Well, I'm a total newb to the artistic side of game developement, all I ever did was some work in Blender. I have a few questions, I'd really appreciate answers. :P 1) As an artist, what job opportunities are there for which field in game developement? By that I mean, what ways is it better to expand? 2D graphics, modelling, animation...? Which ones are the hardest to learn, which ones are difficult to earn money with? The only one I have any expirience in is modelling, which I like, but I don't know much about the rest. 2) How difficult is it to get expirience? (By that I mean, with most jobs it's like that: to get a job, you have to have expirience, which you can't get without a job.) 3) What's the best way to get some? 4) What's the best way to study? So far, I just learned all the stuff by myself, but if I want to become a little better in a field, what's the way to go? Thanks!

1) Modelling in an of itself is not likely to land you a job anywhere. You may end up just modelling, depending on where you work, but in order to get the job in the first place you'll have to also show off texturing skills as well or move into it from another specialty.
Modelling is generally split into character and environment modelling. Environmental art is currently considered the easiest path into the game industry as an artist because there is high demand for it and the demand is constantly growing. On the other hand, there are a lot of people vying for jobs at the more respected companies so you'll still have to kick some serious ass to get the better jobs.
Trying to get straight into a company as a character artist is considerably harder. Everyone and their grandma does character art; you have to fight with an insane amount of talent to get at less spots than environmental art offers.
As for other opportunities, I can tell you good animators are hard to find but I don't know how easy it is to land a job. A lesser known route that is quickly building up demand for is the role of an FX artist. Some industry professionals are predicting FX artists will gradually replace environmental artists as the "gateway to the industry".

2) You don't necessarily need job experience; just experience in general. The quality of your art will be what makes your portfolio stand out. Make contacts with other artists, they can help a lot to land you a position.

3) A great way to get "experience" without actually being in a job is to work on game mods. I can gaurantee you UT2007 will be the best game to mod in the next few years: Unreal Engine experience is highly valued. Any game will do, though. Again, quality art is what is most important.

4) Keep making art and you will improve yourself. Look at artists who are better than you and adapt their techniques to your own work. Read up on articles to refine your workflow and learn new tricks. Show off your stuff (tactfully) and don't run from criticism.

well i will be glad to help you with any questions you may have, if you need help just aim me at metalgearsolido8 and i'll do my best to help you.

you can get a lot of experience just by creating images yourself. come up with an idea or an object and model it. do your best to vary your objects. You'll get better and better with each image. you can also do tutorials online, however i tend to find them lacking in information and therefore hard to follow.

1) Best way to find out is to google up some game companies hiring and see what fields they have and what skills you need for them.
What's harder to learn etc it's all so bloody relative. You can expand into any category (2d texturing/3d modeling/3d animation) but it's usually better to be good at 1, rather than mediocre at everything.
Being able to UVmap and texture your models is for sure more than recommended. I wouldn't jump into animation unless you really really like it, it's a fulltime job by itself.

2) It's very easy to get experience, there's tons of game mods being done all the time starving for help, also, most games nowadays come with editors and are easy to mod, just help yourself.
There's plenty of literature online, on how to get things into any game and tons of game related modeling and texturing tutorials and articles.

3) See above.

4) Go to drawing classes, sit outside and do life drawing, read related books (drawing on the right side of the brain etc). Drawing is the base for all texturing and modeling. If you have a solid art backround with good sense for anatomy and shapes you can do anything. Modelling apps are just tools, they're easy to learn and all your knowledge will translate perfectly.

So far I've seen some fairly solid advice on this thread. I still would like to add my 10 cents worth though.

1) As far as opportunities go, the most important thing to consider is what you’re really interested in, not what will most likely get you a job. This statement may come across as impractical career advice, but it’s important to realize that you won’t succeed at something that you don’t have a passion for. This is a no-duh statement. Initially, in my career I was convinced by external forces that the path I should take is that of a typical digital artist. So through my self-learning experiences and formal education I concentrated on developing my modeling, texturing, rigging, animation, dynamics, and rendering skills. Over the last several years I’ve discovered that I don’t enjoy modeling characters, rigging, or animating nearly as much as I enjoy creating vast new worlds and environments and making them function interactively.

Had I realized this at the beginning of my education I would have focused the development of my skills in the area of level design and put very little into rigging, dynamics, and animation. So before you try to make a decision based on the most commonly available opportunities in the game industry, first consider what you really are passionate about. Once you find what that particular role is, then you can do some industry research about what it takes to make it in the industry as that role and find a way to set yourself apart from the competition in that arena.

2) See StrangeFate and LockePick’s suggestions.

3) Same

4) The best way to study is really dependent upon the individual, but if books and tutorials aren’t cutting it then I would suggest attending a school that teaches those disciplines necessary to the role you want to have in the industry. In some cases such as level design, most art schools don’t actually offer a degree or long-term program for a particular discipline. This is partly the reason I ended up getting a BA with emphasis in Digital Animation Production. There was no emphasis in my courses for level design and the use of game editors, although now there are more than likely many schools that teach in this area.

If you are able to learn on your own and you are extremely talented at what you do then school may actually slow you down and probably won’t give you the same benefit that you’ll receive simply building a very strong portfolio. In the end, all an employer is concerned with is what you’re capable of. Had I known this earlier, I would have forfeited school to work on a strong expansive level design portfolio. Although many art schools allow you to create a portfolio during your education process they are often channeled to fit specific classroom assignments, end up looking like dozens of other portfolios being created by fellow classmates, and don’t allow for the flexibility or creativity that you can achieve on your own. However, I would only advise this approach if you are very confident in your abilities.

Hope this helps,
-Matt