Lakshya Digital - Character Artist - Photoreal Heads

Location: North America/ Remote

Company: Lakshya Digital

Start Date: ASAP

Employment type : Contract

Job Description

Lakshya Digital is a globally successful and rapidly growing art outsourcing studio based in India, with studios in Gurgaon, Pune and Bangalore, and satellite studios in Manila, Tokyo, Seattle, and London.

We are seeking a highly skilled Head Likeness Artist who can create ultra-realistic human head models with precise likeness. This is a hands-on production role, requiring strong artistic fundamentals, deep anatomical knowledge, and strong technical understanding of modern texturing and hair workflows.

As a Character Artist, you will report to the Art Director and must ensure the consistent delivery of top-quality content and documentation that meets client and internally created specifications. An Artist must be highly organized and detail oriented, with exceptional oral and written communication skills in English. Our successful candidate must possess relevant technical skills while in a similar role on at least one shipped AAA Current Gen console game.

Responsibilities

• Create high-quality 3D human head models with accurate likeness using reference images or scan data.
• Sculpt detailed facial forms based on strong understanding of human anatomy, bone landmarks, and skin surface structure.
• Use Texture XYZ maps and high-end texturing workflows to produce realistic skin textures.
• Work with scan heads, photogrammetry data, and refine them into clean production-ready meshes.
• Bake clean, production-quality maps (Normal, AO, Curvature, Cavity, etc.) for real-time engines.
• Perform hair cards placement for realistic head grooming, ensuring proper flow, breakup, and density.
• Collaborate with modelling, rigging, texturing, grooming, and animation teams to ensure smooth integration of assets.
• Optimize assets for real-time engines (Unreal Engine, Unity) without losing quality.
• Maintain high artistic standards and meet production deadlines.

Requirements

• Excellent understanding of human anatomy, especially facial structure, proportions, and muscle groups.
• Proven ability to match realistic or stylized head likeness with high accuracy.
• Strong experience using Texture XYZ maps and scan-based workflows.
• Good understanding of hair cards creation and placement for real-time characters.
• Expertise with ZBrush for sculpting.
• Strong knowledge of Substance Painter, Mari, and Photoshop for texturing.
• Experience working with 3D scan clean-up and photogrammetry.
• Understanding of PBR workflows and map baking pipelines.
• Experience with real-time engines (Unreal/Unity).
• Strong attention to detail and passion for realism.
• Ability to take feedback and iterate quickly.

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent professional experience
• Experience in AAA game development.
• Knowledge of blendshapes and facial rigging basics.
• Familiarity with grooming tools (XGen, Ornatrix) is a plus.