Billy Matjiunis

I've been teaching for a few years now, and I always tell my students that when it comes to portfolio pieces, think small in scope with an emphasis on super high quality assets and environmental storytelling.

Don't bite off more than you can chew or choose something that's going to make you lose interest. Choose something that's interesting and manageable. Something that can show your ability to keep a consistent level of quality across the entire scene.

Here are examples of the scope I'm referring to: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/gYvJG  https://www.artstation.com/artwork/x0lxY  https://www.artstation.com/artwork/xlZAY  These pieces show a high attention to detail and care in how the scene is composed. From asset creation to arrangement and presentation. It's all top notch.

You don't need to be overly complex and elaborate. Although it's great if you have a really unique or creative idea, sometimes that can throw you off from what the actual goal is, and that's to build something that's representative of your skillset and abilities.

Take this piece for example: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/DGzr0  It's just a simple knife and sheath right? But the modelling and material quality across the whole scene is spot on. Even the planks that the props are resting on look great. It's all consistently high quality.

You may not think that something as simple as that would be enough as a portfolio piece, but as someone who reviews them often a piece like that really grabs my attention. That person knows where the quality bar is, and I'm interested in talking to them about their process.

Another great thing about that knife scene is that you can easily expand that into something bigger. If you have the time or energy, you can build around those props and expand on that 'story'. It can potentially grow into something like this: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/92RDL 

As someone who's been interviewing ppl for spots on my team lately, my thought process has revolved around a few things. Does this person knows where the quality bar is? Can they deliver consistently? Can I rely on their judgement? Can they teach me something?

Unfortunately, more often than not portfolio pieces fail because there's a tendency to commit to these larger scenes where everything falls into this middle ground of quality, where some things look 'ok' but nothing really grabs your attention.

I've critiqued scenes where the person had spent an absurd amount of time on small props like chairs and tables, when things like the floors, walls etc look completely unacceptable. And those are the things that took up over 70% of the real estate on-screen based on their design.

I feel like the biggest breakthrough you'll make is realizing that all we're trying to do as artists, especially when working based off of real-world ref, is to try and make something look like that thing in the picture your referencing. If it doesn't, then why?

And be honest with the answer. Maybe it's something simple, like the surface response needs to be tuned, or maybe it's something more complex, like the proportions are off and the thing you spent forever on needs to be rebuilt and re-baked.

Changes like that are met with internal pushback, because you don't want to do it again..and for the 3rd time perhaps. But that's what it takes. It takes someone who is willing to do it as many times as possible until it comes out right.

And I'm still working on this myself. We all are. No matter how senior or experienced, we're are always working on getting better. Always practicing and sharpening our skills. Never getting stagnant. Staying within a learning mindset.

I share this story often, but there's always someone who's work I admire and look up to. And no matter what I do or how hard I chase, I always feel like their stuff comes out just a bit better than mine. It frustrates me deeply.

And although I might never surpass their work in terms of quality, that drive has made me better than I was before I began that pursuit. And that's what it's all about, really. Constant improvement. Constant learning. Constant growth.

Anyway to close this out for now, one of my main focuses with this mentorship, and my teaching in general, is to keep things scoped properly and focus on what's important. Set the quality bar high, and make sure each thing you introduce into the scene meets that level of quality.