Covering Letter

My Covering Letter

Will Roberts

Halvana,

Altarnun,

Launceston,

Cornwall,

Pl15 7SA

Colin Head/ Stas Krakiewicz

2D Concept Artist

Sledge Shark Interactive

Dear Mr Krakiewicz

With great interest, I am sending my job application for the position of 2D Concept Artist in your organization Sledge Shark Interactive. I learned about the advertisement through my college, Plymouth College of Art. This is exactly the job I have been looking for and is a great opportunity for me to use my creative abilities and to get myself out there in the industry.

The role of a concept artist is to create visual concepts and illustrations that help the production designers to realise their vision for games or films. I feel my creative ideas and love for art to convey visual images is what you are looking for. I have 4 years experience in digital painting and would like to further have a career to hold position within the company.

I would appreciate if we can discuss on this further in an interview that is convenient for you.

You can call me at 07432500578 and email me at prosurf@hotmail.co.uk.

Thank you so much for your valuable time and consideration.

Sincerely,

Will Roberts

CV

My CV

William Roberts

Contact Details: Halvana, Altarnun, Launceston, Cornwall PL157sa

01566 880051, 07432500578, prosurf@hotmail.co.uk

PROFILE

In 2006 I started Launceston College and completed my GCSEs. In 2011 I left Launceston College with 2 AS level qualifications in Art, and Photography. I have always been talented in art which is why I did not proceed with my A2s as I was offered a place at Plymouth College of Art. Here I studied Interactive Media in Game Arts and achieved 2 Distinctions and 1 Merit. In September I will be starting a Degree in Game Design.

KEY ACHIEVEMENTS

• I was offered my place at Plymouth College of Art without interview as they were impressed with my previous projects and thought my talents were wasted on A levels and could be further developed at their college
• In May 2011 I started working for myself doing commissions for clients on the side of my college work as a way to earn some extra money and experience.
• Through recommendation I was invited to be part of a short film project producing artwork for their film sets.
• I currently have 40,000 hits on YouTube for my time-lapse art pieces which I have been doing for 2 years.
• I hold a full, clean UK driving licence.
• I have never been academic but in my opinion I have worked very hard over the last 3 years and never thought I would be a candidate for University. For me this is a very big achievement.

EMPLOYMENT EXPERIENCE And References

Employer: Andy Mason – 01566 86636

Job Title: Waiter and Bar attendant.

Work Place: Rising Sun Inn

Start Date: August 2012

Finish Date: August 2013

Employer: Kevin Bath

Job Title: Artist working on Ipad App

Start Date: July 2013

Finish Date: Current

Employer: 8 Pound Studios

Job Title: Landscape Concept Artist

Start Date: October 2013

Finish Date: Current

I've also produced several portrait commissions

EDUCATION & TRAINING

• AS Art grade C
• AS Photography grade B
• GCSE Art and Design grade A
• Extended Diploma in Interactive Media and Game Arts: Distinction, Distinction, Merit

CORE SKILLS

• Proficient with digital painting in Photoshop
• Able to work on a multitude of different subjects to various levels of completion
• Traditional pencil drawing skills
• I am responsible, reliable and trustworthy.
• I am capable of working in a team and I have good social skills from in the hospitality industry for 1 year.
• I also have very good ICT skills.

Reflection on Mock Interview

Reflection on Mock Interview

For something that I have never had to do before, I thought it went really well. I thought that I spoke about what I wanted to do in the future really well and where I could see myself, I feel really strongly about what I want to do. I also think that I have a decent portfolio and is presented well, I would like to include some different styles of images on there including some more matte paintings and some shorter 10 - 15 minute sketches. I think that is good because it will show how quick I can generate different ideas. I should also know my portfolio better and know what kind of art styles are on it, so when I get asked a question regarding something about the job and my artwork I can jump straight to it and be able to talk about it, rather than trying to find something  and talking about it on the spot. There are also some pieces that I want to remove from my portfolio because I feel that they are not that great. Also I think I really need to organise the images in order of how good they are instead of the order they were uploaded, I want to have all my best work nearer the top.

I think researching the kind of questions that I would've been asked in the interview would of helped me out a little, or in general just practising for my interview, especially as it was my first one. Also I wish I paid more attention the job application and read it properly because I had no artwork in my portfolio which represented the style of the job offer, this would've of benefited in the interview not just for the artwork, but being able to answer questions more easily and maybe allow me to ask more/ better questions. I want to get better at writing CV and cover letters because I feel I don't write about myself or sell myself as well as I should.

Overall though I am still really pleased with how it went and wish I didn't work myself up so much over it. This has also given me an in site to the kind of questions that come up in interviews and things I will need to work on to improve.

