I Specialize in Female Character Design

#1 nice work!!!!

#2 Link takes you to the profile of who ever clicks on it. Ursula's profile for your viewing pleasure.

Alc

#3 Thanks, Alc! Appreciate the thoughtfullness! :)

#4 Hi Ursula,

Please, could you possibly keep us updated on how successful you are here, I find myself in a similar situation ( minus the online portfolio, nice work BTW :) ) and I'd be interested to see how you get on..

#5 To John Burke:

I will try to keep people informed here of what happens. I have already received quick responses from a couple of companies since I have signed on here. I hope all goes well with you also.

#6 Thanks Ursula and well done, that sounds encouraging..

#7 Full-time/part-time work concept art?

Good luck with that, you have the talents but I don't know if GarageGames will have people willing to pay much for sketches. I know many want 2d artwork (to be used in game) and even more will pay some (probably not full-time) for models.

Sure, the industry might do that but this isn't really the industry. It's a collection of people doing this in their spare time for no pay up front (minus a small handful of people who aren't paid, but doing it full-time)

I'd like to hear how this turns out, since I'd like to hear how willing people are to pay up-front for contract employees or work in general.

#8 I know what you mean Matt, finding payed work for concept art in a garagegames project may not be so easy. Still, maybe some established companies are snooping around in here and looking for some nice work. I think people forget how necessary a good concept artist is to a project. We all have visions of the coolest characters, space craft, battle tanks etc in our heads, but putting it on paper is another matter entirely. Ingame artists are essential of course, but unless you have somebody who can visualise and innovate in the visual design nobody with 3D modelling skills only is going to provide that for you. And then you have to settle for the generic space marine/Orc warrior etc, which is sad....

#9 It is definitely my hope that there are larger, already established gaming companies snooping around. I understand the development stages of a company are hard, and I am actually involved with Badlands Games currently creating 2d conceptual artwork for their new project "Grav". Unfortunately, I cannot accept more than one project at a time, if there is no promise of pay involved. I guess, I should of asked if anyone out there knows of established game companies searching for concept artists, or if someone could point me in the direction of a similar site to garagegames.com which might have more of what I'm searching for. Heh - of course, we all would probably be at that site instead of here, getting weekly paychecks :) Anyhow, your comments are all appreciated and I will keep you posted if I find anything.

#10 Volition is looking for an Art Director (www.voltion-inc.com). Also here's a couple places you can search for jobs in the games industry:
http://www.gamasutra.com/jobsearch/
http://gametutorials.tech-engine.com/
http://www.gamedev.net/directory/careers/ (This last one seems to be down, but it will probably be back up soon.)

[edit: added volitions address]

#11 Just keep your eyes peeled if you're looking for a real job.

You can't expect people to find you, you need to find them. There are a handful of good sites that list game-related jobs (gamasutra is probably the most visible, but not the most listings), and depending on where you live you should find a few in your area.

I don't know what position you'd be looking for, since I haven't seen any job openings for sketches but mainly for 3d modeling and level design.

If you really want the job, you should take the first step and get to networking for an interview in some semi-local game development company. Just look around, pretty much wherever you live there will be at least one nearby hiding somewhere in a business park or office building.

Oh, and ask people like Sean Sharp. I'm sure he would have a lot to tell you on how to get started. He's been around the block in the games and print industry doing things similar to what you want to do. He's the person doing much of the concept work for Realm Wars.

As long as you apply yourself, being an attractive female in the games industry can get you places. Look at Stevie Case, no skills at all but she has worked on some big projects. You have actual talent, so you
could do even better than her. I wouldn't be surprised if some companies would hire women just to break up the monotony of having so many guys around. I know I'd get tired of having an office that's only men.

