T.J. Geisen
T.J. Geisen
Story Development Artist @ Riot Games. Becoming versed in the NFT space. Keep exploring, keep growing.
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@xenon
Hi, I’m a student , who’s trying to eventually work as a character concept artist/illustrator one day, I would really appreciate any feedback about my work. The works are some of the original character concepts I have done. Majority of these are more or less the final concept I arrived at, I would have put some of the sketches I did for them but there’s only so much space. Thanks for your time.
T.J. Geisen
Hi xenon! Thanks for sharing your unique ideas with us. You have some interesting designs and effectively set them in an intriguing tone/atmosphere. Now, where I'd like to see you push your current skill set is anatomy. You can convincingly render parts of the anatomy to be recognizable and dimensional, however, I'm observing some issues with your characters' bodies that fall outside of stylization or intentional malformation. Overall, the different parts of the body don't all work together or feel proportionally cohesive in relation to each other. Though it may not be as fun as expressing cool new idea, I suggestion you take some time to practice plenty of gestures, figure drawing, and analyze the basic human anatomy, part by part to gain an understanding of how all of the bones, muscles, joints, etc. work in unison underneath the skin. If you can level up in this regard it will take the quality of your work and your ability to explore unusual character designs in a successful manner to amazing heights. Good luck!
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Jenner Chen
Hi! My name is Jenner, 23, a freelance illustrator based in NY. I am currently working on a card game, and my objective is to be a video game illustrator. (Sorry if it double posted) My portfolio is geared towards splash illustration. I have recently been branching out to different parts of illustration (environment, prop, key), and am enjoying the diversity and storytelling. I would love to hear some advice on that, and how to keep the portfolio current but also consistent and coherent. Thank you for taking time out to do this! Would love any type of feedback - general thoughts, things to work on, etc.
T.J. Geisen
Hi Jenner! I see you've taken to heart some of the elements that make for a genuine splash art (such as dynamism, color harmonies, vibrant & unique character designs). The kind of work you've shared here feels right at home in a video game setting. I think the next boost of quality in your work will come from digging back into the illustration fundamentals. Your work is very close to reaching that supreme splash art level, but what is holding it back is your execution of illustration building-blocks like perspective, values, and anatomy. While it's not glamourous, this is something that must be addressed. I've had to learn myself that you can render and color something like crazy, but if the placement of the eyes on a character are misaligned or your background feels like it's at a different angle from the character in the scene, the illustration falls apart. I can go on with plenty more examples like this, however, hopefully the feedback I've given can at least point you in the right direction for your next level up in your journey.
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Sonia Carrasco de Pablo
Hi! My name is Sonia (Whispering Dreams in social network). Nowadays I am working as a Graphic Designer, but I feel that it does not fit me. 10 Years ago I wanted to work as a character design. Some time after, I created a full comic project and get some interest from relevant french editorials but I never got a real offer. Currently I don't really know what to do with my skills or what I need to improve... I would love to work as an artist, but I don't know where to focus or how to do it. Thank you for the portfolio review!
T.J. Geisen
Hi Sonia! With a bit of direction, I believe your work can blow up! The breadth of aesthetics I see you attempting in your different character designs is comparable to that I see in our League of Legends champion skin designers. Given the foundation you've built for your art so far I could see you going into the animation/game industry as a character designer or illustration. I think we'd need to enrich your designs with just a few more details of uniqueness, but you've already nailed the personability with your characters and hints of storytelling. If this is a path you'd like to pursue, I would advise that you put more work into further developing your characters in regards to their narrative function and/or personality. A solid example of this kind of work I'm referring to is one of my esteemed co-workers, Simon Dubuc: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/DQD69. Alternatively, I could see you gaining momentum as an independent social media art star if you dig deeper and really blow people's minds with original concepts or level of illustration polish. Similar to Knight Zhang: https://www.instagram.com/arucelli/ Either way, just continue to boldly keep creating the kind of work you enjoy or feel compelled to do and I guarantee your future is bright.
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Dahianna Sagastume
Hello! My name is Dahianna Sagastume, a Graphic Design Student at San Carlos University at Guatemala, and being a character designer it's my passion, I'm fully committed to this path, I love telling stories and I hope one day work for an animation studio as a character designer. Thank you for this amazing opportunity to share my work and get feedback to keep working hard and improving my designs.
