When I look back on my early projects, I remember how much time I wasted trying to get things perfect before ever seeing them in context. I’d spend weeks sculpting details in ZBrush, only to drop the model into a render scene later and realize the proportions felt off, or the lighting completely changed the read. Those experiences taught me something I carry with me to this day: getting to the end fast is more important than getting it right early.
A couple of times at work, I even brought a decimated high poly into Unreal just so the team could see it under real lighting. It wasn’t pretty, but it gave everyone a clear sense of what the model would feel like in-game way better than asking them to imagine it from a raw sculpt. That’s the power of iteration: you learn faster, you see clearer, and you give yourself more opportunities to improve.
📚 A crucial lesson from the course
This idea actually comes from later in my Character Class curriculum, but I think it’s so important that every aspiring artist should hear it as soon as possible. In fact, one of my former students recently posted in our private community that this was the single most important lesson they took away from the course. And I agree. Learning to iterate freely is what unlocks your best work.
🎨 Creativity isn’t linear
The biggest misconception I still see is that art is made step by step until it’s finished. But creativity thrives in loops. You stand something up quickly, test it in context, and refine from there. The projects that come alive are the ones that embrace iteration from the very beginning.
Key takeaway: Iteration isn’t part of the process. IT IS the process.
I’ve seen this mindset play out at every scale. In games like Uncharted, designers would block out entire levels in grey geometry, test them, and throw half of them away. Only later did the art team step in to dress them up. The polish came after the fun had already been found. The same principle applies to a single character asset: don’t wait until the end to see if it works.
⚡ Why artists get stuck
A lot of newer artists burn out because they overcommit too soon. They’ll polish a sculpt for weeks before ever putting it into the scene, only to realize later that the camera angle hides half the work, or the proportions don’t fit the environment. By then, they’ve lost the energy to keep going. The faster you move into the final render context, the more clarity you’ll have, and the less blind faith you’ll need to carry through the project.
Key takeaway: Don’t grind early phases. Move quickly to context so you can see what really matters.
For me, the real craft begins once everything is in place: the model, the textures, the render scene. From that point forward, nothing is locked. I’m constantly updating meshes, rebaking, moving lights around, even rewriting parts of the design. Some of my favorite ideas have come during this stage, when the project is already standing and I can push it in new directions.
Polish always comes at the end, and that’s where things come alive. If you never reach that stage, you never see the full potential of your work.
This mindset shift is the single most important lesson for game artists. It’s how you avoid burnout, keep projects moving, and create characters you’re truly proud of.
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See you in the lesson,
J
