Oleksandr Fomin

Senior 3D Artist | Tech Lead | Quality Control & Art Supervision | 10+ Years in GameDev

Ukraine

About

My passion for creation started in childhood with traditional drawing and clay sculpting, but my professional 3D journey truly began in 2006 when a meticulously modeled sub-d dragon head landed me my first job. Since then, I’ve spent nearly 20 years in the industry, including a defining 11.5-year chapter at Plarium, evolving from a 3D Artist to a Tech/Craft Lead. I specialize in Mobile Stylized Art (projects like Undersea Solitaire Tripeaks and Elf Islands). Over the years, my career naturally evolved into Craft Leadership, where I focus entirely on bridging the gap between artistic vision and technical perfection. What I actually do: Craft Leadership & Review: I provide in-depth visual and technical feedback to 3D artists, ensuring assets hit the stylized art direction while meeting strict mobile and Unity engine constraints. Pipeline Optimization: I focus on streamlining workflows to save the team's time. I develop custom Python add-ons for Blender to automate repetitive tasks, simplify export processes, and ensure technical consistency across the art team. Hands-on Production: From low-poly modeling, gradient atlases, and hand-painted textures to full PBR pipelines and sub-d geometry for marketing materials in Substance Painter. Mentorship & Documentation: I create clear technical documentation and mentor artists to help them understand game-ready asset requirements and avoid production bottlenecks. Beyond the Studio: I believe the best Technical Leads maintain a broad curiosity that fuels their core expertise. While my daily focus is on stylized mobile games, I constantly push my technical boundaries. I regularly take AAA pipeline bootcamps (recently completing ZBrush sculpting and AAA WeaponArt courses) to keep my skills sharp. I'm also deeply passionate about hardware and 3D printing, which I use for engineering pet projects — like currently designing and building a custom 6-axis SpaceMouse-style controller. Outside of 3D, I enjoy experimenting with new tech trends like vibe-coding, having recently built my own personal finance app. Following the recent closure of Plarium Kyiv, I am open to new professional challenges. If you are looking for a Tech Lead, Craft Lead, or Senior 3D Artist who brings both artistic vision and technical rigor to the table — let's connect!

Experience

  • Plarium (11 yrs 9 mos)
    • Senior 3D Artist, Tech Lead
      Jan 2023 - Mar 2026 · 3 yrs 3 mos

      Project: Elf Islands (Mobile Stylized) Technical & Visual Review: Conducted daily reviews of 3D environment assets and characters, ensuring strict adherence to the stylized art direction and Unity engine constraints. Pipeline Optimization (Python): Developed custom Python add-ons for Blender to automate repetitive tasks, including specific render pass setups for the 2D overpaint pipeline. Marketing Production: Created high-quality 3D assets utilizing a full PBR pipeline and sub-d geometry in Substance Painter for marketing materials. Mentorship & Documentation: Authored technical documentation, guidelines, and provided constructive feedback to elevate the team's technical execution.

    • Senior 3D Artist, Team Lead
      Aug 2021 - Dec 2022 · 1 yr 5 mos

      Project: Undersea Solitaire Tripeaks (Mobile Stylized) Team Leadership: Managed a sub-team of 3D artists, conducting 1-to-1 meetings, performance evaluations, and task coordination. Craft Mentorship: Provided hands-on reviews and feedback to improve the quality of stylized 3D assets. Workflow Improvements: Developed custom Python scripts for Blender to optimize routine technical work and asset preparation for Unity integration. Asset Creation: Modeled and textured low-poly stylized assets using gradient atlases and vertex coloring. Engine Integration: Handled the export and setup of 3D assets directly into Unity3D, configuring specific project settings.

    • Middle 3D Artist
      Jul 2019 - Jul 2021 · 2 yrs 1 mo

      Project: Undersea Solitaire Tripeaks Stylized Asset Production: Created low-poly stylized 3D assets (buildings, sea creatures, props) tailored for mobile platforms. Engine Integration: Handled the export and setup of 3D assets directly into Unity3D, configuring specific project settings. Optimization: Ensured all models met strict polygon count limits and performance requirements without sacrificing visual appeal.

  • 3D Artist, 3D Animator at Integra Studio
    Feb 2012 - Jun 2014 · 2 yrs 5 mos

    Created micro-animations and VFX for Megapolis (3ds Max, Flash).

  • 3D-Artist at DIGITEC Visual Engineering
    Nov 2010 - Sep 2011 · 11 mos

    Modeling, Animation

  • 3d-artist, visualizer at Freelance
    Nov 2008 - Oct 2009 · 1 yr

    Visualization

  • 3D Artist at Softline (http://softline.kiev.ua/)
    Jun 2006 - Dec 2008 · 2 yrs 7 mos

    Modeling, Animation, Visualization