Presentation Report

I don't think my presentation went very well as I did no pre planning and didn't put an awful lot together. I am a shy person and don't manage presentations to well, but I would like to get a lot better at doing them so doing the mock interview I think will help me out a little. Interviews is something I will need to get a lot better at in the future since I'll be doing more and more of them.

The theme I chose for my presentation and the theme I will be using for my interview is concept art, more specifically Landscape Concept Art. I'm picking this because I want to be a concept artist in either the Game or Film industry as they both really inspire me and don't have much between them in terms of the concept art. In the future I would like to be a freelance artist so that I could work on both and not be so restricted in the things I'm creating. But if I was to work for a company it would have to be either Blizzard or Ubisoft for the games and Weta Digital for film. I'm also really keen to get into matte painting and have done several mattes now in my free time, its mostly used in film and Weta uses it a lot in there work but the techniques used to create mattes is used to create the concept art for games because, using photo's speeds up your workflow.

Researching into job opportunities I found out that Weta has an option to create an account on there website where you can upload lots of information about yourself including a portfolio, CV and covering letter, you can also apply from jobs from there as well. I think this is a great idea and I have actually set up a profile for myself now, but it also said that Weta checks over these profiles which I think is great also. Regarding freelance, this is actually something I could be doing right now and I have actually done a few jobs so far, but most have been un paid and just for experience purposes, but I'm still happy with that because I think just having experience alone is really important. Mostly I've done portrait commissions which I have been paid for, although I can do portraits really well I don't find them as fun as doing concept art, I think I like the end result of the portrait the most because you can get them super photo realistic. I am working on some concept art for an MMO rpg at the moment which I am finding so much fun to because its the kind of things I enjoy painting, which is great, although it is still free work. Reading over the internet, other concept artists said that you will end up doing a lot of free work while your starting out and not to go for intern-ships because you would end up being the cake trolley boy. Most of them said to just keep doing free work, and work on perfecting your portfolio.

Development Plan

Doing the presentation and the mock interview has given me an insight on things I did quite well and given me a better insight on what I want to do with my future, but its also shown me some things I need to work on.

I feel I need to really improve on my presentations as I think this could let me down a bit. Over the next few years we have more and more presentations to do, so for these ones I am going to try and practice them a little more and be more prepared. I want to improve my CV and covering letter as well I feel that I'm not very good at talking about myself and making myself stand out, which is stupid because everyone is always saying that my artwork is amazing and yet I find it hard to make myself sound amazing. I also want to improve the content that is on my portfolio, I want to create more tabs with different artwork on it, maybe some 3d and Zbrush stuff. I also want different art styles on it so it shows that I can produce a variety of styles instead of just sticking to my comfort zone.

Swot Analysis

Strengths

Concept Art (mostly landscapes, set layouts, Digital Art, Photoshop, Image Manipulation, Drawing, Bodyboarding

If someone asked a friend what my strengths are they would immediately say drawing. I post all the drawings I do on my facebook and the amount of likes and comments I've received from my friends is crazy. They all give me great feedback and comments which is nice to see. I've always been into/ good at drawing since I was young and continued persueing it all through my life doing art GCSE, A Level, Interactive media in game arts and now im on a game design degree. Bodyboarding is more of a hobbie, I've been doing it for about 11 - 12 years now and truelly love it. I consider myself to be pretty good at it however I wish I knew how to do more tricks.

Weaknesses 

Concept art only being able to draw landscapes and set layouts. Cant do characters very well or vehicles, SCI-FI, I cant do these things to a stantard that represents my landscapes or portrait paintings. I think this is really pushing me back because I think I would look a lot better if I was able to do concept for everything like characters, landscapes, weapons, props, vehicles etc. Although I am self taught and still learning this sort of puts me down sometimes. I am trying to work on this a bit, I get ImagineFX magazine every month which has free tutorials and loads of information from really great artists in the industry. There is also DVD tutorials I can buy on websites like the Gnomon Workshop, or there are workshops I can join from artists in the industry. I have also just completed a module doing life drawing in college, and while doing this I have noticed an improvement in my character drawings. Its also made me want to do some more traditional drawings and to explore different materials instead of sticking to digital.
I Don't have a paid Job or part time, however have 2 jobs going at the moment doing  artwork. But I do need a paid job as paying for car tax, insurance and petrol is starting to become really hard.
Spend a lot of hours in front of a computer screen. I spend more time playing games than I do drawing, I find it hard to sit down and draw for long periods of time. The longest I could draw for is probably about 2 - 3 hours. I think its because I start to loose interest or my mind starts going off the topic and starts to think about other things. I might be able to over come this by having breaks in between drawing sessions, maybe like an hour or so and then go back to drawing. I do try to draw everyday at some point though. I think my lifestlye is starting to become unhealthly. Especially now that winter is on the way and im not spending as much time in the sea surfing which is currently my only means of fitness. I don't get to see a lot of my mates anymore, I see the odd 3 and speak to them frequently over skype while playing games. A lot of my mates have moved off to uni and I dont get to see them any more, also I live quite far from college so I don't get to see them really appart from in college. Not a massive fan of going out to nightclubs, I don't like the idea of wasting me money on alcohol, I would rather stay in and draw. However if a drum and bass event popped up I would get straight on it and try to organise something.
Opportunities

