Download a full PDF version of my curriculum vitae here
I am a Lead / Principal Technical Artist with over a decade of experience across AAA development, primarily at Rare (Xbox Game Studios) and recently as a Principal Technical Artist at Rhino Rock Studios contracted to a AAA games studio. My work is primarily hands-on, focusing on scalable art systems, shaders and look development, procedural animation, deformation, tooling, and art pipelines.
I specialise in bridging creative ambition with technical and production realities - delivering visually striking, performant real-time experiences while maintaining clarity, structure, and momentum across teams. I bring a handson, execution-driven leadership style, combining clear technical ownership, pragmatic task breakdown, and active people management through mentorship, feedback, and day-to-day support.
Core Competencies
Technical Expertise
- Art Tooling and System Design
- Stylized Shader Development
- Procedural Animation Systems
- Geometry Processing and Deformation
- Character Grooming (Hair and Fur) & Customization
- Unreal Engine, Maya
- Python, C++, HLSL
Production, Leadership & Delivery
- Feature Ownership & Technical Direction
- Task Breakdown, Prioritisation & Scheduling
- Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration (Art, Engineering, Design)
- Mentorship, Technical Guidance & Reviews
- Documentation, Standards & Workflow Definition
People Leadership & Team Development
- Day-to-day technical leadership and support for artists and technical artists
- Task planning, prioritisation, and expectation-setting across multiple contributors
- Mentorship, career guidance, and regular feedback conversations
- Supporting onboarding, skill development, and knowledge transfer
- Interviewing, candidate assessment, and hiring feedback
Performance & Optimisation
- Runtime & Memory Budgeting
- Performance Profiling & System Auditing
- Scalable, Performance-Conscious Authoring Practices
Work Experience
Principal Technical Artist - Rhino Rock (Contracted to AAA Studio)
2025 - Present
- Led environment look development and implemented scalable shader solutions balancing fidelity, consistency, and performance.
- Delivered tooling and pipeline improvements that reduced iteration time and improved visual quality without increasing runtime cost.
- Worked closely with engine and rendering teams to align art workflows with engine constraints and opportunities.
- Evaluated, documented, and shaped new art pipeline workflows, including foliage wind, asset setup standards, and performance-conscious authoring.
- Produced clear documentation to ensure workflows were repeatable, adoptable, and future-proofed across teams.
Lead Character Tech Artist – Rare (Xbox Game Studios)
Kinect Sports Rivals, Sea of Thieves, Everwild
2013 – Present (12 years)
Key Contributions
- Led the design and delivery of the Sea of Thieves character creator, a scalable, stylised system central to the player experience.
- Engineered high-performance animation, deformation, and rendering systems, supporting ambitious visual direction while respecting runtime budgets.
- Architected a new art tooling framework, improving iteration speed, scalability, and cross-team usability.
- Supported Everwild’s character visuals by aligning technical solutions with creative direction to push stylised fidelity.
Hands-on Technical Leadership
- Led stylised rendering R&D, shader development, grooming (hair & fur) workflows, and scalable character customisation systems.
- Designed mass-scalable creature and character systems, balancing performance, memory, and artist usability.
- Developed procedural animation systems and spline-based tooling to support dynamic character behaviour and motion.
- Benchmarked runtime and memory costs in close collaboration with engineers and stakeholders.
People Management & Delivery
- Acted as day-to-day technical lead for character and tech art contributors, providing direction, feedback, and support.
- Broke down complex features into clear, prioritised tasks, balancing scope, risk, and production timelines.
- Mentored junior and mid-level team members, adapting leadership style to experience level.
- Contributed to hiring through interviewing, skills assessment, and candidate feedback.
Collaboration & Knowledge Sharing
- Worked closely with artists, engineers, designers, producers, and co-dev partners.
- Participated in feature reviews, technical breakdowns, and art reviews.
- Produced and led internal learning sessions and creative tech summits to improve cross-discipline visibility and sharing.