#12 Hmmmmm. I think the sex of the artist is irrelevant, or at least I hope it is. I certainly wouldn't want to work for a company that hires on a sex basis to 'break up the monotony'.
Anyway, games companies, like every other form of visual entertainment, require concept artists, its just perhaps not so visable as alot of the time concept work is freelance. You should become active in some of the concept artist groups and forums; some great advice from the recognised pros, some publicity and a sometimes daunting view of what your up against is readily avaialble ;) Try these addresses if you havent already:

http://conceptart.cgcommunity.com/
http://pub51.ezboard.com/bconceptualdesign

#13 I'd never heard of Stevie Case before so I did a search. From an interview with herself, I thought it was interesting as its basically her response to what has been said here:

SC-Both. Any time some guys see a woman in a man's industry, they ask "Why does she deserve that job?" We don't ask this about guys, because they are all guys! We just assume that a guy got his job because he applied and met the qualifications. Women, however, are thought of differently. Most peoples' answers about why a woman got her job bring into play a woman's appearance, attitude, friendships, relationships, personality. So as all women do, I suffer from many of these assumptions made by people who don't know better. That said, being a woman is also a bit of a novelty, and has helped to get my name out there and has lead to my introduction to many interesting folks.

When you say she has no talent Matt, what do you mean? ?Does she have a creative roll? Does she work in PR? Can you show me some examples of her work?. Not quizzing you here, Im just interested.

#14 She went from John Romero's girlfriend to level designer for Diakatana to doing 2d artwork and then finally sound and music work for the game. Not quite the most logical progression, don't you think?

Then of course, she went on a crash diet for her photoshoot in Playboy which she got really sick from a Liver infection (or was it kidney?) and now she's working with Romero with his Handheld PDA game company.

The only thing she's done is Diakatana, and from the few horror stories I've heard about it's development and hiring of inexperienced or somewhat incomeptient development staff I wouldn't be surprised if she wasn't the only person who was hired just because she was a friend of the person hiring. In fact, I remember a Salon.com story about one kid who basically worshipped Romero and occasionally made levels (none of which you can find online) and they met up for lunch and hung out and then he got the job.

As for hiring of females, haven't you seen those many tech scholarships just for girls? They're there to try to diversify the tech industry by placing an emphasis on the gender instead of the ability. You can't think that industries wouldn't be willing to take the same step and hire skilled females over someone slightly more skilled on the basis of their gender.

Stevie Case's defense is null and void when you realize she's not just an employee, but the lover of the company president. Of course, she won't say that in her interview.

My complaints about her isn't that she's a female or that's she's attractive, but that she's used it as a tool to get places all the while claiming that isn't the case. Of course, she's a "Game God" according to PC Gamer. Damn, if making a few levels for a horrid game makes you a Game God... what does that make the staff of GarageGames? Is there something higher than God?

My whole understanding of the world has just been flipped upside down... give me a minute, I have to catch my breath.

#15 Does sound suspect I agree :)And yes, I do find those female only scholarships offensive and hypocritical...

#16 Hi Ursula. Great work on the Grav project. I'll be following that game very closely, and I wish you every success. :o)

#17 Hmm. Well, I'm very much in love with my husband and I never intended to sell my body so that I could enter into the gaming industry. I'd rather my portfolio be the defining talent which will allow me to make a living and hopefully fund a future for myself. I place a picture of myself on my porfolio site simply so people can place a face with the art, not so I can rely on the fact that I happen to be a woman. I doubt I would accept any offers based on my sex, or that would deem me a hypocrite, as I firmly believe people should succeed based on their skill rather than on their race, sex, nationality, creed, etcetera. This has transformed into a rather odd discussion, which I'm not so sure I am happy about. I do, however thank you all for the extremely helpful links. I've checked into them, and they are just about exactly what I was looking for.

#18 Lol, don't worry. That discussion about Stevie Case had nothing to do with you.

You have talent, I Don't know if she did. So you wouldn't have to take the low road to success. So you should be taking our discussion as a compliment :)

Good luck.

#19 Sorry to let it hijack your post Ursula. Good luck with the job search..

#20 Sokay :)