The Art Nest Academy
We Hatch Aspiring Artists Into Professionals
"That French Artist Teaching you How to get a Job"
I had to fail in Art School to Succeed in the Industry
Hey !
My name is Timothée Mathon.
You can call me Tim !
I'm 29, from France, with the baguette frenglish accent you can imagine.
I'm a Senior Concept Artist and Art Director in the AAA Videogame Industry, an Illustrator for TTRPGs, and an Art Mentor and Instructor.
I'm a Senior Concept Artist and Art Director in the AAA Videogame Industry, an Illustrator for TTRPGs, and an Art Mentor and Instruct
I worked for a lot of big companies
- Ubisoft
- Quantic Dream
- Netflix UK
- Share Creators
- Net Ease
- Happy Elements
- Mood
- Conceptopolis
- Free Range Games
- Eden Games
- ... and many more !
On projects like...
- Steep
- Riders Republic
- Lord of the Rings : Rise To War
- Lord of the Rings : Return to Moria
- Some Dungeons and Dragons related books
- Some Total War Warhammer related projects
- Fall of Gods
- ...and more projects buried into NDAs forever
But before that...
I was an Academic Failure
Almost no teacher was believing in me
I was considered one of the worst student in my class...
It's not that I had no skills, just that the school was not welcoming the new techniques and expectations of the Industry
The school was teaching "the Only Way to do Art"... according to them...
On my side I was already focusing on the more modern techniques like 3D and Photobashing. It was brand new back in 2015.
Here is the last school report I ever got before dropping out
TLDR : I was not glorious at all, most of the art teachers were calling me fraud with no talent, and few believed in me
When my parents received it, I got a call from my Dad.
He was furious and my Dad never gets angry at me.
He was not aware I had quit school and was shocked.
The only thing I managed to say was:
"Dad, please, can you do something for me?
I want you to take a photo of that report and keep it.
One day it'll be a fun story to remember".
Eventually I dropped out of school
I kept working on my own
I kept focusing on AAA Environment Design with these emerging techniques.
I got guidance from a former teacher of mine, the only one who really believed in me, and...
6 months after dropping out, I got my first job at Ubisoft
While all my former classmates were still at school...
And since then I have been working for a lot of companies
I also got to teach in many Art Schools
And Mentor artists online
What about now?
While I'm certainly not a super famous artist in the Industry with hundreds of thousands of followers on social medias, as I never spent much efforts on these. I think my career is quite good for my age.
I'm not struggling with finding work at all, in fact, I've not sent a resume or applied for ages since companies are coming to me for work.
I have my niches, both for my design work and for teaching.
My financial situation is stable and comfortable and I keep growing steadily business wise.
After 6 years of teaching and mentoring
I believe a lot can be improved in the Art World
Most Aspiring Artists and Art Students struggle to get a job
For most Artists, getting a job in the Industry seems impossible...
That's not true
We might think this because hiring success rate is catastrophic...
Just look at:
- The dozens of thousands of artists fighting for underpaid commissions online
- The explosion of demand for Mentorship and Online Education done by Pros rather than Schools
- The thousands of unhappy artists graduating out of art schools every years and begging for jobs on LinkedIn
It just shows that for most of us artists...
We suck on the professional part of art
Artists tend to focus only on the technical part
But it's only half of the requirements to get hired
Most Art Schools don't teach the other half
And most Professionals only teach technique
This leads us to a lot of aspiring artists with amazing technique...
But who don't know how to put it at the service of getting a job
And these young artists get more and more in distress...
It's a vicious circle
They hold impossibly high standards about the required level to enter the industry
They think what they see on the front page of Artstation is what needs to be done to get a job
And they completely overlook what the industry actually requires...
Or they think starving while fighting for crumbles on commission pages is the norm...
In any case it makes them more and more frustrated.
And this is why I created
The Art Nest
The Guidance I wish I had
When I was alone in my room
Frustrated...
Desperate...
Trying to figure out
How to get hired in the AAA Industry
From a benevolent mentor
I have been through that horrendous situation...
Art being my fuel...
My identity...
My reason to wake up in the morning...
But also...
The source of my frustration
Of despair
Of self-doubt
My parents, friends and family to worry about me wanting to pursue art
Telling me to "maybe get more realistic and pick a real job"
The teachers in Art School telling me they had no hope for me...
I know this feeling
That burning desire to make it to the industry
So all that pain can disappear in an instant
All this pain can be avoided with the right mentor
- Someone who understands what you are going through
- Someone who has been there too and made it to the other side
- Someone willing to take you by the hand in a system that works
Actionable, Result-Driven Frameworks
No Fluff
No Corporate Jargon
No comforting lies for the emotional stress-balls we are as artists
Just the Strategies
Straightforward
And taking you by the hand for every step of the process
Clarity
Focus
That anyone can understand and apply
Every framework we whare and teach is Universal and works for anyone willing to apply it
Regardless of who you are and where you live
Virtuous Circle Student/Mentor Relationship
Our Students results speak louder than any marketing techniques.
