Design Cinema - EP 87 - Online Portfolio Tips
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- Опубликовано: 7 фев 2025
- Online Portfolio Tips
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Learn more in 2 hours than 2 years, wonderful work Feng
+Dyv Should be a mandatory video to watch at all art schools.
two videos in one day? hell yes.
you sure put a lot of effort into this, so thanks for that and for the great info.
this video must be made around 4-6am. The same kind of bird chirps under my block everyday near 4am. Thankyou for the great effort!!!
Best episode ever! Two hours of pure gold information for those who wish to get in the industry.
I got a job after watching this video. Not exactly after, it took 2 months during which i worked hard to improve my skills and fill up my portfolio. I removed old pictures and practice and study pictures from my portfolio (Even though i really liked them all) and drew a few new ones. Before i removed these pictures i rarely got a response after i sent my resume. Thanks Feng!
Any updates?
This video alone taught me more than the two years I spent in my animation course. I honestly feel like I should have paid for something of this quality. I plan on revisiting this video in particular many times over.
This video is simply organized perfection.
Thank you
@FZDSCHOOL
I listened to the podcast about being a concept artist. I don't know where else I can respond so I'll leave it here.
Thank you for talking about it. I have been wonder in the outer rim of the industry for a few years now, the podcast really helped me to sort out many hesitation i had with been a concept artist.
This video saved a lot of time and energy while I was building my porftolio. Thank you
The absolute best design classes you give are where you paint. You sit down and start to finish show us a painting.
I really miss those. I could watch you paint literally for hours.
Feng, the Podcast compliment to Design Cinema is great! I was able to listen through on my way to work, and then go back to the visuals later. This could woThank you for making this stuff so accessible. The tips you've put out over the last couple years have greatly influenced my approach to my artwork. All the best!
I love how honest and frank Feng is. Always gotta leave my ego at the door before i click on one of his videos.
im not sure i can thank you enough for all the work you put for free to teach us how to become prefessionals...thanks for all the videos feng really love all of them
I was so happy when you said the girl that dreamed about working on Pixar really did it, I almost cried
you know i was painting along while you were talking then you showed you example portfolio. my god. i got a lot of work to do xD
FZD Q&A Question: A.) I know you've done a video on MMORPG Landscapes but would you ever do a video on concept design for stylized games such as anime/manga/cartoon/niche such as 'Stella Glow', 'Street Fighter', cartoon network games, or 'Little Big Planet'?
B.) You've also done top-down design in you 'Product Pitch' video but will you do other videos on designing for different game types such as pixel games, side scrollers/2-D, puzzle games, etc.?
C.) If you don't plan on doing videos like these, why not?
Thanks Feng your work has totally changed the way I view art education/self-education and is always very inspiring and informative!
I love the podcast, I can paint and listen at the same time without getting distracted.
Thanks for the videos, design cinema has great content and great host. But I miss the old intro to the vids. I appreciate the work that goes into the changes but the old intro sound felt so much appropriate than this new quirky sounding one.
Thank you so much, Feng Zhu :D
Feng youre the best, im taking a self taught approach so this really answered a lot of my questions
How’s it going now Kevin?
This is good stuff!
Cant believe people dislike this...
Thank you FZ!
Thank you for this insightful and informative talk on Online Portfolio for concept designers.
Great insight to studios recruitment process and what they are looking for. Basically don't see yourself getting hired to a big studios right off the bat unless u are the next Sparth.
Thanks Feng, learned a lot! :)
Blunt and true. Thank you so much
Excellent video. Very good information.
Thanks you for all your help!
Priceless information.
Awesome.
Im still in the middle of second year college(1 and a half or 2 1/2(Masters) years to go..), so now i know what to work towards, and what to do... Spend an extra 6 hours on top of everything else I do outside of college... if i want the slightest chance at entering this industry xD
Hey Feng, get that cold checked out man. 2 months is waaaay too long to be sick! And we need you around!
A bad portfolio can also have a bad affect on the school they went to. I saw a bad portfolio from someone who went to a certain school and decided not to go there...actually it was more than one.
Thank you very much, very valuable still!
Awesome for listening to while drawing, thanks a lot for the video and i hope youll make more of this kind soon
Loved it. Very insightful.
Great video. A ton of useful info to take away from this. Thank you very much for putting it together Feng :)
This is sooo great! Thank you Feng, that's exactly what I was looking for recently :) I think that the podcast is a great idea! Maybe your cough is caused by speaking too much (it's an often thing with teachers). Get well soon!
Great as always! Thank you!
Thank you again Feng!
Thank you Feng, this is awesome!
My goal in life is to work at a studio one day! So I'm going to keep working hard so that I can improve and get as good as I need to get!
Any updates?
Great. Thanks Feng!
