Summary
We are seeking a highly skilled and experienced Lead Character Artist to join our dynamic team. As Lead Character Artist, you will be responsible for creating and overseeing the production of high-quality character assets. You will have a direct impact on the visual identity of our games, bringing characters to life with stunning detail and artistic excellence.
Core 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.
Core Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts, Game Art, or 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.
Description
- Full-time job with benefits.
- Role is on-site in San Rafael, CA.
- Office is in downtown San Rafael – near freeways, bus and train stations.
Join our talented team and play a crucial role in defining the visual identity of our games. Together, we will create memorable characters that resonate with players worldwide. Apply now and lead our character art team as the Lead Character Artist with Absurd Ventures.
The base pay range for this position is $150,000 to $185,000 per year. Actual compensation is based on market location and may vary depending on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. We also offer a competitive package of benefits including paid time off, sick time, company holidays, parental leave, medical/dental/vision insurance, life insurance, disability insurance, and 401(k) to regular full-time employees. Certain roles may also be eligible for bonus and equity.
About Absurd Ventures
Absurd Ventures is a media company creating new IP across all platforms and for all formats. Absurd Ventures is building narrative worlds, creating characters, and writing stories for a variety of genres, without regard to medium, to be produced for live-action and animation; video games and other interactive content; books, graphic novels, and scripted podcasts.
