Game and Entertainment Art Personal Statement Example

“What's this?” Mushrooms. “What's this?” Beans. “What's this?” Corn. The answers started getting more and more exasperated.

As a kid, I grew up as a “Whats this?” child. Bombarding question left and right, eager to know, to explore. It was without a doubt that when I grew up and learnt that my love for art had a subject that fit perfectly with my spontaneous, overly curious self that I would’ve chosen Game and Entertainment Design to be my major.

Creating was the path that fed that unhinged curiosity in me. The real world got me bored quick, so instead, I turned to fantasy. Books such as Percy Jackson, Art of Dead Space, Art of Bioshock, and the Marvel movies were huge inspirations. It was an immediate addiction. It appealed to me in a sort of taboo desire where I dreamed to live in fantasy. I developed into a ‘what if’ person. What if I could live in this world? And if I could, what would the creatures look like? The people? The technology? The society? That was the catalyst for the beginning of my art career.

It would be more than easy to say that the hunger of inspiration fueled my art till today, but I’m not here to lie. From the days I scribbled on the drywall of the house to illustrating on digital tablet, my journey with entertainment design took everything I had.

Growing up in Malaysia as an art major meant that you were always going to be treated second grade. Art was seen as an ‘easy way out’. From a young age, I had to prove that my integrity for scribbling on walls was more than just a fleeting dream.

Year 11, and I took every opportunity I could.

I was Head of Art in class for the class decoration competition, Assistant Head in the green house sports day art committee, the co-director and script-writer of the inter-class drama competition and most importantly, a student trying to comprehend IGCSE Art. Leadership came as I had to direct a class of 29 people to find the fun of pasting cardboard decorations all around the class.

Involving everyone was tough, but as a leader, I found that each person was more than willing to contribute. You just had to take the time to understand them. Tolerance was another. As the assistant head for green house, I came up with the variety of ideas. But, I had to learn that some ideas just aren’t good and that taking criticism is one of the most helpful things you can receive. Team work came in the form of the class drama. Working as the director, script writer and actor meant that I had a part helping everyone understand the story but at the same time, worked with everyone else’s ideas.

Most importantly, I learnt time management. IGCSE art was strict with deadlines. At this point, my art had mostly gone from sketching to simple illustrations but never exam worthy. As well as making myself do a piece a day, I pushed my curiosity to its limits and twisted the exam questions around to fuel my fantasy. I used my curiosity to try new things from splashing ink to throwing bleach on a charcoal piece. My motivation sky rocketed. I began to learn about the importance of colour theory, pre-sketching, perception and depth.

With all the new foundations I’d learnt, my improvement in art took on a form of itself. My own style.

Finally, I’d proven myself. We won double awards for our class decoration, best creativity for the play, accomplished art for sports day, and most importantly, I managed to obtain Top in Malaysia for my IGCSE art.
Today, my art has become me. My love for fantasy has conjoined with character creation, environmental concept, and world/story building. Taking history and literature as my secondary majors have brought a whole new aspect of it to my work. But I realize I still have more to go.

When I found OTIS’s game and entertainment design program, I knew it was the perfect fit for me. That curiosity in me is vying to learn more from 3D design to CGI effects to further engage my ideas. As someone who hasn’t been surrounded by many art people, I feel like university is the best place to do that. I want to learn from others, see more ideas, share our interests, work together, everything that I had missed out. By moving overseas, I also want to push myself to become more independent. I am aware of the demands that an art career will have but I crave the challenge. And to me, that’s how I want to live.