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Lead Character Artist

Playground Games is looking for a Lead Character Artist to join our Fable team who will help realise our games vision and work alongside award-winning technical and creative talent.

As Lead Character Artist you’ll oversee the Character Art team, working in conjunction with the Art Director and Art Manager to plan work for the team and ensure our high-quality bar is realized. You will also have experience in the technical aspects of your craft, including materials, asset optimisation and the creation of meshes with clean and functional topology, as well as being comfortable communicating with technical departments.

Responsibilities

• Lead, motivate and inspire your team and to maintain and push the visual quality while delivering within the production needs.
• Management of the character team, including holding regular check-ups, setting objectives, looking after the wellbeing of the team, and providing the support that might be needed in their daily work.
• A point of contact for your team and drive the visual & push the quality in conjunction with other lead artists and Art director.

SKILLS SUMMARY:

• Multiple shipped titles, Ideally in AAA,
• Experience with previous titles, seeing production from initial phase to delivery
• Strong interest in self-development of managerial skills, overseeing the work of other team members and mentoring and developing them.
• Understand the importance of communication and collaborative problem-solving skills. Representing the team and being their voice in discussions across the project.
• Work together with Producer and Art manager to develop a strategy, coordinate character art resources, schedules and priorities based on project needs.
• A strong understanding of technical aspects for character creation together with a proactive drive for efficiency in work methods & the maintenance of high standards

• Good understanding of current generation production workflows in relation to character art production.
• Strong knowledge and understanding of human anatomy, proportions, mechanics, characterisation & archetypes
• Examples of current and past work demonstrating a strong understanding of form, silhouette, shape, texture, colour and lighting.
• Able to provide clear and consistent feedback and critique based on art direction and any technical considerations.
• Strong understanding of creating meshes with clean topology for deformation to support and collaborate with animation and tech animation.
• Solid understanding of clothing creation software such as Marvellous Designer.
• Good knowledge of texture creation packages such as Substance Designer and Substance Painter.
• Strong knowledge of latest versions of Zbrush or Mudbox.
• Keen interest in games and game design beyond art.