We recently talked about the importance of performance evaluations in the workplace, and the role they play in improving 3D artists.  Part of what makes the performance evaluation effective is the self assessment that is required.  Taking the time periodically to look back on the work you have created and the projects you have been involved in can help every artist to improve artistically and professionally.

Image Source: aperture.org

Assessing Artistic Skills

Improving artistically is a life long passionate endeavor for artists.  Improving drawing abilities, painting, 3D modeling, animating, texturing, etc as a whole can be a slow process.  In order to recognize the progress that is made over longer periods of time, an artist must set aside time to review their own work.  This personal review process happens naturally in some situations.  Sometimes it is encouraged through a competition, like this “Draw this again” contest on deviantart.

Artists naturally will see their progress with things like sketchbooks and online forums.  If you carry around a sketchbook and draw in it a lot and do studies in it as well as idea generation, and if you proceed through the sketchbook in one direction then you will have a physical book that shows the progress of improvement.  The sketchbook can also provide a window into what types of objects or ideas you draw about a lot, and even what your mood may be when you do some of your favorite drawings.  Work in progress threads in online forums can provide the same sort of “physical” space to look at how a project has progressed and then compare that to an older project’s WIP thread.

The ultimate reason most artists tend to take a moment to step back and reassess the work they have done over the past year or two, is to update their portfolio.  Updating a portfolio or demo reel is a fantastic opportunity to compare your old work with your new, and take note of the areas that you have improved most in as well as areas where you wish to improve further.

Assessing Professionalism

Professionalism, Merriam-Webster defines as “the conduct, aims, or qualities that characterize or mark a profession or professional person.”  What is professionalism for a 3D artist then? You don’t need to be wearing a custom t-shirt with your company logo to be more professional, though apparently that can help a business. I would classify professionalism for an artist in three categories; organization, communication, and time management.

Image Source: thegnomonworkshop.com

Organization

As a 3D artist working in a production studio, you will be working as part of a team, and as such you will need to help keep things organized.  Proper filing nomenclature and organization of assets within scenes can save each artist, and the company as a whole, a lot of time.  Opening a scene that you are to texture and seeing objects named “Box4062” is not the most inviting or user friendly file, and it costs everyone involved more time. Evan Troxel wrote a good article about file organization and naming rules to help improve everyone’s productivity.

Communication

Being able to communicate clearly and efficiently saves all in the conversation lots of time.  As Kevin Ashton points out, “Time is the raw material of creation”, so you need to protect that time by doing certain tasks more efficiently, and that includes communication. Good communication means people are informed of progress, and expectations are being managed. Good communication from the beginning leads to fewer interruptions and less wasted time, which is the last category.

Time Management

If time is perhaps the most important factor in relation to creating things, then an artist shows professionalism through their time management.  How long does a task really take?  Time yourself multiple times on a task that you do fairly often, and then see what the range of time is for that task.  I think you might surprise yourself.  This information is extremely helpful when scheduling your time, as well as making and meeting deadlines.  Time is often one of the hardest things for creative people to manage, and yet it is the most coveted.  I personally liked this slide show of time management tips, and will try to implement some of them.

Image Source: slideshare.net

These are all areas that an artist can assess for themselves, and in doing so become more productive, and more efficient at producing high quality work.