2 jobs at the moment drawing concept art, one for a sci-fi short film, my role is to refine the original concepts to a life like resemblance for pitching. 2nd im drawing landscape concept art for a game. Even though these a free jobs at the moment I have been told that they may be able to pay me later on. I still think that its just as valuable doing this un paid as its really good experience for me. Everywhere I read on the internet from other artists say that you will end up doing a lot of free work to get into the industry. Doing enough free work will provide me a lot of experience and make me a more valuable person to higher than someone that doesnt have any experience.

Threats

I think the biggest threat I face at the moment is  not being able to do character concept art, or things like vehicles and sci-fi. I think if I dont do something about this now it could really effect me when I try getting a job.

Companies I would Like to Work for

Zenimax Online
http://www.zenimaxonline.com/about.html

Zenimax Online was founded in 2007 and have been building a world class online game development team. Their emplyees have worked with some of the best companies in the business and have worked on three or more MMO's. Zenimax is part of the ZMI team, which includes Bethesda softworks, Bethesda Game Studios, ID, and Arkane Studios.

I would like to work for Zenimax because they are heavily involved with the Elder Scrolls Online which is a game I'm really looking forward to playing, but also I love the art style of the game and other Elder Scrolls games which provides a lot of inspiration in my artwork. So, I wouldnt mind working for Bethesda either as they are the main producers of the Elder Scrolls games.

Example Job Role:

Environment Concept Artist

Division: id Software | Department: Art | Location: Richardson, US-TX, US

id Software is looking for a talented and creative Environment Concept Artist that is skilled at illustrating a wide variety of organic/landscape and  hard-surface sci-fi “tech” environments.  Ideal candidates will present previous and current work demonstrating an ability to create and refine rapidly, but with an artistic precision that can accurately and efficiently translate into the asset creation process as it relates to world building in games. The Environment Concept Artist will also be establishing the overall mood and lighting schemes for the play spaces so a strong understanding of the fundamentals of light, color, value, atmosphere, and composition will be stressed.

Responsibilities:

• Work collaboratively with the Art Director, Lead Designer and other leads in defining the overall look, style, lighting, and atmosphere of the game
• Create, mood paintings, production illustrations, environment concepts, etc. of a wide variety of sci-fi game play spaces and scenarios

Requirements:

• 3+ years of game or film industry experience as a concept artist
• Substantial examples of current and past work demonstrating a strong understanding shape, perspective, texture, color, lighting, and camera angles
• Ability to work quickly through concept iterations, but also able to create refined and precise concept drawings/paintings that easily translate into buildable game assets
• Extensive experience with appropriate and relevant 2D toolsets
• Self-motivated, but able to take feedback and criticism and properly reflect comments in work
• Excellent team player with very strong work ethic and a collaborative/cooperative attitude
• An understanding of and appreciation for milestones, schedules, deadlines, and efficient game development processes
• Excellent oral and written communication skills
• Passion for games and gaming

Desired Skills and Pluses:

• Matte painting skills a plus
• Significant contributions to at least one AAA shipped game
• Familiarity with id Software games, characters, brands, and universes
• Proficiency with modeling tools (Max, Maya, LightWave, Modo or other similar) or understanding of modeling process
• University or equivalent art-related degree

  

In terms of a dream job with a company, I don't really have any, I just have companies which art style inspire me so I think the main companies for me would have to be Blizzard, because I love the Diablo games and the dark fantasy art style with it, Zenimax, Bethesda. I am a huge fan of Ubisoft and EA games, but the art style isn't really me so I wouldn't class it as my dream job. 

http://www.wetanz.com/weta-workshop-services/

http://dylancolestudio.com/Professional/ROTK/pages/360p5_28.html

I've been getting into a lot of Matte Painting recently and creating art work for the film industry so another dream I think would be to work for Weta in New Zealand as a Matte Painter. Weta has produced concept art and the special effects in several films such as Lord of The Rings, Avatar and the Hobbit so to be part of that would be amazing! 

