PsijicDjinn said:
as an environmental artist

And you asked this in the Game Design forum??? Your professor never taught you that art is not game design, or you nodded off when he got to that part. If you had taken a moment to look through the forum titles, you should have scrolled past the Games Career Development forum, which is the right forum to ask questions about, you know, careers in the game industry. So this has been moved there.

Also your “class assignment forum post" is terrible. You not only ask for tips but also:

PsijicDjinn said:
if you could give me an example of something you have done that would be great. Also if you want to, challenge me to make something

You ask too much of us. We're not here to serve as willing classroom aids for you. Thread locked.

I regret the tone of my previous post. I find it hard to play nice 100% of the time. Thread remains locked since student forum post assignments remain unwelcome. That said, perusing the Games Career Development forum may turn up useful advice for art students (and other students).