ALEX Beddows - Senior environment artist q&A
Alex Beddows, Senior Environment Artist at Counterplay Games, 3D Learning Content Manager at Artstation, host of the Game Dev Discussion podcast and former Lead at Dekogon. I think it’s fair to say Alex has been very busy in recent years! Join us in this Q&A where Alex shares his knowledge from his experiences, what it’s like working remotely, advice for students and junior artists, his tip for freelancing, and that’s just for starters. This is not one to be missed!
Alex, you are extremely successful in your career and have made a name for yourself in the industry. Can you talk about your career path from Junior all the way to Senior Environment Artist at Counterplay?
So my career path has been somewhat of a mixed bag, out of the gate it should be known I did not go into high education AKA I am self taught. I have tried my hand at a lot of different things early on including VR, AR, mobile gaming, serious games and iGaming, which I do not regret because all of it contributed to the artist I am today.
But yeah my career path, basically up to the age of around 21 I was an incredibly arrogant person, I had a major chip on my shoulder due to not landing the jobs I wanted, and I really had no right to be because my work was pretty poor, i mostly modelled mid poly environments with next to no attention to textures or lighting. It was when I stumbled along the DiNusty Empire that I realised just how much I had to learn, it was essentially the slap across the head I needed to wake up and buck my ideas up.
So once I had a portfolio review I really started taking my career seriously, and I set out a plan broken up in 10 year blocks. I wanted to spend my 20s working towards being a senior, my 30s working towards lead / principle and my 40s ...who knows. But by the time I was 23/24 I was already a senior, and at the age of 25 I was the principal artist at my studio and Lead Artist for Dekogon, none of which I planned for or expected. But im 26 now and I am a Senior Environment Artist at Counterplay Games, which I am actually happy about, although the chance to do the higher level roles was amazing, being a production artist again where my only focus is making the highest quality art is super refreshing, and I have defaulted back to my original plan of spending my 20s being the most solid senior I can possibly be, I am kind of hesitant now to think too far into the future, given how much my career has changed over just 3 years.
Can you give us an insight to your daily work schedule at Counterplay? I know many people in the industry and like minded artists would love a glimpse at what it’s like working on a PS5 title, remotely.
My schedule is kind of all over the place, I wake up usually around 5:30am, when COVID ends it would be gym time and walk the dogs, then I hammer away at Counterplay and ArtStation stuff until around 7:30 / 8pm, and at 1 I take a lunch break and walk the doggo’s again.
As for working here, well as of writing this I have just wrapped up my first week so my insight is limited, but what i would say the onboarding was smooth as silk, this process is normally pretty choppy even on site, so to have it so organised and easy remotely was pretty incredible.
When you started the GDD podcast did you imagine it would grow to what it is today? How has it changed since the start?
GDD went way better than I could have ever expected! Bearing in mind I started out of purely selfish motivations, I just wanted to talk to people I look up to, pick their brains and grow my own understanding and perspective. After the first episode with Ben Wilson, Jermey got in touch to partner with the Empire, he had been interested in the idea of a podcast for a while but was restricted by time.
But now looking back I am blown away by the support it has had, I receive messages from folks who have been truly helped by it and that is incredibly humbling, or artists who I look up to are happy to put the fact they came on the podcast on their Portfolio….that is a surreal experience !
Can you talk a bit about the importance of online communities and what makes places like The DiNusty Empire and Experience Points worth visiting?
I know I preach this until I am blue in the face. But the DiNusty discord and community turned my career and life around! I think the best example I can give as to why they are so valuable is this… if you observe artists when they land their first studio job, generally speaking their development spikes pretty drastically. This is because they are surrounded by like-minded people, who want nothing but the best for them and they have a space to share work, ideas and resources.
A learning community is the closest thing to this experience, in an art community you have space to share recent projects, discuss ideas in channels or voip and somewhere to post WIPs and get crit from a whole host of industry people. This kind of community is invaluable to your development...so if you are reading this and you are not part of one, please jump on discord and join one, you wont regret it !!
What tips do you have for newly graduated/Junior Artists trying to land their first job in the industry, or even getting the first interview?
Pre-industry folks have an uphill climb for sure, the main thing I’d say is keep working. Something to understand is the majority of people in the games industry are all the ones thick-skinned enough to take all the setbacks and rejections to get where they are today. Something I do is treat every personal project as a learning opportunity, setting very clear goals that once I meet I am happy to wrap the project up. This helps keep projects fresh for you and when it comes to interview time, this kind of background context to projects works wonders...it isn't interview jargon talk, you are just talking about your project naturally which really comes across during the process.
Do you have any key presentation tips to make a portfolio shine and stand out?
I mean first and foremost, quality trumps all. I have seen some really poorly laid out portfolios, but the art is so high tier that it doesn't really matter, nothing substitutes quality.
I like to have a digestible portfolio, broken up into chunks that are easy to scan through, in my case environments are at the top with shaders, then all my materials, then any publications. This nicely book ends the bulk of my work, and it is my own priority list. I consider myself an Environment Artist with a strong understanding of materials, and the order of my portfolio reflects that.
