Ian Steplowski - Resume

Ian Steplowski

Ian Steplowski

Artist / Tech Artist / Project Lead

Camas, WA, United States

iansteplowski@gmail.com

Summary

Seeking to apply a multi-disciplinary art, technical and leadership perspective gained from top notch animated Character Art teams to lead and grow creative teams exploring new frontiers for animated storytelling.

Resume PDF

Skills

Software proficiency

Maya

Photoshop

Substance 3D Painter

Marmoset Toolbag

ZBrush

Unity

Procreate

Python

Figma

Productions

- Video Game
  Wol
- Year
  2023
- Role
  Character Design, Model and Rig
- Company
  Niantic
- Mobile Game
  Peridot
- Year
  2023
- Role
  Senior 3D Artist
- Company
  Niantic
- Movie
  Lightyear
- Year
  2022
- Role
  Character Technical Artist - Sculpting, 3D Sketching, Modeling and Rigging
- Company
  Pixar Animation Studios
- Movie
  Luca
- Year
  2021
- Role
  Character Technical Artist - Modeling and Rigging
- Company
  Pixar Animation Studios
- Movie
  Soul
- Year
  2020
- Role
  Character Technical Artist - Modeling and Rigging
- Company
  Pixar Animation Studios
- Movie
  Onward
- Year
  2020
- Role
  Character Technical Artist - Sculpting, Modeling and Rigging
- Company
  Pixar Animation Studios
- Movie
  Toy Story 4
- Year
  2019
- Role
  Character Technical Artist - Modeling and Rigging
- Company
  Pixar Animation Studios
- Movie
  Incredibles 2
- Year
  2018
- Role
  Character Technical Artist - Modeling and Rigging
- Company
  Pixar Animation Studios
- Movie
  Cars 3
- Year
  2017
- Role
  Character Technical Artist - Modeling and Rigging
- Company
  Pixar Animation Studios
- Movie
  Blade (cancelled project)
- Year
  2016
- Role
  Character Pre-Visualization 3D Sketch / Model / Rig
- Company
  Pixar Animation Studios
- Movie
  Sanjay's Super Team
- Year
  2015
- Role
  Character Technical Artist - Modeling and Rigging
- Company
  Pixar Animation Studios
- Movie
  Lava
- Year
  2015
- Role
  Character Design and Modeling
- Company
  Pixar Animation Studios
- TV Production
  Toy Story That Time Forgot
- Year
  2015
- Role
  Character Technical Artist - Modeling and Rigging
- Company
  Pixar Animation Studios
- Movie
  The Good Dinosaur
- Year
  2015
- Role
  Character Technical Artist - Modeling and Rigging
- Company
  Pixar Animation Studios
- Movie
  Inside Out
- Year
  2015
- Role
  Character Technical Artist - Modeling and Rigging
- Company
  Pixar Animation Studios
- Movie
  Brave
- Year
  2012
- Role
  Character Technical Artist - Modeling and Rigging (uncredited)
- Company
  Pixar Animation Studios
- Movie
  Cars 2
- Year
  2011
- Role
  Character Model / Rig Lead
- Company
  Pixar Animation Studios
- Movie
  Toy Story 3
- Year
  2010
- Role
  Character Technical Artist - Modeling and Rigging
- Company
  Pixar Animation Studios
- Movie
  Presto
- Year
  2008
- Role
  Character Technical Artist - Modeling and Rigging
- Company
  Pixar Animation Studios
- Movie
  WALL-E
- Year
  2008
- Role
  Character Technical Artist - Modeling and Rigging
- Company
  Pixar Animation Studios
- Movie
  Ratatouille
- Year
  2007
- Role
  Character Technical Artist - Modeling and Rigging
- Company
  Pixar Animation Studios
- Movie
  Jack Jack Attack
- Year
  2005
- Role
  Technical Director
- Company
  Pixar Animation Studios
- Movie
  The Incredibles
- Year
  2004
- Role
  Technical Director
- Company
  Pixar Animation Studios

Experience

Lead / Senior Character Technical Artist at Pixar Animation Studios
Emeryville, CA, United States of America
January 2003 - October 2021
Collaborated with industry-leading Artists, Animators and Technical minds to create innovative and memorable feature film character performances.

Some highlights:

• Lightyear (2022) - Mentoring, Flight Suits & Bugs Exploration and Modeling

• Luca (2021) - Mentoring, Alberto Sea Monster Modeling and Rigging

• Onward (2020) - Creatures ZBrush Sculpting, Modeling and Rigging

• Incredibles 2 (2018) - Background Characters Model/Rig Team Leadership

• Cars 3 (2017) - Crazy 8 racers Model/Rig Team Leadership

• The Good Dinosaur (2015) - Insect Model/Rig Team Leadership (largely cut)

• Lava (2015) (short) - Design and Modeling of female, combined volcanoes

• Cars 2 (2011) - Character Model/Rig Lead, Francesco (F1 Racer) Model/Rig

• Toy Story 3 (2010) - Human Model/Rig Development via Andy and Mom

• Ratatouille (2007) - Model/Rig of Chef Skinner and food critic Anton Ego

Outside of production experiences, I founded a digital sculpting interest group and taught numerous ZBrush Classes in successfully advocating for adoption of digital sculpting workflows.
Senior 3D Artist at Niantic
Remote / San Francisco, CA, United States of America
October 2021 - July 2023
Adapted my skill set to gaming and mixed reality pipelines, moving towards responsibilities in creative and art direction while shipping two titles.

• Peridot (AR mobile game) - Pitched and Directed opening Cinematic.

Provided Art Direction to an outsource team and Designed / Created a group of five Featured Peridots for Marketing and future in-game use. Substantial contributions to featured character models and developing a template for cosmetics assets. Very active in group brainstorms.

• Wol (MR Experience) - Designed, Modeled and Rigged the featured Owl character (live dialogue powered by Inworld AI) on an aggressive timeline.