Junior Character Surfacing Artist – UNDISCLOSED PROJECT – Expression of Interest

Job Position(s): Junior Character Surfacing Artist - UNDISCLOSED PROJECT - Expression of Interest

Mikros Animation is hiring a Junior Character Surfacing Artist in Montreal, Canada on an undisclosed animated feature project. This role sits within the Look Development department, where you will be responsible for building the textures, materials, and shading networks that define how characters and props actually appear on screen. It is a strong fit for an artist with a foundation in 3D surfacing who wants structured mentorship inside a major animation studio pipeline.

About the Role

Working under the Look Dev Supervisor, the Junior Character Surfacing Artist contributes directly to the final visual quality of characters across an animation production pipeline. Day to day, this means translating concept art and reference materials into production-ready UVs, texture maps, and shading networks that hold up through lighting and compositing. The work requires equal parts technical precision and an eye for surface detail, color, and material behavior.

Key Responsibilities

• Build and refine the final look of characters and props in alignment with the visual direction established by the Look Dev Supervisor.
• Create texture maps and materials directly from concept art and photographic or painted reference.
• Develop clean UV layouts that meet the specific requirements of the project’s shader and look development pipeline.
• Construct shading networks for individual assets, ensuring consistency with the overall character surfacing style of the feature film.
• Provide the surface nuances, color variation, and material detail needed to achieve the intended aesthetic at final render quality.
• Maintain organized, pipeline-compliant asset files throughout production to support handoff to lighting and rendering teams.

What You Bring

• A foundational portfolio demonstrating character texturing and material work, ideally from an animated feature film or episodic animation production.
• Hands-on experience with industry-standard surfacing and texturing tools such as Substance Painter, Mari, or equivalent software used in VFX and animation pipelines.
• Working knowledge of shading network construction in a renderer such as Arnold, RenderMan, or V-Ray.
• Solid understanding of UV layout principles and how texturing decisions affect downstream lighting and compositing work.
• Ability to interpret concept art and translate two-dimensional reference into three-dimensional surface detail accurately.

Why This Role

Mikros Animation has credits on major international animated features and operates as part of one of the larger VFX and animation groups working in feature film production today. The Montreal studio gives artists access to a structured production environment with clear departmental hierarchy and room to develop technical depth under experienced supervision. This is a genuine entry point into character surfacing work at a studio with a real production slate.

Submit your expression of interest now for the Junior Character Surfacing Artist position at Mikros Animation.