Character Artist J Hill on Creating Your Dream Job in Film and Games

Find J Hill: artofjhill.com/
Learn Character Art: www.cgspectrum.com/career-pat...
In this week’s interview with J Hill, Lead Character Artist at Turtle Rock Studios, joins Maxine to chat about the success of his eponymous RUclips channel ‪@artofjhill‬, how he got started as a character artist, using RUclips as a creative outlet and a form of accountability, and why encouraging other people to pursue their passions is so important to him. Plus, J shares some practical wisdom about job interviews, what sets applicants apart, and what he looks for when he’s in the hiring seat. J also answers your listener questions about time management, render engines, and more!
J is a professional 3D character artist in the entertainment industry working as a Lead Character Artist at Turtle Rock Studios, known for popular games Back 4 Blood, Evolve, and Left 4 Dead. J also runs ‪@artofjhill‬ where he helps artists pursue their interests in digital art, including 3D character art, ZBrush sculpting, 3D modeling, game art, and rendering.
🔗 Episode notes: www.cgspectrum.com/podcast/cr...
00:00 Intro
01:39 J’s background and 3D Modeling
09:25 How to go ‘off the beaten path’ to make a living
12:03 How J got started on RUclips and creating personal work
17:54 Impostor syndrome and authenticity on J’s RUclips account
22:24 Creating room for and embracing failure
24:10 J’s first job in the industry
31:01 How J landed his second job as a character artist through a forum post and networking
35:32 Expanding your net and staying open minded with job applications
40:47 Working for a studio vs. making personal work
47:32 Personal projects as a way to show your passion
49:29 Advice for people getting into the industry
57:40 Doing work that speaks to you
1:03:03 Listener questions: time management, environment art, why did J choose character art?, Render Engines, ZBrush
1:13:40 Where to find J
Connect on:
📍 / cgspectrum
📍 / cgspectrum
📍 / cgspectrum.film.and.ga...
📍 / cgspectrum
J Hill:
📍 www.artstation.com/jhill
📍 / artofjhill
📍 / artofjhill
📍 artofjhill.com/

[@artofjhill]

Thanks for having me on! I really enjoyed our chat

[@eli_a]

Thanks for your amazing content 🙏

[@maxineschnepf923]

Likewise! It was a pleasure getting to know you :) Thanks for joining me

[@Cgspectrum]

Thanks for sharing your story with us J!

[@Reizeroworldnoyume]

Respect ! Inspiring

[@alsikan]

Such a great podcast!!! Jhill is the socrates of 3d artist

[@Cgspectrum]

Thank you for tuning in! :) What a statement... we have to agree 😎

[@dernischel17]

Amazing talk, guys, thank you so much! I love the prequels too xD

[@Cgspectrum]

You just like what you like 😂 Thanks for tuning in!

[@entertainmentjerk6483]

loved the interview..! thank u calling j hill here...!

[@maxineschnepf923]

My pleasure! Glad you enjoyed it :) If you have any suggestions for other people you'd like me to interview let me know! We're also taking questions for my Ask Maxine series which you can find here on RUclips or in the reels on the @cgspectrum Instagram account

[@entertainmentjerk6483]

@@maxineschnepf923 sure for suggestions.... There is one person I would really love to get to know. His name is Gaurav Kumar. He has done dinosaurs in prehistoric planets. 💖

[@Cgspectrum]

@@entertainmentjerk6483 Thanks for the suggestion! Gaurav's work is stunning! :)

[@M_k-zi3tn]

This was awesome!!

[@Cgspectrum]

Thanks @M_k-zi3tn! Glad you enjoyed the convo and hope you left with some new advice/tools to use in your own work! :)

[@Omkar3324]

Thanks for this.

[@Cgspectrum]

Hi Sonu! Thanks for watching :) Let us know if you have any requests for future episode topics or guests!

[@Omkar3324]

@@Cgspectrum allan mckay?

[@Cgspectrum]

@@Omkar3324 Great suggestion! Thanks Sonu. We'll see what we can do 😎

[@xylvnking]

This was great

[@Cgspectrum]

@xlyvnking Glad you enjoyed it! Are you a character artist as well?

[@matthewlevack1704]

@Jhill is there somewhere I can find the specs for your PC build ?