Great Expectations
3 reasons it’s okay if you’re not #1 in your field
Whatever their skill or seniority, artists are never done comparing. Aesthetics, polish, technical expertise — we rank our works against a long list of agreed-upon criteria, comparing ourselves to others for reference, critique, and research purposes. The downside? It’s hard not to feel like there’s always someone else better (and often younger) in one’s field, some superior talent destined for bigger things.
“I’m not the best 3D Artist out there.”
I struggled with this thought throughout my school years, and I’m sure I wasn’t the only student bogged down by this mindset.
They say it takes 10,000 hours to master a craft. Yet, even if you’ve put those hours in, you’re just as easily undone by dwelling on the fact someone else has probably clocked more, has a more refined approach, started younger… the second-guessing never ends.
By the end of my journey through school, my skills as an artist were okay. Not brilliant, not bad. I am happy with my accomplishments there, but I’m also keenly aware that I had a long way to go before I was on even footing with my industry’s elites. The gulf between me and the best in the business was a dizzying one. There was a mounting pressure to catch up; even by graduation, I felt I was in no position to close the gap.
After graduating, I started working as a Junior CG Artist at a well-established game production company, unsure of how much more I could grow as a professional artist.
Now, 5 years into my career, I’m in a position to give you 3 reasons why it’s perfectly okay not to be the best at whatever you’re doing.
1. It keeps you open to other options.
Early in my career, I fixated on the idea that no matter how hard I push there would always be a skill gap between me and “the best”. After a while, I took a step back, allowed myself to breathe, and instead kept my eyes and ears open to opportunity.
It is extremely easy to fall into a pattern with a job. The daily routine: Clock in for work, do the work, clock out from work, enjoy your evening, and sleep. It’s a comfortable place to be, and two years passed quickly for me in just this way.
It was around this time I began to feel a creeping anxiety. Growth stagnating. I had picked up the workflow, reached the standard quality of work set by the company, and gotten comfortable.
As I had become able to perform efficiently within my main job scope, there then came the choice to either pressure myself to polish my work endlessly in search of perfection, or start looking helping address the blind spots in my team’s wider processes.
The team I was with lacked a good deal of technical art knowledge, schedule management support, external communication support, and many other things. I soon found myself “unofficially” helping with these aspects and more, growing in areas I never thought I would along the way.
These are skills that many artists might not consider essential or useful. Some might even consider these a complete waste of time, contributing nothing to their artistic growth.
When I left the company, however, I realised these skills helped define what makes me stand out as a potential hiring candidate.
Instead of being just a “General 3D artist”, I came packaged with technical literacy, team management experience, communication skills, and a bunch of miscellaneous know-how. I found myself able to tailor my resume to many different job applications, and finally landed myself at Mighty Bear Games as an Art Production Manager.
2. Your company will benefit from a mix of skills that only you, a unique individual, are able to offer.
Everybody’s professional track record and experience is unique. In broadening my experience early on, I found myself equipped with knowledge of team management, communication support, task prioritisation, and technical art on top of my main skills as a 3D artist.
This is an uncommon combination of skills for an artist, and I found myself a niche in Mighty Bear Games. Able to understand the many different and interlocking demands and disciplines driving game production, I was able to contribute nimbly and substantially at a high level. It quickly became my job to offer clarity between individuals and disciplines, asking questions to make sure everything is being considered in the production process.
My capability to understand each individual’s needs and cater schedules to each person also came in extremely handy as I quickly caught on to gaps my team members’ time-management skills. I began to timebox to-dos and update task-management processes, setting up systems that helped people work more reliably. This helped bring a sense of stability to colleagues feeling lost or overwhelmed by overlapping tasks, improving their workflow and the overall efficiency of the project.
This would not have been possible without my history of “unofficial” meddling in my former team’s affairs, for which I’m now more thankful than ever. Had I not attempted to branch out into team management in my junior years, these things might not have come as naturally.
I realised that I enjoy these aspects of work on top of 3D asset production, and supporting my team in day-to-day production has become a source of pride and joy for me.
It can be art, management, communication — everybody has their own combination of skills that only they can offer, as long as they are offered the opportunity to make full use of it.
3. By not being the “best”, you will always be growing.
I am still in the early stages of my career, and I still have much to learn.
By not being the “best” at any of my chosen disciplines, I can be sure my growth will never end. I take pleasure in the surprises life brings me. 5 years ago, I could never have imagined myself in this position. My perspective has widened, along with the range of possibilities ahead.
Keeping myself aware of my shortcomings, I strive to learn from other people and my own mistakes, aiming to become a better version of myself every day.
I’m still not, and probably never will be, The Best 3D Artist anywhere.
That works out okay for me, as I know I will continue to improve. I’m evolving into someone that will surprise even myself in future… and for me, that’s the greatest pleasure of all :)
