Finding New Suns With...

Leaning in on your expertise as a 3D artist who specializes in hard surface design, what do you find most exciting about your work?

​

For me, it all comes down to the way shapes occupy space and how to recreate that in a digital environment. Every new mesh is a challenge, a puzzle that requires careful planning to build cleanly and efficiently. Everything around us has dimensional volume and a structural logic behind it. As a 3D artist, I need to study an object’s silhouette, how it was constructed and the materials used, so I can accurately replicate how it looks and feels in a virtual space.

 

•   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •

​

How has the experience of creating submissions for The Rookies Weekly Drills influenced your creative process? Congratulations on first and second place, by the way!

​

The Weekly Drills were a great experience. What made them unique was the strict time constraint: just seven days to take an asset from concept to completion, based on a fresh theme each week. That pressure fundamentally changed how I work. It pushed me to build high-quality assets quickly, something that directly carried over into real production environments. As a result, I developed strong systems for planning, organizing, and executing all at once. Those skills have stayed with me throughout my career.

​

•   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •

 

Which aspects of SCAD’s Interactive Design and Game Development program you graduated from in 2019 have had the most impact on your career?

 

SCAD gave me the technical foundation to build optimized, visually compelling 3D models and textures. But what had the most lasting impact was learning how to both give and receive feedback effectively. From the start, I was exposed to constant constructive feedback from professors and peers. That helped me see the value of outside perspectives and pushed me to refine both my eye and my ability to communicate clearly, which is a crucial skill in any studio setting.

​

•   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •​

​

Can you tell us a bit about contributing to Valgrave and Lodestar and how those games influenced your growth as a 3D artist?

 

Both projects played a big role in shaping who I am as an artist and teammate. On Valgrave, I helped support the game on Steam while having a live player base. I created new environments and contributed to a season pass that encouraged player retention. Later, on Lodestar, I was part of a larger art team and gained insight into the full production pipeline from concept to release. It also taught me how to work efficiently in a remote setting, something that has become increasingly important. I’m deeply thankful for those experiences and the growth they brought.

​​

•   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •

 

How do you balance aesthetics and functionality when designing objects that players will directly interact with?

 

I start by understanding the object’s real-world construction and how players are meant to interact with it. From there, I gather strong reference material and begin building the asset with both form and function in mind. Once it’s in-engine, I test how it feels from a user’s perspective and make any changes to achieve the intended player experience. The most rewarding part is seeing real players interact with something you helped create. That’s when the design really comes together.

​​

•   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •

​

Looking ahead in your career, what are some goals you have for continuing to advance as an artist and collaborator on a team?

​​

In this field, learning never stops. Every year brings new tools, workflows, and standards. I’m always looking for smarter, faster solutions to the challenges we face. My goal is to keep refining my skills, deepen my knowledge of the tools we use, and stay sharp on all the small things like keybindings, shortcuts, and pipeline optimizations. Ultimately, I want to be the kind of teammate who raises the bar for quality and reliability. At the end of the day, I’m a gamer building for other gamers, and that keeps me passionate about pushing the craft forward.