Portfolio 2026 / Games art & design
Junior 3D Artist
Final year games art and design student with seven years of 3D experience, specialising in environment and prop production.
A selection of personal, academic and collaborative work across environments, props, games and animation.
In-depth environmental story design project themed around rituals, exploring the Viking ritual of Blood Eagle. All assets, tileable floor meshes, textures and lighting setups were developed personally. Includes breakdowns, clay renders and optimisation work. Created in Blender and Substance Painter, with the main character developed through a Blender and Unreal Engine MetaHuman workflow.
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Contribution to an Atomhawk design project, creating an asset from concept drawings and documenting the process. Delivered high- and low-poly models, full texturing, engine optimisation and an in-depth breakdown.
An ongoing series of animated shorts in a PSX-era art style, following a group of friends trying to revive the skating scene in their local community. Developed a bespoke workflow covering asset design, texture creation, scene development and compositing. Behind-the-scenes material is available on request.
A solo game design and development project, begun in college and continued independently, built around a Folk Catholicism theme. A story-driven game featuring functioning NPCs, companions, enemies and boss battles. All artwork was created in 3D and composited into 2D sprites, with the process documented in a 30-page game design document.
A collection of game-ready assets and submission-ready projects. Regular participation in game jams and animation competitions provides opportunities to practise new skills and deliver considered work to strict deadlines.
A range of personal experiments and game prototypes, with a focus on rapid prototyping, collaborative development and the quick iteration of mechanics and visual assets under pressure.
I'm James, a final-year games art and design student and 3D artist with seven years of hands-on experience.
My work spans environment art, props, game development and animation. I enjoy building believable spaces, creating atmosphere and taking an asset from an early idea through to a polished, game-ready result.
Alongside university work, I've developed projects independently, contributed to collaborative work and taken part in game jams to keep experimenting and improving.
Let's talk about a projectCreative thinking backed by practical production knowledge and a focus on making work that functions as well as it looks.
Proficient environmental artist with detailed knowledge of leading lines, framing and breadcrumbing. Experience across personal and collaborative game projects.
Able to meet strict deadlines while maintaining attention to detail and efficiency through technical knowledge and modular asset creation.
Knowledge of cinematic lighting systems and atmospheric techniques, creating mood and depth through methods such as gobo textures and volumetric lightmaps.
Tools I use Blender · Substance 3D Painter · Unreal Engine · MetaHuman
Open to collaboration
I'm always interested in hearing about new projects, collaborations and opportunities.
jamesdl.cook@outlook.com Get in touch