Character Artist

Mediabistro; Los Angeles (CA); Remote; USD 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A game development studio is seeking a Senior 3D Character Artist to create stylized characters for their projects. This role allows for remote work and involves close collaboration with various teams to ensure high-quality art that aligns with the game's vision. Candidates should have a strong background in character modeling, texturing, and animating, along with proficiency in tools like Blender and Maya.

Qualifications

• Proven experience modeling, texturing, and animating anime-stylized characters.
• Expertise with texture painting, UV workflows, and in-engine implementation.
• Experience creating hair using curves or cards.

Responsibilities

• Evolve character art workflows and tools.
• Create stylized characters based on concept art.
• Collaborate with leads to ensure visual style consistency.

Skills

Modeling anime-stylized characters

Texture painting

Time management

Communication

Education

5 years of character art experience

Tools

Blender

Maya

ZBrush

Substance Painter

Photoshop

Job description

Evening Star is looking for a contract Senior 3D Character Artist to join the team! In this role, you will be responsible for bringing our current project to vibrant life by blending your outstanding artistic talents with our proprietary game engine.

At Evening Star, you will have the chance to create high-quality art that resonates with our audiences, while working closely with the development team to explore new and exciting visual ideas.

Remote working is in our DNA — since our inception in 2018, we have had developers across the U.S., England, and Australia. While we welcome people to join us in our Los Angeles office, this will never be a requirement.

Responsibilities

• Partner with the Art Director, Designer, Producers, Tech Artists, and Engineers to evolve our character art workflows, shaders, and tools
• Create stylized characters based on concept art and story-driven references
• High poly modeling and sculpting, clean in-game mesh retopology, and author UVs and PBR textures
• Maintain clean topology and strong silhouettes, and expressive shape language
• Ensure assets meet animation and rigging needs
• Work closely with the Engine and Tools teams to improve model implementation and performance
• Collaborate with leads to ensure consistency in visual style and production quality across all characters
• Help document and maintain our character pipeline for both internal and future external teams
• Act as a pipeline power user: evaluate new tools, provide feedback, and demo techniques for the team

Requirements

• Proven experience modeling, texturing, and animating anime-stylized characters with a strong emphasis on form and shape language
• Expertise with texture painting, UV workflows, and in-engine implementation
• Proficiency in Blender, Maya, ZBrush, Substance Painter, and Photoshop
• Familiarity with shader development; able to collaborate with tech artists on material creation
• Strong time management and prioritization skills to handle multiple assignments, confidently estimate and execute tasks
• Experience creating hair using curves or cards for stylized rendering
• Eye for silhouette, proportion, color harmony, and gesture
• At least 5 years of character art experience and has shipped at least one commercial title
• Clear communicator with a collaborative mindset

Pluses

• Comfortable with GitHub, Perforce, SVN, or other comparable version control systems
• 3D Character Rigging and Skinning
• Familiarity with the core principles of western animation
• Knowledge of Unity3D, Unreal 4, or other game engines

How to Apply

Click the apply button to complete your application on LinkedIn. Attach a PDF containing a resume. In addition, please provide a copy of your digital portfolio or a link to your site.

Applications without resumes and portfolios with examples in the required art style will not be considered.

Equal Opportunity Statement

Evening Star is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, protected veteran status, disability, or any other basis protected by applicable law.

About

Evening Star

Evening Star is a game development studio founded in late 2018. Based in Los Angeles, with additional operations in London and Melbourne, Evening Star's mission is designing fresh, fun games that stand the test of time.

As a distributed team, a key tenet of Evening Star's studio culture is strong communication. Though we may be separated by two oceans, we endeavor to foster a close-knit collaborative environment. We boldly explore new and exciting directions that push the boundaries of what Evening Star can achieve.