Cover letters

http://theundercoverrecruiter.com/how-videogame-designers-job-interview-blunder-led-him-conquer-world/

Game design example cover letter:
http://www.letters.org/cover-letter/game-designer-cover-letter.html

Peter Zaragoza
4906 Clay Street
Indianapolis,IN
Zip:46254
Peter.J.Zaragoza@spambob.com
Phone: 317-404-6884
Randy Parker
Value City Department Stores Inc
1884 Layman Court
Roswell
GA

Date: 18-11-2010

Dear Mr.Parker,

I read about your need for Game Designer at Indianapolis from the JobCentral.com . I have an excellent track record in most of the work related areas you’re seeking in the prospective candidate.

My work experience includes:

• Worked directly with the Art Directors on numerous projects, from start to finish, guaranteeing the games were keeping within there specifications and theme.
• As lead artist, I ensured assigned projects were finished and completed on time.
• Had the responsibility of taking older,
• outdated games, and renovating them to compete with the newer, edger, games out on the market.
• Generated marketing material for several titles in a timely and professional manner.
• Conceived new concept ideas and implemented them for the front end and in game pla
• 
  

I think this is the perfect place to take up new challenges and invite opportunities. For more details related to my education and experience you can get arrange an interview session with me.

Yours Sincerely
(Peter Zaragoza) 

What to include:

Write your name and address, Write Employer’s name and address, In first paragraph, include the information like why you are writing, position you are applying for and source of the job listing, In second paragraph, include the summary of your work experience, In third paragraph, thanks the employer and include the information about how you follow up.

Another good example:

http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/cv/goodbadcovlet.htm

Rosalind Franklin 8 Russell Street Cranford Lancashire MN22 8YY rf333@hotmilk.com 7th February 2009 Mrs Matty Jenkyns Personnel Manager Manchester General Hospital Hollbrook Avenue Manchester MN1 5BJ Dear Mrs Jenkyns		Tries to find the name of the appropriate person to write to if possible
I am looking for a placement within a hospital environment from June to September of this year. I am writing to you as I understand that Manchester General Hospital may have appropriate vacancies available. I have a strong interest in laboratory procedures and clinical diagnostics which I understand are predominantly carried out at this hospital. As I live only 5 miles from your site, travel and accommodation would not be a problem for me.		States the job she's applying for. States when she's available to start and end the placement
I first became interested in the hospital environment after a school visit to your site.  I was taken on a tour around the laboratories where the differing techniques used in testing clinical samples for patients were demonstrated.  Since then, discussion with my careers adviser has confirmed my decision to aim for a career in this field.		Says why she's interested in the type of work
Through my degree course, I have been able to develop my interest in biochemistry, whilst improving my laboratory skills along with my numeracy skills. I have gained some experience in HPLC and have good computing skills, having used several scientific databases. I achieved 68% in my first year examinations and am hoping to achieve a high 2:1 for my course work this year. While at University, I have also been able to utilise my skills in working with people through a variety of vacation jobs. My work at a busy insurance office was valuable in teaching me the importance of ascertaining customers’ needs and providing clear and accurate information.		Summarises her strengths and how they might be an advantage to the organisation. Relob.ates her skills to the j
I would be most grateful if you could consider me for any suitable positions. I will be available for interview at any time and am at my home address in Cranford from late May onwards. At all other times I can be contacted at my college address. Please find enclosed my CV where you will find further information. Yours sincerely Rosalind Franklin Bad Example Dear Sir or Madman Doesn't give the name of the person he's applying to. It's not essential to do this, but may suggest a slight lack of initiative. Hasn't proof read the letter. I am about to complete my English and American Literature degree at the University of Kent, with a prospective result of a 2:1. As a literature student, I have a strong love of books of all types and see work in a bookshop as a career area which would be a good starting point for a career in publishing which is my eventual career aim. Admits that bookselling is not what he really wants to do. Repeats the word career three times in one sentence. I have good experience of retail, having worked as a shelf stacker for Sainsburies. I have studied modules in Shakespeare, War Poets, Dickens and Creative Writing all of which I feel give me valuable knowledge. My interests include reading, playing computer games and stamp collecting and I am currently reading Robbie Williams' thought-provoking autobiography. Hardly relevant experience! No mention of any experience working in a team or serving customers. Comes across as a passive loner. I am writing speculatively in the hope that you may consider me for any full-time vacancies that may arise in your store. I'm interested especialy in the retail side of a bookstore: interacting with customers and seeing where the modern tastes for literature lay. Spelling mistake: hasn't used a spell checker and not really forgivable for someone who has studied a literature degree I would be available to work from the beginning of June of this year. I have previous retail experience and believe that this, combined with my knowledge of and interest in books could be rewarding both to your store and to myself. Yours faithfully Frank Harrison A lot of repetition here. States again about his love of books and his previous retail experience.