Back from my 4th GDCEu / Gamescom

I was lucky enough to have been chosen as a Conference Associate for GDC Eu for the 4th time, and spent the first week of August in Cologne, staying with my brother who is studying medicine in the university rather than at a hostel.
Escaped extremely hot weather in Israel. Not that Germany was exactly cool.

It was a pleasure seeing my once-a-year game development geek friends, and to make a few new ones I'll hope to see in the future. Alex, my super confident Greek friend, couldn't make it this year, but I've applied some of the things he taught me, and walked myself right into a few press presentations.
Was expecting a good Gamescom, but got a lot of exclusive videos rather than hands on gameplay. Good year for shirts my size, a few other choice pieces of swag.
Showed my portfolio around, including a great review from some creatives working at Motiga, Handed out some business cards, and followed up in the week since.
I probably could have done more of that, as always, Not sure if my dreams of breaking into the game industry will be realized this year, but it doesn't feel like it.

I was lucky enough to find a position as an archviz artist at a studio within walking distance, practically the only one in my hometown. Wasn't lucky enough to keep the position, with gaming on my mobile device being one of the reasons I was laid off. I really need to find a job at a game studio where playing isn't just tolerated - it is encouraged.
Even though I knew it might not last, it was still frustrating to be let go, especially now that I'm sitting at home wondering what my next move ought to be.

Gonna shut my trap and give you some speed paints to look at.
I'd show the work I did at the archviz studio, but my boss thought otherwise.

Seems like a good time to update

I really should keep this blog updated, you never know. Start with the speed paints:

Decided I liked the Cloud Dancer one, so I put in a few more hours of polish. I think this was a big stride in my anatomy from imagination skills. I'm not sure how much more work I'll put into this, if any.

Inspired by a Scott Robertson video, by the lack of any concept art for too long, too many ideas that I needed to get out and the slow progress I've been having with 3Ds Max (it's kind of a pain to follow the book when I want to do my own thing, but I don't want to miss any insights,) I've done the following:

Outside of my own personal projects, I've had a job interview with a laser cutting and engraving service last Sunday, but haven't received an answer yet. I don't have much confidence I got it, but that's ok, I think I can do better.

Succubus Heads

Finally back to doing something along the lines of I would like to do, concept art. This is an exploration of succubi heads based on different horned animals. This is part of the redesign of an earlier work of mine, a military style insignia.

Here's a study I did yesterday, a photo of an F-106 Delta Dart hit by a missile which I stumbled upon while looking for reference for a quick painting. Figured I haven't studied that many explosions, even though they are useful in this line of work.

No real news on the job search. A few people said they will call, but I'm still waiting, and someone from Monkey Mind called (and woke me up) but could only offer a job in sales, so I said no thank you.

Wooga Style

I talked with a Wooga representative during GDC Europe, and I told him I would do something in their style, to increase my chances. Here it is, a demoness based on something I did when I was 17 or 18 and had on my door since.

In other news, there's no news about employment, whether it's from game studios or the few local places I contacted. Been messing around more in Photoshop, made use of my GDC Vault access, started reading a book about making games in Unity, and installed 3DS Max to add to my skills.

Crabs. New Study Collage

Same idea with the horses. Small goals make it easier to focus.

I'm in Berkeley now, been a week since I landed here. Kinda rushed to get here on Saturday, hoping to get to sketch bomb, ended up abandoning the idea after I took the long way around, since I set my GPS to avoid tolls, and struggling with the parking. Typical Itamar. Slowly building a schedule and expanding the network, still grasping to the hope I'll find a job soon.

Cingulata Knights portrait thumbnails

Working out some quick head designs for my knights, trying to figure out what would be fun to do. I did some pretty similar heads for Steel Stag, so I tried introducing more varied shapes. Do I think it worked?

I'm still unemployed, but I hope the Door64 Tech Fair I attended on Monday may have opened doors for me. I've had someone refer my resume to an airline in Dallas to do UI work, signed up with the Advisory Board Company, sent Paul McDonald of Build A Sign my resume, and handed out all my business cards (except 1 I found today,) Hell, maybe I'll even have a choice of where I want to go. :)

9 more days in Israel

My website is still a work in progress. I realized that the gallery code doesn't work in IE, and I may have to replace it with something that does (and maybe get more space for explanations in the process.) So I haven't really started the job seeking process.
I also need to design ads for sketch group, and have them approved by our dean of student affairs, something which shouldn't take long, once I get around to it.

I haven't seen/painted the remains of the fire yet. I don't think the mock interviews are going to happen. Haven't done as much digital painting as I planned to. Still haven't gone to Masho Masho, my old workplace, to have a chat with my old boss. Still didn't buy Scott a gift.

At least I have my nightly ID sketch session.

I also did this pirate cocktail party, merging two INTJf topics, Pirate and Cocktails. :)