Studio: Absurd Ventures
Job Opening: Lead Character Artist
Location: San Rafael, California, US
Type: Full-Time
Responsibilities:
- Lead the character art team in the creation of high-quality character models.
- Collaborate with the Art Director to define the visual style of characters.
- Sculpt, model, and texture characters to meet the artistic and technical requirements of the project.
- Contribute in planning, organization and prioritization of tasks with Production for internal, OS, and co dev partners.
- Create and maintain character pipeline documentation for training and onboarding
- Proactively identify risks in character art production timelines and effectively communicate risks to Production and Directors.
- Mentor and provide feedback to other character artists.
- Ensure character assets are optimized for performance and memory usage.
- Work closely with rigging, animation, and technical art teams to ensure characters are ready for implementation.
- Stay current with industry trends and techniques in character art.
Qualifications & Skills:
- Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts, Game Art, or a related field.
- 7+ years of experience in character art within the video game industry.
- Strong proficiency in Maya, ZBrush, and Substance Painter.
- Significant experience in Unreal Engine
- Excellent understanding of anatomy, form, and silhouette.
- Experience with PBR and hand-painted texturing workflows.
- Proven track record of creating high-quality character models for AAA titles.
- Ability to lead a team and work collaboratively across departments.
Plus if…
- Experience with character rigging and skinning.
- Knowledge of Marvelous Designer or similar tools for clothing simulation.
- Experience with rigid body dynamics and cloth simulation in Unreal Engine
- Previous work in a leadership role on a major game title.
