Toasty

Graphic designers != room decorators. Also: 3D modelling is hardly the hardest computational stuff. You hardly need to know any math at all actually. It does the hard stuff for you. The reason people think such mathematical prowess is needed is that back in the early days people had to program their own functions for the 3d. Nowadays programmers make those functions and actual 3d art is made by artists. Of course I was taught "art" from kindergarden. But its hardly the art education I was talking about. I was talking about a more traditonal... as in old masters traditional, actually training to draw skillfully. To represent the real world to its fullest. Bombarding children with multiple mediums, choice, general fine arts concepts, and an easy way out doesn't foster skill per se. Don't believe the myth that people who can't draw can never draw. Don't believe the myth that its something your born with. Its PRACTICE like anything else. -toasty

Theres a big difference between Graphic Design terminology wise and what is done in games. Sure the words "graphic design" seem like they could apply to any art. But in the business world of art... its a different job designation that implies the design of layout. Box design, magazine design, flyer design... its a layout job. There is also a lot of logo and type design inherent to it. Its a lot of rules and visual logistics which is where the "hardest computational" work probably comes in. Art for video games is more of an Illustration/Concept Art/3d Animation side of things. This ranges along drawing the original concepts for the game, the art for the box, any drawings for loading screens or in other parts of the game for that matter, the creation of orthagonal model layouts (hard!), and creating the models in a 3d program, and even animating said models. This can all be pretty split up for big companies... or for a small company it could be one guy's job. I think most people who say they want to go into game art are thinking along the lines of the latter. I'm sure there ARE graphic designers who take part somewhere along the line... but I would say they are probably more on the marketing side of things rather than game creation. I would also guess for smaller companies... the illustrator would pick up the design side of things as design sense is still necessary for good art. Oh. And I would have to disagree with you on that last statement. Whats rare is people who make the realization that drawing is a skill like any other. One that can be trained. People who seem bad can be good with practice. Sure I think some people can be born with a higher tendency to truly look at how things are visually... but if that person didn't do anything about it then it just doesn't matter anyway. Sort of like anyone can be born with a slight disposition towards being good at math which might make them a good accountant. But unless they practice... nothing will come of it. The reason there is a perceived difference is that math is generally a cut and dry thing to teach so it IS taught at a young age. Drawing could be taught at a young age... but apparently art class has to completely encompass the entire history of art. Trying to foist concepts of "fine art" of on kids at a young age is a good way to make most of them not try at all.

.. All of Loomis' books are rather rare. You got yourself a treasure. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...ssPageName=WD1V They go for more sometimes too.. And "Figure for all it's worth" goes for even more... -toasty

Loomis and Bridgman are both acclaimed figure drawing artists from years gone by. You can learn a lot by looking at how they do things Bridgman can be found in a lot of books in libraries everywhere... Loomis on the other hand, his figure drawing manual can be found entirely online. Search for 'save loomis' and I'm sure you'll find it. -toasty

To me the "secret" of your character being a wound in the force wasn't so much a twist as a new development in the story. Kreia ultimately being the enemy would be the "twist" (despite being able to figure it out rather quickly). IE. It wasn't a "oh I didn't expect that one coming" or... "Oh they tried to fool me there but I figured it out!" Rather it was a "Oh thats a neat explanation." So I would still say that he was right in his assessment that both had twists (you=revan and kreia=evil) that were relatively simple to deduce. -toasty

No job is fun? Personally Im in art school right now. And even though school is apparently never fun... I enjoy doing my (art) assignments. I love drawing and... to be completely honest Im pretty good at it. Im very much planning on heading into the gaming industry and I think I might just be able to do it. So some advice for those who want to end up on the visual side of things. Photoshop, maya, painter, etc don't matter as much as say... learning to draw. And don't let others fool you. This is SKILL based and not entirely talent. IE: You can learn to draw if you practice your ass off. Ive seen people I wouldn't even have considered alright in highschool become good. Plus... they are still getting better. Things to help you learn to draw much quicker than you thought you could: LIFE DRAWING. Drawing from your imagination is great fun... but nothing helps more than getting a solid grasp of describing whats really there. This means still lifes (boring at first... but when you see the results its all the more worth it) and drawing people. Your town more than likely has an art community that gathers at least once a week to draw from a nude model. This may cost money... but its worth it. STUDY. Not your reading and memorization study, but the study of form, line, etc from those who have already done it. Get yourself a copy of Loomis and Bridgeman and start copying. You don't have to show anyone these... this is your personal attempt to see what they did, why they did it, and why it works. DRAW YOUR ASS OFF. Self explanatory. If your 14 now and start these things now... you could be seriously amazing by the time your in the work force. Sure its hard work... but its for what you love ain't it? Plus take yourself over to http://www.conceptart.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=59 Its a helpful critique subsection of a great forum specifically for the furtherment of concept art. There are a lot of pros from the industry who post there. Including many of the artists who were behind the art of BG2, IWD... and many many other games. If you still want to do 3d... you can learn that in college. First comes the basics. WHew it seems as if I wrote quite the reply without even realizing it -toasty

Im curious. Are you male or female? To me it seems like you are a guy trying to champion a cause for women that they don't even see as a problem. Got a little of the "gotta protect the ladies" syndrome? A little over compensation for a slight sexist view that woman can't protect themselves? Oh crap! Am I in the same boat by trying to protect the ladies from YOU? Maybe all this talk of sexism should just be dropped cause theres no real evidence of it. -toasty