Portfolio Desperation
I don't normally respond to UDON portfolio submission e-mails unless the person is really good and I'm keeping them in mind for future work, but I received a letter today that struck a chord with me. It had a lot of elements I've seen many times. I thought I'd post my response here with the name removed. Even though you won't see his original e-mail here my response will give you the gist of what he sent our way.
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I'm going to be as open and honest as possible here when I tell you this. I'm not trying to be cruel or unsympathetic.
Your letter is not the right way to go about looking for work or building a professional relationship. It's intentionally manipulative, baiting us to respond with lines like "I know a response from you is not likely" and using your desperation as a way to get our attention. It's not mature and reads very poorly upon you as a capable individual. Part of art is passion but no one wants to work with someone who can't communicate properly or flies off the handle emotionally. It's a kneejerk reaction to put down your own work in a cheap attempt at getting compliments. Accept your strengths and weaknesses at this point or you won't improve.
Spending a pile of money and flying to a convention to show us your work is not the solution. Your artwork is online and it costs almost nothing to show that to anyone. We've hired artists based on their online portfolios and minimal in-person interaction. Meeting people in person is nice but it's not the only way to get a job.
I looked at your online gallery and you have 2 pictures posted in 2008... that's your most recent work other than your Darkstalkers Tribute submission. If you have other new artwork, it's not there. Working professionally in art means that you're drawing a LOT, almost every day. Even then, just drawing the same kinds of stylized things over and over isn't the solution. All of your posted artwork is derivative from comic book style art you've seen, reproducing bits and pieces instead of understanding the core fundamentals - real figure drawing from life, anatomy, proper perspective, gesture, volumes and rendering. I look at a LOT of portfolios and I see this kind of thing all the time - people who want to work in comics that copy faces and bodies they see in comic book art they like instead of getting more well rounded art training which would actually serve them well in this field.
Your gallery shows us what you can do and currently the answer to that is "not work at the professional level we need". Again, I'm just being honest. We don't take people's work for free regardless of where they're at experience-wise. If your work is at the right level then it's worth paying for. Offering to work for free devalues your abilities.
I do appreciate that you want this as a career and you feel it's important. I also appreciate that you like our studio a lot. Every single one of us here started off wanting to do artwork in this kind of field. But that didn't happen just because we wanted it. Hard work, practice, critique and growth are all part of it. There's no schedule for that and everyone's different. You have to put time and commitment into it. No one else can do that for you. If other things get in the way, then that's how life goes sometimes.
In short, your attitude about this is flawed.
It's not up to us to give you a chance - it's up to you to earn it.
If your artwork is strong enough, you will find work (obviously not just from us either). If it's not, then you need to work harder at it. If you don't feel that's possible, then that's the decision you make.
I don't want you to feel hopeless and I also don't want you to be overly dramatic. Take responsibility for yourself and prioritize.
I wanted you to know that I'd seen your letter and my thoughts about it. There are all sorts of companies out there. We're not your only opportunity.
Best of luck with whatever you do,
Jim Zubkavich
UDON Project Manager
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I'm going to be as open and honest as possible here when I tell you this. I'm not trying to be cruel or unsympathetic.
Your letter is not the right way to go about looking for work or building a professional relationship. It's intentionally manipulative, baiting us to respond with lines like "I know a response from you is not likely" and using your desperation as a way to get our attention. It's not mature and reads very poorly upon you as a capable individual. Part of art is passion but no one wants to work with someone who can't communicate properly or flies off the handle emotionally. It's a kneejerk reaction to put down your own work in a cheap attempt at getting compliments. Accept your strengths and weaknesses at this point or you won't improve.
Spending a pile of money and flying to a convention to show us your work is not the solution. Your artwork is online and it costs almost nothing to show that to anyone. We've hired artists based on their online portfolios and minimal in-person interaction. Meeting people in person is nice but it's not the only way to get a job.
I looked at your online gallery and you have 2 pictures posted in 2008... that's your most recent work other than your Darkstalkers Tribute submission. If you have other new artwork, it's not there. Working professionally in art means that you're drawing a LOT, almost every day. Even then, just drawing the same kinds of stylized things over and over isn't the solution. All of your posted artwork is derivative from comic book style art you've seen, reproducing bits and pieces instead of understanding the core fundamentals - real figure drawing from life, anatomy, proper perspective, gesture, volumes and rendering. I look at a LOT of portfolios and I see this kind of thing all the time - people who want to work in comics that copy faces and bodies they see in comic book art they like instead of getting more well rounded art training which would actually serve them well in this field.
Your gallery shows us what you can do and currently the answer to that is "not work at the professional level we need". Again, I'm just being honest. We don't take people's work for free regardless of where they're at experience-wise. If your work is at the right level then it's worth paying for. Offering to work for free devalues your abilities.
I do appreciate that you want this as a career and you feel it's important. I also appreciate that you like our studio a lot. Every single one of us here started off wanting to do artwork in this kind of field. But that didn't happen just because we wanted it. Hard work, practice, critique and growth are all part of it. There's no schedule for that and everyone's different. You have to put time and commitment into it. No one else can do that for you. If other things get in the way, then that's how life goes sometimes.
In short, your attitude about this is flawed.
It's not up to us to give you a chance - it's up to you to earn it.
If your artwork is strong enough, you will find work (obviously not just from us either). If it's not, then you need to work harder at it. If you don't feel that's possible, then that's the decision you make.
I don't want you to feel hopeless and I also don't want you to be overly dramatic. Take responsibility for yourself and prioritize.
I wanted you to know that I'd seen your letter and my thoughts about it. There are all sorts of companies out there. We're not your only opportunity.
Best of luck with whatever you do,
Jim Zubkavich
UDON Project Manager