Thank you Feng, this is a great video and just what I have been looking for! I have been watching your videos from the beginning, you have helped me improve so much! I love the podcast idea but would also still love to see you design cinema videos! Also will you be publishing a foundation 3 or even a how to design book in the future?
This guy just gets me!
Very helpful. Thanks Feng.
I have a question : how do you protect your online portfolio from plagiarism? I noticed some foreign sites hosted some artwork I posted online, wiping my signature and information from the image. On one hand, I kind of like the exposure, but that makes me hesitate to host original artwork and my own ideas, in case someone takes credit for my work or even profits from it. How should I approach creating a portfolio with theft in mind?
Another great video, and I'm really glad to see more frequent updates considering Feng's busy schedule. I'd like to see another Q&A video one of these days
Theft will happen anywhere you go. If you're good then studios will have no problem with you. Foreign companies that do shady shit like that are not your concern and shouldnt stop you.
master thank you very much
Thanks so much for your advice, I hope you get well very soon :) .oo.
so helpful, thank you so much
Very thought out and professional portfolio. What if it's a student portfolio where you don't have so much work to choose from and there's more less peaces that go together?
This video is gold!
From a general design professional perspective, I don't 100% agree with a lot of the comments regarding filtering out stuff that might not be "best work." In the world of design, everything revolves around process, iteration, and ideation. If your early sketches and process work describes the story of your idea, it should be present. However, it is your responsibility as a respectable artist to take agency and paint that process work in its best light; meaning refinement and composition.
Thanks very much for taking the time for all these tips. Undoubtedly super valuable advice.
My question is: how do you know when you're basics (drawing and painting) are up to par before trying to improve in other areas?
Thanks a lot for the advice again!
+Claudiucho There is no "par" as you should never stop learning. I'd also say that painting and drawing are not basics, but rather each has basics to itself. Meaning, you may know how to draw, but can you draw in perspective? Can you draw from life?
Also, what do you mean by other areas?
+Corben Marroquin Thanks you Corben for your reply. I completely agree that there's always something new to learn and/or to develop and improve but the question comes from a comment from Feng made, where he says that they would look at a painting and they would notice if the "basics" like drawing and painting are not good enough even if the composition is fine.
This sparked my question, when would be my drawing and painting be "good enough"?. Otherwise, I could spend a lifetime learning just to draw before I could try to improve my painting.
Claudiucho ah I see. I would suggest you take some time and research concept artists and fine artists alike. Note what makes their work so great and study how they do it. There are many fundamentals to good drawing that this artist has most likely mastered underneath the painting. Then they employ their mastery of painting and mark making to give their drawing life. I like to think of Feng's comment, not as an artist is "good enough," but that an artist "isn't an amateur." A painting can be beautifully rendered and awesomely painted, but if the anatomy(one of the "basics") of the subject is even SLIGHTLY incorrect, then the piece will look amateur. This is what Feng means; He can look at an artist's portfolio and very quickly understand whether they are an amateur or a professional. Ian McQue is one of the artists Feng mentions a lot. Take a look at his line drawings and paintings. There is a certain quality to them that you can tell Ian is a very skilled and experienced artist.
+Corben Marroquin Thanks again for that Corben. The advice is much appreciated. I'll be sure to look into Ian McQue's art.
Thanks a lot!
amazing video!! thanks!!
thanks a lot Feng!!!!!!!
Thank you very much, you saved my life :)
Yay
Thanks for the insights! As someone who is learning and building a portfolio, how would you balance originality, trends and studio needs? If 80% of content being produced for the market has certain themes, moods and looks would it be risky to stray too far from these?
Awesome!
Hey Feng. With regards to having fresh designs, but not too outlandish to be unmarketable - what would be a client's reaction to an 'Assets' page where you show off video game/film worthy work, and a personal page where the illustrations are a bit more vague and abstract? Does that tell the client that you're capable of producing ideas needed, but can go a lot further if unrestrained?
Thanks
Got a link to the second artist you mentioned? I couldn't catch how to spell his name.
Thanks so much!!!
Those trees in the photo realistic portfolio pieces look incredibly detailed, were they painted or was an image dropped in and then blended in?
Thank you, awesome! :D
Sorry you are still not well, look out for maybe an uncommon allergy
( I have running nose, dry throat and coughs from specific clothes detergents, totally fine otherwise)
Get well!
Thanks for the great info Feng, can you elaborate on the "Design Language" ?
Or can someone point me to a past episode that talks about this?
I think this is a big problem of mine, but not sure I understand how to improve and show my design language. thank you!!!
+Joshua Gilley actually it is addressed at 49:28 thanks!!
Hey Feng, Thank you for usefull portfolio tips! But you mention it that portfolio in the phisical form on the paper is very handy etc. I wanna do it myself but as you mention that portfolio can still change over time. And heare is my question, do you meet pepole with portfolio albums with changeable photos that you can slide into the pages? Is that Industry - friendly ?? Please respond
it kind of applies to 3d students too....
