Open to new opportunities

I build characters and creatures for AAA games.

Purge Trooper — Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
Get in touchSee the work

Principal Character Artist · Irvine, CA

About

I'm a 3D character artist with over twenty years in games. I've worked at Nexon, EA Bioware, Capcom, EA Respawn, and most recently as Principal Character Artist at Light Speed LA (Tencent).

My work runs from high-poly sculpting in ZBrush and Marvelous Designer through to in-game assets, Unreal materials, and Groom hair and fur. I care about anatomy and silhouette first — the things that decide whether a character reads before any texture is applied.

Alongside my own work I've reviewed outsourced character assets and given art direction to external partners, including Red Hot. That feedback runs through Jira boards and Lucid, so notes, revisions and approvals stay traceable per asset from first pass to final delivery.

Sculpting & Modeling

  • ZBrush
  • Maya
  • 3ds Max
  • Blender
  • Mudbox
  • 3DCoat
  • Plasticity

Texturing & Cloth

  • Substance 3D Painter
  • Marvelous Designer
  • Photoshop
  • R3DS Wrap

Engine, Hair & Fur

  • Unreal Engine
  • UE Materials
  • UE Groom
  • Maya Xgen
  • Houdini

Outsourcing & Review

  • Jira
  • Lucid
  • Art Direction & Feedback
  • Vendor Review

Focus

  • Character & Creature
  • Human & Creature Anatomy
  • Hard Surface
  • Concept Art

Work

Hurlock creature, scaled hide and exposed teeth

Hurlock

2026

A Dragon Age creature revisited on a current pipeline. Scaled hide, exposed teeth and sunken eyes — the anatomy has to hold up in close-up.

  • ZBrush
  • Substance 3D Painter
  • Unreal Engine
Bust of a man holding a camera, realistic render

Man with a Camera

2026

A realistic bust rendered in Unreal Engine, rebuilding skin, hair and cloth end-to-end on a current pipeline.

  • ZBrush
  • Maya
  • Marvelous Designer
  • Substance 3D Painter
  • Unreal Engine
ArtStation →
Ibuki full body, two poses

Street Fighter: Ibuki

2026

A stylized character taken through Unreal Engine. The costume mixes Ibuki's Street Fighter outfit with Asuka's Ibuki swap costume from Street Fighter X Tekken.

  • ZBrush
  • Maya
  • Blender
  • Substance 3D Painter
  • Unreal Engine
ArtStation →
Cere Junda in-game cinematic close-up

Cere Junda

2019

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order

A lead story character on a licensed title. Actor likeness and Lucasfilm approval standards had to be satisfied in the same asset.

  • ZBrush
  • Maya
  • Marvelous Designer
  • Substance 3D Painter
  • 3DCoat
ArtStation →
Saw Gerrera bust render

Saw Gerrera

2019

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order

An established film character moved into the game pipeline. I owned the head sculpt through to hair and costume.

  • ZBrush
  • Maya
  • 3ds Max
  • Hair Farm
  • Marvelous Designer
ArtStation →
Gorgara with wings spread, in-game shot

Gorgara

2019

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order

A large flying boss creature. Translucent wing shading and in-game performance had to land together.

  • ZBrush
  • Maya
  • Substance 3D Painter
  • 3DCoat
  • Unreal Engine
ArtStation →
Jotaz brute creature in-game render

Jotaz

2019

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order

A heavy brute creature, where silhouette and muscle volume carry the threat.

  • ZBrush
  • Maya
  • 3DCoat
  • Unreal Engine
ArtStation →
Night Brother character render

Night Brothers

2019

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order

Refining scan data (R3DS Wrap) into game characters, including skin shading look development.

  • R3DS Wrap
  • ZBrush
  • Maya
  • Substance 3D Painter
  • 3DCoat
ArtStation →
Mykal flying creature render

Mykal

2019

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order

A flying creature. I owned the sculpt, low-poly and normal map; colour and roughness were completed by an outsourcing company.

  • ZBrush
  • Maya
  • 3DCoat
  • Unreal Engine
ArtStation →
Purge Trooper armour render

Purge Trooper · Clone Trooper

2019

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order

Hard-surface armour sets. Established canon design held exactly, then fitted to game spec.

  • Marvelous Designer
  • Maya
  • Substance 3D Painter
  • 3DCoat
  • Unreal Engine
ArtStation →
Wyyyschokk creature render

Wyyyschokk

2019

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order

A giant arachnid creature.

  • ZBrush
  • Maya
  • Substance 3D Painter
  • 3DCoat
  • Unreal Engine
ArtStation →
Background NPC character render

Background NPC

2019

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order

Characters that populate the world. Holding believability on a low budget — the asset type outsourcing handles most often.

  • 3ds Max
  • Hair Farm
  • Marvelous Designer
  • ZBrush
  • Maya
ArtStation →

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order © & ™ 2019 Lucasfilm Ltd. / Respawn Entertainment / Electronic Arts Inc. All rights reserved. Images show work I personally contributed; all rights remain with their respective owners.

Experience

Light Speed LA · Tencent

Principal Character Artist

2021.07 — 2026.07

  • Owned the character quality bar and technical standards on a UE5 AAA title
  • Worked end to end, from high-poly sculpt through to in-engine implementation

EA Respawn Entertainment

Principal Character Artist

2019.08 — 2021.06

  • Characters and creatures for Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
  • Unreal materials and Groom hair and fur setups

EA Respawn Entertainment

Senior Character Artist

2019.01 — 2019.07

  • In-game character modeling and texturing

Capcom

Senior Character Artist

2012.04 — 2014.09

  • Console-title characters and creatures under a Japanese-parent approval structure

EA Bioware

Character Artist

2007.03 — 2012.03

  • Dragon Age creatures and boss characters

Nexon

Lead Character Artist

2004.09 — 2006.06

  • Led the character art team and set art direction

Nexon

Character Artist

2003.03 — 2004.08

  • Online game character production

Interested in working together?

If you have an opening or a question, get in touch — I reply quickly.

kmjaehyup@gmail.com
ArtStationEmail