The Ironsong Tribe

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So, in November I am going to a convention in Southern California and hopefully get some connections that can help get my career started. One of the companies attending this expo is Blizzard, so I've been wanting to whip up some WoW style weapons to show them. Give me your opinions!

[Image: weapons.jpg?format=500w]
Ooooh, Anca wants the axe!
These are great, Xott!  Zlinka has her eye on that green dagger!
Thanks guys, anything glaring that I should change to make these more 'warcrafty'?
The staff-like two bladed weapon....Shantow would love to wield one of those. Can you see that they put something like that into game? Maybe some feathers on it...or some decorating feature.
Assuming these are 3D models -- what's your poly and texture budget? The axe looks like it might be a little high, but could also just be a good texture job with bump maps. Be sure you note both polys used and texture sizes. You should also create low-quality versions, to show you understand how to make great art on a tight budget. Have print outs, and pre-load some on a device to show off (including short video/gif clips with any animations or particle effects, and rotate them so all sides can be seen).

You are definitely not quite in-line with the current Blizzard style (they have a very strict style guide), but I don't have the art background to know exactly what's wrong. Lower right one just seems... all sorts of wrong. Possibly due to flat shading. For the others, I think they're possibly too "clean". This would have been great in Classic or TBC, which had much simpler aesthetic (e.g. the staff would look pretty good next to The Nexus Key), but more recent weapons have has scuffs, dings, and general signs of wear on them. You might consider doing an exact reproduction of an existing current-tier item, both to show that you can exactly mimic their style, and also to see if it helps you figure out what your current pieces are missing.

Additional opinions -- I'll assume this is a professional expo (e.g. GDC, E3, though I can't think of any coming up in the area), rather than a fan show. Make sure you have your portfolio on a website which is well set up to display your best pieces easily. Business cards are your friend -- order them ahead of time and be prepared to go through a lot of them (a few hundred is fairly common, and I know people who burn through a lot more when they're really getting out and talking to everyone they can) if you're trying to make contacts. Leave room on them for notes (a non-glossy space is ideal) -- you want them to be able to jot down things about you to remind them who you are. QR Codes (both to add your contact information to a phone, and to link to your website) are usually well received, if you're up for that sort of thing.

If it is a fan\enthusiast event, unless they have a hiring booth set up it is usually not the appropriate venue to be showing these things off - it might work but it can also backfire very badly (especially if they have a lot of people trying to talk to them, which is likely). Be careful with how you approach it (if talking to an artist, first talk about their work and have some questions in mind to ask them before you ask if they can take a look at yours to give you some feedback), and back off if they seem wary (if they seem hesitant when they answer, respect that and don't push too hard on it). Depending on the event, also note con booth staff aren't necessarily versed in any way with the game development aspects, and may not be able to even appraise your art.
Hey Tempestmoon, it is a professional event, the CTNExpo which is a professional convention in Burbank on the 19-21st of Nov. that mostly focuses on animation and visual development (concept art), I'll have a few pieces in a portfolio ready to go for a variety of the companies present. I'm set to earn my MFA in Visual Development in Dec so these little expos are key to my networking options. (By the way, if anyone knows of a need of a VisDev artist, I'll love to talk with you!)

These are, in fact, 2D renderings. I do know what you mean with the scuff marks and abuse that most weapons seem to have these days, but knowing that Legion will be a swing to an Alliance driven storyline (booooo) I tried to design these a little cleaner with an alliance aesthetic to them (still working on the hammer, but trying to make it scream gnome-tech). I'll work on some of your suggestions. Thank you for all your comments!
So would something like this be what you're looking for (plus or minus the required years of experience): http://privateerpress.com/company/career...ept-artist
(11-05-2015, 03:01 PM)Tempestmoon Wrote: [ -> ]So would something like this be what you're looking for (plus or minus the required years of experience): http://privateerpress.com/company/career...ept-artist

Yes, exactly like that! In fact, resume is sent! Thanks Tempestmoon!
No problem. I'll keep an eye out for other Concept Artist listings, though I don't see them very often. Good luck with the job hunt. If you have your eye on any more video game companies beyond Blizzard, I might be able to help (or at least give you some idea of their culture).
Hey Tempestmoon, I just sent you off a PM
I love the dagger! And I love the fact that it looks like a dagger. Great work.