If you’re looking at what kind of classes to take, basic drawing and design courses are critical. Drawdrawdraw. Take figure drawing, because that will likely be the best visual training you’ll ever get. If you draw the human body wrong, it’s very obvious, so it forces you to do two key things well: observe what is really in front of you (rather than your mental concept of what should be there), and make visual choices well for putting down the details of a drawing.
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Know Your Tools

After you’ve decided your primary art career focus (see Career Paths from last week)—or at least your initial focus—it’s time to start learning the software. 3-D and 2-D art packages have zilch to do with normal office software like word processors or spreadsheets programs. Although learning on the job is a possibility for some aspiring artists, it may not be a practical training solution for many. And you can’t fake your way through this stuff. As a staff artist candidate, you must know the tools of the trade to be successful.

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In any other industry, it may be enough to say that you want to be an artist. But, in the games industry, that’s not quite enough; you’ll need to be lots more specific. In the games industry, there are artists, yes, but there are also modelers, texture artists, character animators, skins artists, 2-D artists, 3-D artists — and oh so many more.

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