Portfolio Advice: Character Artist

HR Departments and creative team leaders are always on the look out for someone who will fit easily into their existing team, and sometimes, even as specifically as someone who has something in their portfolio that the company is currently working on. So if you want to increase the appeal of your portfolio to anyone looking for a Character Artist, then you need to fully comprehend the role being discussed.

The role of the Character Artist should firstly be separated from that of Character Designer (which can be part of the wider role of of the 2D Artist/Concept Artist).

The Character Artist’s role in Games Design tends to be a 3D specialist’s role and incorporates all aspects of design from paper based design, through to organic and hard-surface digital modelling, and in many cases rigging and animation. Turning the character work of the 2D Concept Artist into “living, breathing” 3D characters.

You will need strong anatomy skills (often both human and creature anatomy), the ability to differentiate clearly between organic surfaces and any technology or material based “hard surfaces”.

In your portfolio you should probably include evidence of:

• Strong organic Digital Sculpting skills that shows excellent understanding of human anatomy, particularly facial features, with an ability to generate character and costume designs in 3D, across multiple styles or genres.
• Iterative Character Design, i.e. multiple “versions” of the same character, a warrior in basic crusader chainmail and weapons belts and shield, the same character with plate armour added over the top, and a different shaped shield, another version with cloak and spear, plus winged helm. etc.
• Examples that show your understanding of the importance of mesh topology (and retopology), to ensure that character models deform well when animated.
• Evidence of rigged characters, plus “idling” animations
• Flat shaded/Untextured screenshots/renders – inc detail lighting shots.
• Textured version/rendered version – use of different shaders.
• A selection of your textures/texture sheets/material process/materials spheres etc – flesh, scales, eyes, hide, fur, hair etc.
• Evidence of High to Low Poly object creation/baking.
• Digital Tools may include: Zbrush, Mudbox, Maya, BodyPaint 3D, Substance Painter, Marvelous Designer, Photoshop… plus potentially experience of the processes involved in working with 3D scans.
• Strong traditional art skills (2D & 3D), life drawing, anatomy studies, human, and animal, drapery and technology – robotics, armour etc. – all showing a strong aesthetic appreciation for scale, composition, proportion, mass and volume, light, lighting and color, and surface properties.
• In this role you may occasionally be asked to assist in the generation of Character Concepts, so you may wish to include Character Sheets, Rotations etc.

You will need to understand the difference between “hard-surface” and “organic modelling” and how these are affected (with definitions blurring) by animation and mesh deformations.

• You might want to show how your characters have been prepared for use “in engine”.

Occasionally this role crosses over with the role of the 3D Artist and expands the role into to the development of props/objects and other character-centric assets.