Thanks for the awesome tips mister Zhu. I do have one question though. I'm trying to learn concept art through self-study, so I don't really have any 'projects'. Do you have a tip on how I still can add some 'projects' to my portfolio, without really having worked for clients/having projects in school?
Hi, Feng Zhu, nice video, it helped a lot. Could you please help me with this question..? If I started drawing when just a couple of years ago, is it a good idea to let the client know that fact (because It shows I can learn quickly and I improve fast) or it is better to hide it and present yourself like anybody else that may have been drawing for his/her entire life? Thank you!
+Pablo M I'm not a professional or anything, so this is just my opinion: I would say if you are in an interview for a studio/company then letting them know would be a benefit, but if it is a freelance type of client I personally wouldn't mention it. Good luck
I'd only tell them if they ask. Try not to come off as too full of yourself or too desperate.
+Pablo M Someone looking at your portfolio and looking to hire someone will only care about what your portfolio looks like and if your personality fits with the work environment, but MAINLY portfolio. It doesn't matter where you went to art/design school or if you've never been, if you've drawn your whole life or if you started yesterday. There is no reason to mention how long you've been drawing. If you go to Feng's artist website, there is NOTHING on it but art. Just pages and pages of art. It's all that matters.
1:10:00 ayy when you know 4 languages and learn 2 more :3 happy to hear that
Hallo, grat video as usual! I have a question about portfolio. I worked for a couple of year as colourist for comic industry and now I want to try to get into the job I'm really interested in, concept artist. The question is: Should I put my work as colourist into my portfolio, maybe in a different page, or should I cut it off cause it's not pertinent by concept art industry?
Thank you for your time.
+Luca Bancone I think that if your work had to do with any of those bulletpoints that a designer must follow, then you can put it up. If it is just Illustration, and no thinking/design on your part, then probably not.
Feng, I am wondering, you said "30-40 images" and that's for a concept artist, but could you please give me an estimate on the amount of models a modeler should have? A very rough number would do. I just really don't have any idea how much time complex models should take, and how many are expected in a portfolio.
yaaaa a new vid..
I've been following your tutorials for a while. GREAT WORK! I have a silly simple question - how do you draw slanted straight lines for machines in photoshop? Are you using any keyboard shortcuts or you just do free hand drawing? Thanks!
Generally what's a good canvas size to have for concept designs?
How can I download this .psd file with all the steps? Thank you for the video, really useful.
So is it safe to show sketch or, you know, stuff you draw purely with pen/pencil on your sketch book. Does that count as 'learning process' ?
Or the works better be the finished one where the drawing is clean, or fully painted ?
so, if i dont live in a visa friendly country and my country (brazil) dont have an entertainment industry would be better to quit concept art?
Wow THE KNOWLEDGE!!!!!!1
Greate episode, thank you for doing it! But i still have a question: what type of portfolio i may have to get my first job?
There are some game studios in my city, but all of them are hiring a persons how can do a concept work and an artist work and a 3D modeling and texturing also.. So everyone wants to hire a so-so "Jack of all trades" instead of 2-3 professionals.
Thanks so much for this! This vid had some extremely useful information! Especially the color-grading tips ^_^
On that subject, do you happen to have a site builder that you recommend?
Awesome tips there, reminded me to get back on track with my learning.
Having taken on a couple of small revshare game projects, and shipped a mobile game made with internet people. I wonder if this is something I can put on a CV? I would assume it is as its relevant experience, but I'm wondering if would be any bonus on an average portfolio. I did do concept art for those projects as well as graphic design, illustration and minor 3D work.
So basically, is tiny ragtag indiedev work worth putting on a CV, aside from it being a project. And does it count towards "industry experience"?
Hey Feng, thank you so much for the video, I know you said not to include a resume if you don't have a lot of experience, but every concept art job asks for a resume, what should you have in that when you send it out?
Is this the same for applying art schools?
Hi Feng thanks for this good information but what to do if some people were born in Russia is it so unfriendly or there's no any chance for them can someone answear me please
Looking for art jobs....
- insert job name here -
- insert awesome job description here -
Requirements
- EVERYTHING an aspiring artist wannabe needs to know and do about art
- must remember everything said in this video
Pluses
- 5+ years of experience in a shitload of art packages (2D and 3D)
- hundreds+ years of previous experience in several art-related field
/sarcasm
I'm sorry to say Feng but I think design cinema has fallen off in the past few months, these newer type videos are still very informative and thank you but I miss watching demos and hearing you explain your thought processes and giving tips on actual painting, i learned SO much from them, hope to be seeing more demo's in the future.
***** yeah but it would be nice to see some new demos
+Skepta 'Fallen off'... This is invaluable information right here and it's fuckin' FREE... i swear the sense of entitlement in this generation knows no bounds.
