PK 089: How to Become an Artist in the Film Industry – Interview with Matte Painter Conrad Allan

Want to know how to become an artist in the film industry or further your creative career? Conrad Allan has stacks of great advice in this week’s podcast interview

Subscribe to the Pencil Kings Podcast: | iTunes | Stitcher

“You’ve just got to know what your target client base is, and where they’re going to be looking.

~ Conrad Allan

Ever wondered how to become an artist in the film industry?

In this podcast, we talk to matte painter, Conrad Allan, who shares some indispensable advice for any of you aspiring artists out there who want to see your name on the end credits.

But this interview isn’t just for those who want to get into the movies.

It’s also crammed with super-useful information on how artists working in any genre can find their niche market and seek out inspiring new projects to work on.

Spoiler alert: This doesn’t involve setting up an account on Deviant Art or the other well-known digital art forums.

So, if you’ve been looking for first-hand advice from someone who’s gone from school to working on big titles such as Pan and Gods of Egypt, read on.

Because you just might find the answers you’ve been looking for…

Conrad Allan on How to Become an Artist in the Film Industry

Like many artists, Conrad Allan didn’t start out doing his dream job.

However, it was thanks his knowledge of a lesser-known piece of 3D software, Vue, that he was able to stand out in his field and land a role which led onto lots of other exciting projects.

As a kid, he always loved playing games and got into 3D software from the age of 18.

After starting out doing some structure modelling work for an architect, he started a bachelor’s degree in animation at a games university thinking this was the first step on his career.

However, he soon discovered making games wasn’t everything he imagined it would be…

He laughs: “I always loved playing games, so I thought making them would be just as much fun. I was very wrong!”

So, a year into his degree, he jumped at the chance of a job offer in Singapore followed by an opportunity to present at Siggraph in LA in 2010…and never went back to his studies.

Following this, he continued to pick up freelance work and eventually went to work for companies such as Blizzard Entertainment and Dreamworks Animation.

Watch a showreel of Conrad Allan’s work below:

Along the way, he’s picked up all kinds of super-useful advice for anyone who wants to know how to become an artist in the film industry or just wants to know how to take the first steps on their creative career.

Plus, he’s about to launch a photo reference resource site for digital artists which will put an end to those fruitless Google image searches and help you work much faster.

You can get notification of when the site launches here.

Listen to this week’s show and learn:

  • How to become the best in your niche area
  • Where to promote yourself online
  • Why making a good impression can help your career

People on this Episode:

Links From This Episode:

Listening options:

Subscribe via iTunes.
Listen on Stitcher Radio.
Android users can grab our RSS feed here.
Right-click and “save file as” for direct download.

Thanks for listening to our show! We’ll be back next Wednesday morning 8AM EST.

Cheers,

Mitch

PS, there is also Pencil Kings content on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.