get the school on dvd dumbass

[Anonymous No.4220464]

>>4205796
>Consider how many artists it takes to make a single video game or movie. Then consider how many video games and movies are released each year.
More of those artists are involved in the process that comes after concept art so if you're serious about this line of reasoning you should be hitting up /3/ instead.

[Anonymous No.4220496]

>>4220457
Why not VHS? Also where?

[Anonymous No.4220620]

>>4200962
I know a few people in the indusrty making around 100k a year all 3 of them self taught , i asked them about it , they say most people they work with are also self taught. All of them said same thing , constantly study fundamentals and apply them to personal work as soon as you learn them. Never make stuff while studying with intention to post it online , you will make ugly things while studying and you dont want to avoide it by making pretty photostudies to post on social media. Study atleast 6hrs a day , stuff like perspective , anatomy , colors ,values and always apply whatever you learn that day on a personal quick piece to internalise the knowledge,they didnt need expensive School and neither do you , just self discipline

[Anonymous No.4220959]

>>4220313
I have gotten multiple jobs through Artstation

[Anonymous No.4221226]

>>4214874
>speed up your sketch workflow by 3D modelling and not fucking sketching at all!
What kind of bullshit is this?

[Anonymous No.4221422]

>>4215098
>>4214874
God this is how I feel about 99% of pro artists, even the best of the best. I see their work and I'm like yeah this is real well done. But I feel absolutely nothing, not even "that's a cool picture". I would feel more emotion and interest looking at a catalog of bathroom tiles.

[Anonymous No.4222819]

>>4201722
Because if new people are never hired eventually industry veterans will all die

[Anonymous No.4222906]

>>4222819
>long term thinking
>in 2019 capitalism
heh nice one

[Anonymous No.4222921]

>>4215112
absolutely amen

[Anonymous No.4225174]

>>4215360
>implying it's propelled by a jet engine

[Anonymous No.4226166]

>>4215951
This is shitty desu, and its not abstract. This is the problem when people with no clue about actual art see some girl who is good at digital painting

[Anonymous No.4226297]

>>4214874
Doesn't 3D modeling take basically as much time as actually drawing it would?

[Anonymous No.4226306]

>>4214874
LMAO look at the color palettes, they're all the same holy shit