Ten years after I left the hallowed halls of that institution known as Syracuse University, they had me back to talk to the media arts (illustration, design, etc) students about life as a video game concept artist. I went there with the intention of warning them about the difficulty of breaking into the business, the long hours you have to work, the lack of recognition....
But as I stared at the students' faces, and thought back to how only a little over a decade ago I too sat in those chairs praying for some glimmer of hope for my future, I softened.... a little.
In all seriousness, it was a blast. I enjoyed talking to the students, and I was happy to see that they are very eager to learn everything they can about concept art, digital illustration, etc. I told them they need to fight to have the best equipment if they want to be prepared for the reality of the business, which is that digital illustration is basically industry standard.
I also did a quick painting demo of a creature from my sketchbook, which unfortunately was very low res, so I don't think I will be keeping him.
Hopefully they will invite me back some day... even though I did an impression of one of my professors, Roger DeMuth (that's him all blurry in the nosebleed section with the blue shirt).
3 comments:
Man, I remember sitting in those seats, Dunkin Donuts French Vanilla from Kimmel sitting warmly in my hand as I drifted off to sleep. Congrats on being one of the few, the chosen, the symposium speakers!! I'm sure it was a blast to be back.
Hey Ben! Good to hear from you! Thanks, I really enjoyed it, it was fun to talk to the students and see what sort of impressions they have about the video game industry, digital illustration, etc. Although, the students had so many burning questions I forgot my laptop and iPhone in the auditorium. I didn't realize it until I was halfway to the airport!
Hope all is well with you!
whoa, that place looks so much smaller than I remember, but just as coma-inducing! :)
congrats!
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