When working with a team what do you find the most helpful traits for Junior to Mid-level artists?
I like working with people who can think for themselves. The biggest frustration when giving crit and feedback is talking to a blank face who just says ‘okay’ to what you are saying. Bear in mind you are hired for your skill, knowledge and artistic eye, I am not saying to argue and question your leads at every turn, but discuss ideas, understand why you are getting this crit so next time you don't repeat the same mistake. This is a very fine balance because obviously it is easy to come off defensive, but I do believe if you are genuinely asking questions with the right intentions in mind you won't come off this way.
For artists just starting in the realm of 3D what do you think are the most important concepts to learn and any tools/software you would recommend learning?
Focus on principles and not the tools. I see so many artists get so boxed in by their preferred tool to the point it becomes tribalistic, modelling packages are the best example. Broadly speaking they all do the same thing, some do certain aspects slightly better than others, or have a slightly different path from point A to point B. But if you really focus on the principle of what you are doing, learning new software will be far easier.
I’d also say stay broad, try your hand at as much as you can within your relevant field but in small chunks. Don't try and learn Blender, Zbrush, Quixel and UE4 on one project! Spend one project learning blender, then the next project move onto the next task, this will help you not get burnt out on projects which is REALLY easy to do.
What skills do you find most frequently lacking in artists trying to get their first job? How can they improve or learn these skills? When it comes to composition, what are some of the things that Junior artists or students are often lacking or forget?
A big one is correct referencing. I know this because I used to do it, when they gather reference from existing game art you instantly set yourself up to not produce something of high quality. Think of it like Chinese whispers, the art you are referencing is a representation of the real thing, if you then reference the representation you are really far away from the original subject matter. By learning to reference the real world you will also develop your artistic eye, learning how to interpret the details and replicate them, it will then help critique your own work and help support your peers.
How do you prevent burn out when working on so many different projects?
So I have an odd relationship with burnout. A lot of folks talk about how to avoid burnout, which is fair because it isn't fun, it nearly made me give up on this as a career. However I do think of it as a right of passage, you need to experience it in order to know where your limit is, only then can you go forward working in such a way where you are both efficient but not killing yourself in the process.
As for me, I juggle a lot of different projects, I like to be busy. But most of them are very different from one another. If I was hammering the same thing 100% of the time it would be the worst! But between the podcast, material art, environment art, mentoring, Artstation and Counterplay...they are all different from one another so it always feels fresh no matter what I am working on.
How has your focus and artistic preference/style changed through the years?
I think it has scaled up, I used to really be interested in standalone props, that was all my Pinterest board was filled with. Now I focus more on the big picture type of projects, naturally leading me down the rabbit hole of lighting and composition. Even with my materials I am starting to care more about cohesive sets of materials rather than one off showcases.
What is your biggest interest in game development besides Environment Art?
Teaching. I really find great pleasure in helping others and see them realise their potential, straight after college I volunteered and taught 3D there since they needed someone, and this year I have been doing a lot more talks. I am not sure what it is, it just hits a different part of my brain, I think it was Tim Simpson who said it, but when the industry and community has given you so much, you should really give back, so I am trying my best to do that!
If you had to start your career again from day one what would you do? What would you tell the younger version of yourself?
I would slap me and tell myself to grow the hell up. I think of how hard I work now and how much I have accomplished in a couple of years when I actually apply myself, I can't help but think of the time I wasted when I was younger…
With the growing popularity of procedural workflows how do you see the industry changing over the course of the next few years? How do you think the role of an Environment Artist will change?
I think a lot of the tedious stuff we have to deal with will be replaced by procedural tech, which allows us to create higher quality or quantity content. I already think the role of an Environment Artist is closer to an engineer than an artist, so understanding some new tech that cuts out the stuff we hate doing isn’t going to change the landscape that much. Look at when Substance Painter came around, texturing was just as important, but now it is far easier allowing us to create higher quality textures in a quicker turnaround, which had a direct correlation to games growing in scope.
For anyone starting their career what would you tell them? What would you suggest they focus on if they wanted to be an Environment Artist?
You’re going to spend your career learning. The sooner you come to terms with the fact you're never finished and accept it the happier you will be.
Also learn when to call a piece of work done, something my old Lead Artist said that really stuck with me was ‘Art is never finished’. And he was right, you could keep working into something, improving, optimising and tweaking. Knowing when you have done what you set out to do and moving on is such an under valued skill in both production and personal work.
As an Environment artist, can you talk a bit about the importance of colour theory and give us some pointers? Maybe an analysis of an image you think is a great execution of it?
It is all about suggesting themes to someone's subconscious. When somebody looks at a piece of art with dynamic colours and says ‘oh thats cool’ they are not consciously thinking about the themes but they drive why the art appeals to them.