On Your side, you get to produce amazing work, so you get hired fast.
On Our side, we get amazing stories and transformations to share about you.
Everyone wins by providing you unwavering care and guidance from start to finish.
Also...
We will always keep the classes small to provide each and every of you the attention, care and results you deserve.
Quality over Quantity.
This is everything I've learnt from :
- My horrendous experience in Art School
- 6 Years of Teaching and Mentoring
- And 7 Years full time in the Industry
Condensed and Organized for you
So you can do it easier than I did
Welcome to
The Art Nest
Here is what I teach
Build a targeted portfolio to join the AAA Industry in months, not years, even if you are from a small country.
Every pro in the industry used that method, consciously or not
- 5-week of Mentorship, 2 group sessions / week (10 total)
- Over 6 hours of Video Course
- Follow-Up and Feedback for the entirety of your portfolio crafting
- Private community access
- Additional workshops and sessions with former, current and future mentees
- If you are allowed in the Mentorship, we work with you until you get a job
We worked together
(swipe left and right for more)
Jessica Nera Bargh - Croatia
"Tim is the best mentor I've ever had, and I've had a few.
He is very meticulous in knowing what you'd like to do as an artist so that he can provide you with his full knowledge of the industry and resources.
I mean, he is extremly detailed in his approach to help you out, to learn, and improve really fast. He explains each feedback in great detail which helped me out immensely!
I do also have to note that while it might be intimidating at first - starting a mentorship, having him as your mentor is what I always reccomend to my friends.
Tim is a very positive person that pushes you in such a supportive and wonderful way that you'll always feel extremly inspired and literally wanting to draw more.
I also have to mention that before his mentorship I felt stuck with my art and felt really discouraged moving forward to try and get into the industry, but going through his mentorship gave me alot of courage and faith in myself as an artist and that it's possible for me to break into the industry."
Bram Willemot - Belgium
“This was the first mentorship I ever took, so I thought long and hard about whether to follow this mentorship or any other one offered online.
I'm very glad I decided to follow Tim's mentorship.
The industry insight Tim gave, for people like me who never had a formal art education, was incredibly valuable. Even despite the fact that I've already been working in the industry for a few years.
Secondly, the framework offered to target your portfolio effectively, how to target weak areas in your work and compare with peers will help me for the rest of my career without any doubt.
And even though technical help isn't really what the mentorship is truly about, we still got constant technical feedback, specific to each individual's needs, lots of tips and tricks that helped tremendously.
These little things that take your art to the next level.
I improved a ton during this mentorship and gained a lot of confidence and information regarding the professional aspect of being an illustrator/concept artist.
Thanks a lot Tim !”
Gerasimos M. Chatziparisis - Greece
"In 2019 I came across one of Tim's posts in an art group offering private art lessons and for a couple of hours he was charging pretty much all the money I had at the time.
However after our initial conversation I could tell he really cared about helping the people that reach out to him and so I decided it was worth it, even if could afford only one or two session per month.
In the years that followed I worked a night shift job in order to have time to practice during dead hours while using all of my free time to practice, go to sleep and start all over again.
It wasn't easy but Tim's guidance and honest feedback on my work were crucial for my improvement.
He would eventually invite me in a trial run for his mentorship and the information on that course were invaluable.
It gave me a clear path to follow to reach a goal that seamed so daunting, even unreachable at times.
I kept practicing and trusting in the process and in the end of 2022 I got my first job as a visual development artist.
Even though nobody is going to do the work for you if you want someone to provide you with the map and the tools required to get to your destination Tim is the right mentor for you."
Quentin Coniglio - France
“Tim has a very lucid view of the industry regarding concept art and accurately and precisely communicates methods that drastically improve the efficiency of creating a portfolio, building a new mindset and much more.
Now I see that I didn't have the right method and that I was "scattered", the Mentorship has restructured me and put me on the right track.
In 5 weeks I've seen the change, and now I just have to go for it.”
Stefania Castagna - Italy
"I highly recommend this mentorship to everyone who wants to get a grasp on how this industry is really working and how to effectively improve to get a job.
I personally think these topics are rarely discussed and while an artist can find a great amount of tutorials online about technical skills, it is way more difficult to find such contents in the same quality or quantity.
Tim, instead, reveals the secrets to successfully find a job, how to be appealing to your dream company and how to proficiently plan a decent portfolio. And he is always very kind and available to answer any doubts or questions.
I also particularly enjoyed the whole section of his videos dedicated to mental health problems, generally affecting artists and emotional people, with solutions or tips to live a better life.
You can sense that Tim has been through all of this stuff and he is genuinely taking care of his students with advice, dedication and empathy.
So yeah, in my opinion another bonus for choosing this course is that Tim is a nice person himself with his own/owl personality and a strong desire to help the newer generations of artists and he is not just a simple plain teacher that shares his knowledge."
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