This week is my personal reflection piece as a recently burnt-out 3D game artist. I truly hope this will resonate with you. I’ve had a rough few years and have found post-grad burnout to be incredibly overwhelming. Lately I’ve noticed this is a trend in my own circles as well; post-grad burnout is becoming more common. Please read along if you’re also struggling with this, imposter syndrome, or job application fatigue.
Why Game Art Programs Can Lead to Burnout
As a professional who attended an accelerated program in 3D art, I’ve found some key roadblocks that I wish I had been aware of. These can lead to post-grad burnout while you’re still in school, and by the time you notice, it’ll be too late.
- If you’re an online student, you may struggle with communication. Having met colleagues at the same university who attended both online and in person, the experiences have been wildly different. Between a natural campus student bias and overloaded class sizes, it sometimes just feels like you are not getting the full attention you need.
How to combat: Be proactive in seeking feedback, attend virtual office hours (even if you don’t think you need to), reach out to online peers for swapping critiques, and pay attention in fine detail to rubrics and instructions. Your schooling quality is basically in your hands when you’re online. It’s important to be the lead communicator for all of your work and make sure to advocate for yourself. - You may need to go above and beyond the curriculum in place. If you start as a complete beginner like I did, you might completely miss this point until it’s too late. I went into my program assuming it would cover all pieces of knowledge I’d need, so I didn’t even research the field to see what I may be missing or need to supplement with. I also was a straight A student who only followed the class guidelines exactly as written, missing out on the more creative aspect of this field.
How to combat: Do research for the class subject you’re in and check if anything will not be covered. Try to implement new ideas or methods not covered in your class so that you stay ahead of the curve. If the class involves creating the same environment for all students, ask your instructor if you can make it in a different genre, setting, or apply new techniques. This will keep your work high quality while still following school guidelines (pending instructor approval, of course). - The accelerated program dilemma. These programs are often comparable to full-time work due to their sped-up nature. You can graduate with low effort, but you’ll leave unprepared in the industry, with wasted time & money. You want to graduate with the most knowledge possible and best portfolio work you can achieve. I was a full-time worker and had my first baby during my time at school. That was not easy at all; I had to quit my job and focus on school and parenting. It’s not for the weak of heart!
How to combat: Time management. Is. Key. It’s cliché for a reason – it’s so incredibly important in all aspects of life, but especially in an accelerated 3D program. Make sure you are aiming for quality in all the work you do.
The unfortunate truth is that burnout is likely regardless of combating these issues. Even the helping actions can take a lot of time and energy, contributing to the burnout. The goal is to work hard so that later the burnout isn’t as overwhelming.
The Cycle of Imposter Syndrome
Imagine: You’re doing great in school, maybe top of your class, then you graduate and suddenly your work feels worse than most juniors. You start scrolling portfolios on ArtStation for hours, wondering why you ever started. The imposter syndrome sinks in. Then, you feel you need to rush into multiple unpaid internships (see more on that next) or make lots of 3D work with no guidance. Now you’re no longer in school, so you’re juggling all of this plus your work and family responsibilities. Slowly, you start to dread opening up your 3D software and eventually, you want to stop altogether. You’re officially burnt out, and the longer you spend avoiding 3D work, the less you do for your portfolio and internships. Then a whole year passes, and your portfolio hasn’t been updated once.
Does this sound familiar? Well, this was my experience. Every time I tried to create work while burnt out, it felt worse than the last one. It’s a vicious cycle.
But please, remember:
You started this for a reason. You’ve created great work before, and you can do it again. Comparison to AAA game artists is only harming your mental; you will get to that quality once you’ve built the experience. You have to find the right reason to get your head back in the game. Find ways to bring the passion back into what you’re doing; not just doing it because you should. For me, this was starting a business to help others (glad you’re here!) and starting to make 3D projects that I just find cute – and no other reason for doing it. In this process, it’s made me enjoy the craft again.
Unpaid Internship Culture
No one really warns you about this huge culture shock. You graduate and then are met with many startup studios and indies “hiring” for revshare or unpaid/volunteer internships. That dangling carrot to keep you creating work for free: “but we should be getting funding soon!” For me, this has been the biggest factor in post-grad burnout to this day.
Please don’t misunderstand this point. This is how the industry functions currently and there is nothing inherently wrong with needing to use volunteers until money is made. But it is still a very valid concern that artists have to spend a lot of their time and effort for free while risking never getting paid. As expected, bigger studios are much harder to get hired at as well, so this ends up being one of the main options for many of us. You could always pursue creating your own studio. However, as an artist, we have the least experience with all of the systems involved. This is usually done by a game designer or dev.
Biggest Takeaway Regarding Unpaid Internships
You have to keep working on your portfolio if you go the unpaid internship route. Some studios don’t allow you to share your work created for them, or you may have to wait a long time until they approve. Keep your portfolio up to date with the work you personally want to represent, regardless and separate from your internship studio’s style.
The AI-Shaped Elephant in the Room
I started my schooling in 2022 and graduated my accelerated program in 2024 – right during the rise of AI. While there are endless pros and cons for this tech, one thing is neutrally clear: jobs are being replaced or shifted to accommodate new AI tools, helpers, and technology. Between industry-wide layoffs and a huge pool of talent competing for the same, limited roles, you may find the job search a bit more difficult.
Despite this, I encourage you to not give up on this career that you pursued unless you’re genuinely no longer interested in it. When pivoting to something you feel passionate about, it’s important to ride the waves of industry change and subsequent roadblocks. Learn to adapt to the current cultures and workflows so that you can still thrive in this industry. For me personally, I am still creating unpaid 3D work but decided to create Playable Drafts as well to accommodate my interest and industry changes. This is just one of many, many pathways to take… and I know you can find your own path too!
I Have Post-grad Burnout, What Now?
First, shameless plug, but please consider joining our Discord server. Playable Drafts was created for people exactly like us. We want to learn in public, fight gatekeeping, and make sure no one is left behind. We aim to do this by building a collaborative community, fun challenges, and educational content. We would love to have you: join the server here.
Second, here is a summary of my reflections on burnout and tips for when you’re in the trenches. If you happen to be in school too, I’ve also included some of those takeaways.
For in-school burnout:
- Be proactive and ask for feedback/critiques from your instructor or peers
- Attend all open office hours or Q&As if possible; you can learn from other people’s questions too
- Aim to learn a complementary skill not covered by your current class’s curriculum
- Get yourself set up on LinkedIn (or applicable site) and start networking early
For post-grad burnout:
- Be wary of internships that take more than they give to you
- Take a break after graduation so you can approach portfolio work with more passion & excitement
- Always work on your portfolio on the side; you don’t use it, you lose it
- Keep up on networking and don’t be afraid to message connections
- Find communities for your specialty so you can be in the world, even when you don’t feel it lately
It goes without saying, but none of these directly fix burnout. Ultimately, escaping post-grad burnout is built on many good habits and how you handle your relationship with your craft. I hope that you can find passion again with intentionality and authenticity. Good luck!
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