We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Solveig Horsfield a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Solveig, thanks for joining us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

While studying, I felt incredibly overwhelmed with everything there was and is to learn as a CG artist. Creating my first 3D objects, I thought that there was no way I would ever feel good enough to actually compete within the industry. Even after I graduated, I still didn’t believe I was ready to work as a 3D artist! It was only after I took a couple of months to work on what turned out to be my specific skill — modeling and look development for characters — that I started gaining confidence in what I was doing. I might not be the first to say this, but putting in the work will yield results. Study artists that you like, watch tutorials instead of tiktoks, join challenges within the community, just keep working towards your goal! Having talent is great, but only when you take the time to practice will you actually improve!

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I am a 25-year-old 3D artist from Vienna, Austria, specializing in modeling and look development, primarily for characters in animated films and games. How does one end up in that field of work? Well, when high school ended, I thought about some of my greatest passions. Since I attended a media-based school, I had the privilege to try out things such as video filming/editing and noticed that making movies, as well as drawing, were some of the things I enjoyed doing the most. So, my logical conclusion to combine filmmaking and drawing was to enroll in a university course in ‘3D animation & games art’. Even though I had absolutely no clue what I was getting myself into, and I have hardly drawn anything (nor created any movies for that matter) since then, fast-forward to today, and I can say that I was incredibly lucky to have found my passion and the right career choice back when I was 18!

It took a lot of practice and hard work, especially right after university, but I’m happy to say I now work as a character artist. I almost unintentionally became a freelancer as I started getting jobs primarily through my social media account after I worked on my portfolio and posted it online.
Since I’m not great at in-person networking, social media really was a lifesaver and a career kickstarter for me. Although I do want to work in a studio at some point, I am genuinely very happy with the jobs I have been able to work on so far. The thing I love the most is how diverse my projects have been. I have mainly created characters for animated series, games, short films, VR & AR productions, miniature collectibles, and have done character and creature grooming, and genuinely all types of look development. Every project brings new challenges and with them new skills! I truly never stop learning!

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

I truly believe that in this day and age, it is possible to build a solid base of knowledge as a CG artist from YouTube (and Google) alone. Of course, it can and will be difficult to find all the resources you need as a beginner, but the knowledge is out there! If you can, try to take a beginner’s course to create a foundation and then delve into depth with the millions of videos available from your home, or actually – from your sofa! I spent six months after university watching tutorials and practicing, and I still do now, actually.

If you’re not the DIY type of person, there are also so many amazing online schools for CG artists that provide high-quality content with teachers working in the industry. I wish I had taken some of these classes when I was more of a beginner, as you can really choose your specific interest and learn from a professional! The value of being taught by someone working within the industry lies in the potential immediate opportunity for work or getting noticed by someone who could help you out in the future. I know countless people who gave their best in online schools and were recruited for jobs by their teachers, either immediately or at a later time.

Since I didn’t realize this early enough, I can’t say which school you should choose, but a quick search on Google will help you find out which ones you can choose from and which are the best!

And lastly, study artists who inspire you. Many successful artists have a Patreon or YouTube channel or sell tutorials on Gumroad. I spent hours watching videos of my favorite artists to learn their workflows and methods and see how they tackled different areas that I was trying to learn.

How did you build your audience on social media?

There are so many myths about social media out there, some true, some not but here are some tips from my end.

Firstly, be patient. Posting once every two months with 200 followers is not going to give you exposure. Sure, the occasional reel could go viral, but not many do. Instead, focus on building an actual community that cares about you and your posts.

For me and my field of work, Instagram appears to be the best choice. Although I do have a couple of viral videos on TikTok that even landed me a job, I’d still say my Instagram provides more consistent exposure, and I prefer the community there by a lot. I have even made some good friends on Instagram, and the support from fellow artists can’t be compared to the fleeting attention you get on apps like TikTok.

Here are some things that worked for me in growing an audience: creating appealing and trending content, contributing to challenges by creators with a larger audience, and tagging related pages known to feature content creators. I know this might sound superficial, but it works. I am not saying you should go for a generic style and give up your unique art, but you can use the popularity of other things to your advantage. Let me give you an example. When famous concept artists I like post “Do this in your style” challenges, I like to participate because it gives me exposure not just to my own followers, but also to the artist’s followers. You might even get featured, which is an extra bonus!

Another example I saw was from an animator I recently discovered. He created a phenomenal fan animation of Miles Morales from “Into the Spiderverse,” and it went viral. The second movie recently came out and it’s been a hot topic, especially within the animation industry, so his timing was perfect. As for pages that feature your work, some charge money, and some don’t. It’s up to you whether you’re prepared to pay for your exposure, but the most important thing to consider is the follower count versus engagement. A page with 500k followers is worthless if their posts have 200 likes, 3 comments, and 2 of them are from spam bots. So, look out for that!

My last point might be a bit of a truth bomb, but- if your work is good, it’s likely going to get seen. Of course, it’s not always true, as there are many fabulous artists who don’t have exposure, but that’s where my other points come into play. But no matter how many pages you tag or how many trends you follow, or even if you draw half-naked girls, if your work is not appealing or interesting to others, they won’t enjoy it and hence the apps won’t push it. However, instead of getting discouraged, always try to see it as feedback. You’re basically asking for public opinions, so take them into account and keep improving!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.artstation.com/solveig_h
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/solveigs_art/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/solveig-horsfield-81998b209/
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@CGCouple-zy3em