Art Director, Lead Environment Artist, Lead Character Artist

About Forbidden Kemono Studio

Forbidden Kemono Studio LLC is a growing indie game studio currently working on multiple Unreal Engine PC titles. We’re building a small, dedicated leadership layer for our art team and are recruiting for three senior/lead art roles:

• Art Director
• Lead Character Artist (2D/3D & Concept)
• Lead Environment Artist

All roles are:

• Remote
• Voluntary, revenue-share only (no salary, no stipend, no hourly)
• USA & Canada applicants only

Compensation is percentage-based revenue share after platform fees, taxes, and refunds. Exact percentages are documented in our Independent Contractor Agreement before you join a project.

Role: Own the overall visual direction across one or more of our projects and guide the art team through our Lead Character and Lead Environment Artists.

You’ll:

• Define and maintain the visual style for characters, environments, UI, and key art.
• Turn game pillars and narrative tone into clear visual direction and references.
• Work closely with the Lead Character Artist and Lead Environment Artist to keep everything consistent.
• Create and refine style guides, mood boards, and art bibles.
• Review work regularly and give structured, actionable feedback (not vague notes).
• Help plan art milestones appropriate for a small, part‑time indie team.

You should have:

• A strong game art portfolio showing clear style and taste.
• Experience making direction calls and leading or mentoring other artists.
• Familiarity with game art pipelines (concept → production → engine).
• Comfort working in tools like Photoshop/Clip Studio/Krita and 3D/DCC tools (Blender/Maya/ZBrush/Substance, etc.).

Role: Own the character art vision and guide 2D Character Concept Artists, 2D Character Artists, and 3D Character Artists.

You’ll:

• Define and maintain the character art style across projects.
• Support and mentor 2D concept, 2D character, and 3D character artists.
• Help build style guides, character sheets, turnarounds, expression sheets, and proportion guides.
• Review character work and give clear, constructive feedback.
• Jump in hands‑on for key characters or to unblock the team.

You should have:

• A strong character‑focused portfolio (2D, 3D, or both).
• Experience working on game‑ready characters (topology, UVs, textures, readability).
• Comfort with tools like Photoshop/Clip Studio/Krita and Blender/Maya/ZBrush/Substance or similar.
• Some understanding of rigging/animation needs so characters are built for production.

Role: Own the environment art vision and guide 2D Environment Concept Artists, 2D Environment Artists, and 3D Environment Artists.

You’ll:

• Define and maintain the environment art style for one or more projects.
• Support 2D concept, 2D environment, and 3D environment artists.
• Help create style guides, mood boards, paintovers, and environment callouts.
• Work with level designers to align layout, composition, and focal points with gameplay.
• Help define modular kits, tiling materials, and set dressing workflows.

You should have:

• A strong environment art portfolio (2D, 3D, or both).
• Familiarity with game‑ready environment workflows (modularity, texel density, LODs, performance).
• Experience with tools like Photoshop/Clip Studio/Krita and Blender/Maya/ZBrush/Substance tools.
• Some experience bringing environments into Unreal Engine or similar engines.

• Must be based in the USA or Canada.
• Comfortable with remote, Discord‑based collaboration.
• Able to give and receive feedback like a teammate, not like a diva.
• Okay with revenue‑share only, understanding this is a long‑term indie grind, not a salaried studio job.

Mid‑Senior level

Design, Art/Creative, and Information Technology

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