Cthulhu Read my comment, I said it was still very informative but the point of the comment was that I miss seeing feng paint and narrate his process. It would be nice to see that again. So don't talk to me about sense of entitlement buddy.
+Skepta Just be carful with the way you word things, "Fallen off" is easily taken as the quality has gotten worse.
I am stuck on how to organize my portfolio. I have a mix of environment concepts (2d with some 3d), pixel art (for a startup I work at) and traditional art. My contract is over in two months and I want start shopping around for some companies. But I am worried now that my portfolio is too schizophrenic.
(anyone can answer this question lol) i remember in one of these videos (maybe this 1) that Feng Zhu mentioned some portfolios had around 10 pieces or that 10 pieces of a low amount to have, when he said that, does he mean 10 pages or 10 seperate drawings (meaning if i had 3 drawings on 1 page, is that 3 pieces or still 1)?
This was a really long time ago but I’m pretty sure a “piece” is like one canvas
Hello Feng, I have a few questions regarding the "no fan art" rule on online portfolios.
What if you're tailoring your portfolio to a specific company, say, FromSoftware, and you're purposely emulating the style of their IPs to heighten the chances of being noticed by them? What if your designs are original, but are inspired by a previous IP of theirs and you have a bunch of concepts for something like a rumored sequel, similar to what you've shown in your Fallout 4 Let's Draw episode (which came out two years before the actual game itself)? I feel like the line between "original designs" and mere "fan art" is blurred by something like that. Would it be counter-intuitive to take out those works? This issue has just been bugging me for a while and I'd really like to know your take on the matter.
then draw something with their design language.
fromsoftware is obviously a dark medieval design language
fallout is obviously a apocalyptic 1950ish future design language.
to answer your question draw your design 100% original(grounded in reality) but speaks the same design language, example if you like from software
fanart is drawing the "exact same existing" design like drawing the power armor in fallout,drawing the elite knight armor from darksouls
Hey ! I have an important question! where did u go study art? and do u know any place where u can get a bachlor of it? like it does not have to be in the US, but like England or maybe EU?
I have been inspired by u a lot and i want a legit degree in digital art, I hope u can help me with this! :)
Who is the artist mentioned who does ships? Can't hear it right.
+nemac23 Nvm, it's Ian Mcque.
+nemac23 Wasn't it Iain Mccaig?
+NiksterTrikster - Ian Mcque is the Ship guy, Iain Mccaig is the character one :)
ian mcque ;)
Do you have a video on how to look for work?
Rex Art Yes and he also has a video to get a job in any studio right now! After watching it : you land the job!
35:00 color grading
thanks! awesome advice. so far I don't see much of a point to the podcast though, just sayin' ;)
if I'm still learning the fundamentals at the age of 22 is it too late to be in the industry?
+AZNAZN Most of his students enroll at 24-25. His school teaches primarily fundamentals and expanding from them, so if you are 22 and seriously practicing the fundamentals you are on the right path. Fundamentals are key and they will take a lot of time.
+Dorian Basner awesome thanks!
lol, my portfolio is getting trimmed down by the word...
1:26:19
Hm, now I need some friends. Haha.
A few hundred concept art jobs IN THE WHOLE WORLD?!
I don't get it. In my country yo don't get enough support as a student. You get some funding for three years and then you have to start paying back the loan. Not that there are digital Illustration and design specific schools available.
And all these skills, from characters to vehicles to lay outs. Of the myriad of skills demanded, as well as being expected to do it quick, high quality and with good ideas.
What person can self study all that while coping a full time job and trying to look after them selves. I couldn't imagine I could achieve these skills to that extent even if I had won lottery and was free to study for seven years.
While art can be learned just like any other skill, such artists as Feng Zhu make me fear that I and others lack something inert. I know that to say that a skilled artist has achieved their skill through natural talent is to dismiss the years of study they have devoted.
But I can't help a feeling of hopelessness and self doubt craw up my back as I dwindle these couple of hours a night I have struggling to achieve any progress.
+Ryland Malcolm You kinda need to understand that this industry is so small, that even were you in US, your chances wouldn't be that high. This work is not McDonalds, where you just come in, and they hire you. You have to be top tier, and many never reach the requirement. If you really are not able to keep up with the amount of work required to become good, then maybe you aren't meant to enter the industry. But you know, when somebody really dreams about something, they can go through many obstacles to obtain what they want. Other than that i understand your feeling, as if we lack something, but don't forget that we have been at this for 2-3 years, while he has been for many more, there is time. Every time i think on how i am not as good as any of these students, i remember that i am like 5 years behind them, there is SO MUCH time to learn.
As far as us and Canada, i know that they dont hire Junior positions out side their country, they want experienced artists, if anyone knows otherwise they can enlighten me