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Ahmed Aldoori works as a concept artist, but he’s also excited by the endless possibilities of helping others develop their own unique style
“There’s definitely beautiful magic out there for everyone. You just have to access it by eliminating all the things that stopped it in the first place.”
~ Ahmed Aldoori
If you’ve ever wanted to know how to become a concept artist, you’ll definitely enjoy listening to this new podcast with Pencil Kings tutor, Ahmed Aldoori.
Because, although he reveals some fascinating insights into the industry and what it’s like to work on video games and films, he also gives you some great tips on how you can advance your own creative career…
Ahmed Aldoori: How to Become a Concept Artist
Ahmed Aldoori currently works as a concept artist for the video game industry (Arena Net), where he gets to work on all kinds of exciting projects. Before this, he worked at theme parks on in the movie industry, but he says the video game industry has been the most fulfilling for him.
He got his first Wacom digital graphics tablet in middle school, and it was from here that his interest in learning how to become a concept artist began.
Ahmed graduated from high school in 2006, but didn’t really have a clear direction on how to continue his career.
After trying his hand at engineering school (and dropping out after one semester after deciding it wasn’t right for him), he eventually decided to enrol at his local community college for life drawing etc before going on to study at Columbus College of Art and Design in his native Ohio.
This led to him putting together a portfolio for Art Center College of Design and gaining a place working on projects with established art instructors such as Scott Robertson and Dylan Cole, the lead concept artist for Avatar 2.
He says: “From there, it’s just the connections you make and the teachers. It was a big series of smaller jobs leading on to bigger jobs. If I hadn’t gone to that school, I just would not have been exposed to that.
“But now, with the internet, everything I wish I’d been exposed to at that time is there. There are so many wonderful opportunities for learning online.”
Listen to this week’s show and learn:
- Why there are so many great resources available online for artists
- How to approach established artists for advice
- How to have fun with your art and develop your own unique style
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Mitch
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Great interview, I love Ahmed’s work and his youtube videos!