Concept Artist [Remote Contract] (Retro Studios)

• Paid weekly
• Health care benefits
• Paid holidays observed
• Access to Nintendo discount
• Flexible/remote work environment
• Paid time off provided

Retro Studios

Founded in 1998, Retro Studios is a wholly owned subsidiary of Nintendo Company, Ltd. Retro is a state-of-the-art game development studio, working in conjunction with Nintendo to bring award-winning games to Nintendo's cutting-edge next-generation platforms. Retro Studios is located in beautiful Austin, Texas. With rolling hills, scenic waterways, abundant wildlife, vibrant music and film scenes, and a laid-back cosmopolitan culture, Austin is a dynamic city with an excellent quality of life. Austin's sunny weather also supports a great range of outdoor activities, providing plenty of venues for top-notch game developers to recharge and unwind.

Announced by Nintendo in January 2019, Retro Studios is currently in the midst of developing Metroid Prime 4 for the Nintendo Switch.

• Provide visual contextualization support for gameplay design efforts at all stages.
• Author environment, and prop concept art in the form of thumbnails, sketches, breakdowns, reference sheets, paintings, and other digital imagery.
• Provide and receive feedback professionally.
• Engineering to achieve high-quality, innovative concept art.
• Collaborate with the Art Director, Artists, and Designers to define the look of our projects by working to establish a consistent visual direction for environments, props, effects, and mood using all art tools available.
• Adopt a broad range of styles from realistic to highly stylized based on goals and direction for a given project to produce concept art with an appropriate sense of color, drama, shape language, personality, and design.
• Work with Art Director and Leads to provide feedback and guidance to Artists.
• Design visually cohesive fictional worlds.
• Create technical and aesthetic breakdowns of concept art to support art, design, and engineering efforts.
• Create storyboards, background illustrations, and promotional artwork.
• Take ownership of concept work for various environments and props while actively collaborating with other disciplines such as Design, Art, and
• Perform research as necessary to support visual development.
• Mentor less senior team members.

*This job description outlines primary duties and requirements and is not intended to identify all tasks that may be performed; individuals occupying the position may be required to perform other duties. The company may modify job duties from time to time, either in practice or in writing.

SUMMARY OF REQUIREMENTS:

• Examples of modern rendering process using 3D art and modeling tools (Maya, Blender).
• Must present online portfolio with high-quality, varied examples of environment concept art.
• Demonstrated ability to develop visual representations of abstract ideas.
• Mastery of fundamental artistic principles.
• Excellent 2D drawing skills with a strong grasp of composition, color theory, perspective, lighting, environment and architecture.
• Undergraduate degree in art-related subject, completion of an intensive art training program, or equivalent professional experience.
• Good communicator, self-motivated, driven to grow professionally.
• Experience executing a wide range of artistic styles.
• Has five or more years' gaming industry experience as a concept artist, including at least one complete product cycle shipping AAA title.

Retro Studios is an equal opportunity employer. We offer a welcoming and inclusive environment in service to one another, our products, the diverse consumers we represent, and the communities we call home. We do all of this with kindness, empathy and respect for each other.