Take the shot from Alec Tucker’s Cyberpunk challenge, and bear with me because this might get a little philosophical. So it's using the cliche orange vs blue colour palette, sure it works, it always has, but the colours used in the composition tell a story and provoke emotions without any context. The lower descent into chaos being the reddish orange vs the upwards direction of the blue light towards salvation, what does that remind you of...heaven vs hell ? I know without any prior context the lower region is scary, dangerous and caged, where as the blue space opens up into the free world, also the dark void in the middle between the two, a lack of information and colour invokes the sensation of limbo. All of these subconscious tones can be what makes the normal viewer say…’oh that's cool’. This is our jobs as environment and lighting artists, to tell the stories that are not immediately apparent, orchestrating the player’s emotions as they navigate the space and tell a story without spouting exposition at them.
What are some of the common pitfalls you see in Environment Artists scenes? What are some ways to fix or avoid these pitfalls?
I think poor composition and space design. This normally starts from lack of attention in the blockout stage, without a good blockout you're building your scene on sandy foundations. Something I do during blockout is save cameras that I want to use in my final renders, this helps give some scaffolding and focus to my project, and stops me doing extra unnecessary work because I only focus on what I can see.
When working with Level Designers what do you find is the best approach to provide or receive feedback and changes either artist to designer or designer to artist?
Try to understand what each of you are trying to accomplish. It’s easy to step on each other's toes and contradict one another, but if you start out really understanding why they want a space or flow a certain way, or what they want to convey to the player it helps the pair of you accomplish the common goal, after all you are both on the same team. Most disputes I have had and seen have come from ignorance, addressing this early on saves a lot of headaches.
For anyone looking to freelance what are your suggestions? How can they start out and what can they do to make themselves more marketable?
It's a pretty broad field, so I’ll address the most frequent question I get...what should my rate be?
I always say the same thing, go find the rate for your local tradesmen, a bricklayer, painter or plasterer and find out their day rate- that should be your day rate. When working with non artist folks they will often question the rate, ‘why so much, it's just a drawing?’ (lol). The fact is you pay this skilled person, who has to maintain their tools and equipment that much, I as an artist have to maintain my PC and software, this kind of context helps people understand the cost and landed me a lot of gigs when I was starting out.
What are your suggestions for staying organised when working from home? What are the benefits and what are the pitfalls?
Develop habits, they are way more powerful than your self control. I developed two main habits, intermittent fasting and the dog walks. The fasting serves as my clock, I won't eat until 1, and I will have my last meal around 7. Because of this I get incredibly hungry at these times, forcing myself to want to eat, and eat a meal not just snacks, they also line up with my dog walks which is great for getting away from my PC and stretching my legs! All of this also regulates my sleep, I can get by on 5 hours, which takes some training, but the extra hours it buys me allows me to do so much more.
What is your job at Artstation and what do you do? What is it like working remotely?
At Artstation my primary role is sourcing Learning content and making sure it gets produced to the standard we expect. I also act as an artist's voice within the business, given my insight from the other side, I work on other smaller projects but unfortunately I cannot talk too much on them.
Do you have any helpful tips when lighting your scenes?
When lighting your scene it's kind of the same as when blocking out your level, the light will dictate the focus and direction of your scene, so be deliberate with what you do with lighting, spend as much time blocking that in as you do blocking in the geo.
What are some tips for anyone when they start at a new studio, Junior, Mid and even Senior? How does this apply to remote work?
When starting at a new studio, learn the landscape and get to know your colleagues. In every studio you have a broad range of personalities and characters, so learning who people are and how to interact with them is pretty important to your long term relationships with colleagues. Also probably best to ‘go with the flow’ when you first start, you don't wanna be the guy to start and call out everyone and everything on the project, understand why decisions were made and at appropriate intervals if you have solutions to problems voice them, but bear in mind nearly every single thing on a project has a reason why it was done, so don’t just assume you know best.
Where do you find inspiration?
From my friends, I have developed some very tight knit friendship circles of talented artists, and when they share cool stuff they are doing or talk about interesting ideas it fires me up and inspires me to work.
Where do you seek feedback?
Same groups, I count these circles as genuine friends, that means they will tell me the things I don't want to hear but sometimes need to hear, because they care about my long term success, not just keeping me happy with meaningless compliments. This kind of friendship and support has been pretty essential over the past year.
Any additional tips or advice you would like to share with our readers?
I guess a tip I live by and helps keep me on the path is be deliberate with your actions. Behind most things I am doing on the day-to-day there is a why, this helps make everything I do meaningful and worthwhile. When you do this, and you are really honest about it you tend to learn some harsh truths about yourself…
What can we be on the lookout for from you in the future?
In the future, obviously the stuff I am doing on Godfall, an exciting new Artstation project, a couple of outsource projects that could be really exciting and hopefully I will learn Houdini in 2020!
Outro
Thank you for stopping by and reading guys, and thank you to the Experience Points team for putting this together, it was fun to get into some of these questions. Remember to check out the podcast if you haven't already! ;)
GDD Podcast Available on: Spotify, SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts and YouTube