Seeking advice for Game art education

Hi all,

This is my first time posting something in this forum, so please forgive me if I'm posting at a wrong place.

I'm originally from China, and living in Australia now. I always wanted to get into game industry and didn't have the courage to start due to many reasons. Specifically, my dream is to become a game character designer (I'm crazy about Chinese and Western fantasies, such as the Monkey King, the lord of the rings etc.).

Recently, Australian government just granted me permanent residency and as a benefit for emigrants and citizens the government provide us with education supports, yeah! So it just occurred to me that it is the right time to start pursuing my dream.

Anyway, I'm stuck on which Degree to choose, graphic design or Fine arts. Well, I know a GD degree is more related to the industry and after finishing the education I probably would have acquired some useful skills. However, as what I learnt from my research GD degrees in Australia don't include any drawing or painting subjects. This would be a major problem for me because I don't have any art background at all (Although I'm fond of drawing and painting since I was a child).

On the other hand, some friend who's working for the Riot Games suggest me start with an art degree and develop an outstanding artist mind during my study. He also mentioned learning software for game artists would be really easy if one person already is an mature artist. Therefore, my concern is whether it is like my friend said drawing and painting skill matter much more than others, or should I just start with a GD degree and learn drawing/painting skills at the same time.

Any replies would be appreciated, Thank you all

Yeah the "fine" arts will give you much better drawing and colour theory skills compared to graphic design courses here. Ideally I'd imagine you'd want a course that teaches digital painting (so you don't have to bother wasting time with outdated painting technology that I'm sure fine arts would give) and with a 3D component so you remain at the cutting edge of the highest art (video games).

Thank you for the reply, that really helps.

By fine arts degree, I simply meant courses that teach us traditional arts, such as drawing, painting, sculpture etc. But I'm not sure if digital painting is included as well and it's likely to be excluded. I'm thinking about Bachelor of fine arts(visual arts) from the Victorian college of the arts or the graphic design degree from RMIT, really hard to decide <img src="smileys/smiley36.gif" border="0" align="middle" />

I've seen great game graphics from different people who've done graphic design and fine arts so it's hard to say which would be better. I guess if you study either one very hard as well as applying what you learned to the digital medium, you can't go wrong.

TAD (theartdepartment.org), imo, would be your best bet, but I think that's out of the question for you?

From my experience studying fine art, or solid digital painting courses are more likely to end you up at a AAA company. Studying graphics/illustration will push you towards a unique style which would set you up for independent projects or freelance game work.

I can't agree more. Now I'm inclined to start with a Fine arts degree majoring in drawing and painting(may be some sculpture class as well because I heard sculpture gives you a strong sense of what 3D objects look like). In the meantime,I'll also study how to use 2D/3D packages during my spare time.

Thanks Thehen,

I definitely want to get into AAA companies if that's the case, LOL. I noticed you're designing games and may I ask what specific jobs you're doing?

kenevin I'm working full-time as a game artist/designer. I worked as project/art lead on Mush, and most recently created the game Mortar Melon. I also did art/design for the game Q.U.B.E..

I'm also working as lead design on an upcoming first-person survival horror and lead artist on a 3D strategy game. These are all indie titles, and pretty dependent on technical know-how.

I have a friend that graduated from my course who was heavily concept-art focussed. He now works at Codemasters as a concept artist after doing a long stint as a QA tester. It's fiercely competitive, but if you love concept art then that's the way to go.

Wow,that's a great game.My heart just hurts when I see the watermelon smashed into pieces.(I personally love watermelons).

And wow, "fiercely competitive" scares the crap out of me even though I already knew it takes hard work, talent, luck and a great deal of courage to survive in this field. But, hey, what is life if there's no dream.

As I mentioned above, my plan is to acquire artistic skills first by entering an art college in Melbourne and learn 2D/3D software during my spare time. Does it sound viable to you ?

kenevin it sounds possible, but it really depends on you as a person. To be top-of-the-class and have free time to boot is tough. Top tip: live with people that are work oriented. For my second year I lived with a bunch of drunks and while it's fun, it's very very unproductive.

I've made up my mind. Thank you very much!

Nice, good luck!

Yeah good luck man!