T.J. Geisen
Hi Dahianna! I see the budding of great potential in the work you've shared with us here. You're making effort to explore different character types which is good. Also, while it's a liiitle bit vague, I see you making an effort to put hits of storytelling into your designs/illustrations which is often overlooked by aspiring artists. Kudos! My feedback is somewhat general stuff that you may have already been told, but is nonetheless essential to your growth as an artist and professional: Keep pushing to better understand anatomy, rendering, color theory, perspective, and the other fundamentals of illustration. Even though you're working in a heavily stylized style, I can still see a few holes in your execution of characters' faces and the objects/scenes they are interacting with. Also, do more of a deepdive on what is unique/special/interesting about your characters. At the moment they appear relatively generic. For instance, the gorilla you've designed: Your design communicates that they are a gorilla which we can imagine in a Disney-like animated feature, however what do the character's silhouette, body language, proportioning, and expressions specify is unique about this gorilla in contrast to the rest of their family, or on a broader scale, the stylizing of gorillas in different animations (such as Disney's Tarzan, Zootopia, Madagascar, etc.)? I'm not really providing you the answers here, but hopefully giving you a direction to think deeper on and help you further define your path as an artist. Thanks for sharing!
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@artsbykaitz
Aspiring digital art artist. Self-taught and fascinated by portraits. Artwork is similar to comic art style and I want to keep doing it that way. I would really want some constructive criticism because since I started posting these on social media, all I have received are compliments. But I know there are still room for improvements, I just don't know what. Thank you in advance and more power to Proko.
T.J. Geisen
Hi! It's good that you've figured out the direction you'd like to take with your art style! Now let's work to continue evolving and refining on it. In general you've established the character forms quite well and each artwork looks distinct from the next. The areas where I think your work could use a boost are your Hatching Technique and Use of Color. Hatching Technique: - Stroke variation - The sizing and spacing of your hatching strokes is quite erratic. Around some of the focal features (such as the eyes and nose) you use tight, light strokes that are somewhat successful at conveying those forms, however, when it comes to larger planes of the characters (such as the jaw, forehead, neck) you use large, spaced out hatching. Having inconsistent, chaotic strokes like this feels lazy and distracts the viewers from seeing the intended face planes before them. - Stroke directionality - In some sections of your characters' portraits I'm observing a lack of directionality. This is to say that when rendering out a form (such as the human face) with this kind of comic cross-hatching style, the strokes should curve and flow with the 3D form you're trying to convey. When there is a lack of flow in your hatching it actually works against your art piece, causing the forms to flatten out. Use of Color: - The use of color feels somewhat dry and disconnected from the inked parts of your illustrations. I think this comes from an unclear hierarchy in the colors you've used and use of definitive specular lighting. I'll attach some examples by the artist, David Finch, that expertly convey the points in my feedback which you can hopefully use as guidance to keep leveling up your work. Good start! You have some great potential!
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Mia Parks
Hi, I'm Mia Parks from Istanbul, Turkey. I've worked as a 3d character animator for over 13 years but now I wanna be a character designer. I've been drawing for last 3 years seriously. First 1,5 years painted traditional/watercolor and this 1,5 years I focused on only digital painting and still learning painting/shading (esp. shading in digital is so hard). I still don't have courage to proceed to the step next step. I'm 43, I know it's never late and I have discipline but I'm kinda getting lost sometimes. If you can give me some advice, I'll really appreciated.  Thank you for the opportunity!
T.J. Geisen
Hi Mia! I commend you for keeping your artistic flame alive and pursuing a new challenge even as daunting as it can be. Most of us get lost sometimes. Hopefully with some input from artists here, you can find your path again or carve out a new one. Now, for the feedback part: - If you wish to take on character design in film or video games, continuing to focus on digital painting will benefit your workflow greatly. - I see quite a disconnect from what you say you wish to do (character design) and what is evident in the portfolio of work you've presented to us here. Your images are pretty illustrations of faces/busts, however, there is no presence of original character design. For film/games we need to see the full body of a character in most cases, along with explorations of facial/body expressions. In the case of films (and sometimes films) you should also show explorations for what a character's abilities look like/function in action and what the character appears like from the 'camera's native positioning (aka how the player of the game will see the character for most of their gameplay). - It seems your work thus far puts a focus on growing your ability to render/paint. Super rendering/painting ability certainly helps the process of character design, but is not totally necessarily. It's more about the concept, purpose, and/or visual appeal of a character that needs to come through. - Here are some examples of very successful character design work based on the criteria I've listed in my feedback: Simon Dubuc (video game) - https://www.artstation.com/artwork/DQD69. Art of Zootopia (film) - https://characterdesignreferences.com/art-of-animation-7/art-of-zootopia-part-1. Keep it going! You're well on your way!
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T.J. Geisen
He'll make an exception... Love is love, baby
T.J. Geisen
@Kristian Nee You mean I can get a mentorship with Sinix aaaand a date with Kristian Nee? I'm onboard.
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