Lucas' Perpetual Art Frenzy (nsfw)

Luca72

Hello! For the last year I've really been knuckling down and trying to figure out how to make a living through art. I just got accepted into an art school I'm really excited about, which I start in September, and I make a small amount of pseudo-living doing character commissions and illustrations. Any feedback is welcome. Seriously! Even if you hate it, tell me, because I can feed on your anger!

I'll just upload a few at a time, starting with some recent stuff.

Iruka

What school? How old are you, and what kind of art job are you looking for? That'll help people give you some guidance.

Are these all pretty recent? Which one is the most current work?

Luca72

I'm 25 and I'm about to go to the Los Angeles Academy of Figurative Art in Van Nuys. My goal is to get a job doing visual development in the entertainment industry, but I think ultimately I'd be happiest doing freelance illustrations. I really love discussing stories and fictional universes with clients and fleshing out details, so I suppose my goal is to find a way to make a living doing that. I understand that it's pretty common to work for a specific studio for a few years to build skills and connections before moving to freelance work full time.

As for the pieces, all of those are from the last few months. The cabin with the wolf (a piece of fanart for The Long Dark) and the portrait above Gary Oldman are from the last several days.

Here are a few more from the last several months:

Iruka

Your eyes are kind of weird, it seems like you understand the basic principals but maybe aren't observing them very closely. The shapes and lid structure seem really inconsistent particularly the top lids. Your necks seem a little stretched too, some general anatomy study maybe in order. I would also advise against cutting off your illustrations at the knee.

This page: http://img11.deviantart.net/a90e/i/2015/131/5/3/sci_fi_character_commission_by_luca72-d8t0iqu.jpg

is actually looking pretty nice! If concept art is your goal, more things like this will help with your portfolio, turn arounds and and other things that show you understand what a concept artists job would be will help. We don't have many assignments up, but I suggest giving a few of these a shot: http://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/196640/assignment-directory#latest

I would, even before school, start thinking about the companies you'd want to work for and the jobs they have available. Start gathering examples of pre production work and digging into industry advice. It will help you focus your skills where you need to.

Luca72

Thanks for the feedback Iruka! Eyes have been giving me a ton of trouble lately. I've been trying to find a sweet spot between realistic and stylized looking eyes and I think what I have now comes across as unconfident. I tend to "fiddle" with them too much, whereas most of the artists I really admire have quite simple solutions for dealing with them.

I'll definitely try out the card art assignment.

And here's todays' post: