Lead Artist → Remote-first · Canada · As soon as possible Competitive salary plus meaningful founding-team equity

Define the visual identity of an original IP from a blank page.

Who We Are

Oina Studio is an independent Canadian game studio developing premium story-driven games for PC and console. We believe modern engines now let small teams deliver production value that once required hundreds of people.

We focus on single-player experiences: strong stories, characters worth caring about, and worlds that come alive the closer you look. Our first game is a narrative adventure of growth and companionship, drawn from Kazakh mythology. We build solid pipelines and keep the creativity and agility of a small team.

The Role

We are looking for an artist to define the visual identity of an original IP from a blank page.

Your first deliverable is the art of a vertical slice that publishers will judge at the end of your first 90 days. This will be the foundation of the art style of the game.

You will be the first art hire and the person who establishes what this game looks like. This is a hands-on creative role first — you'll be making art for the majority of your time — and a leadership role second, as you build and guide the art team through Prototyping and into production.

The art style needs to be expressive, achievable by a small team, and readable at the gameplay scale the game demands. You'll own the visual direction of the debut title and work directly with the founder to develop and defend the art style through every production phase.

What You'll Own

Art and visual direction (primary)

Define and document the visual style of the debut title — environment, characters, UI, VFX

Create key art, style guides, and reference sheets that define how this world is drawn — the documents the art team grows into

Build environment and character assets for the Prototyping and Vertical Slice milestones

Establish and own the art pipeline end-to-end: modeling, texturing, rigging, import, LOD, and in-engine setup

Own character animation for the vertical slice. Character performance carries the game's emotional beats; it cannot be an afterthought

Develop concept art for pitches, publisher presentations, and internal alignment

Art leadership

Define art standards, naming conventions, and asset review process

Set the quality bar and review every asset against it; give clear, actionable feedback

Coordinate with Lead Developer on engine-side technical constraints: polycount targets, texture budgets, shader complexity, platform requirements

Own the art schedule and scope estimates for each milestone; flag risks early

Build a team of 3–5 artists as the studio grows into production

Who You Are

Independent and self-directed — comfortable being the sole artist at the start, able to scope and prioritize without hand-holding

A clear communicator — you give feedback people can act on

Drawn to character performance — you care whether a character's acting lands, not just whether the model is clean

Ready to define a style and defend it through every production phase

What We Are Looking For

Required

4–5 years minimum experience in games art, including 2+ years at senior or lead level on a shipped commercial title

Strong portfolio showing environment, character, or stylized art — ideally covering more than one discipline

Proven ability to define and document a visual style from scratch, not just execute within an existing one

Fluency in a standard 3D and texturing toolchain

Experience building and managing an art pipeline in a major real-time engine

Nice to have

Shipped a narrative or RPG indie title where visual storytelling was central

Concept art skills (or ability to direct a concept artist)

Hands-on character animation, or a track record of directing animators to a quality bar

Bilingual in English and French

What You'll Gain

Compensation

Competitive salary plus meaningful founding-team equity, with step-ups at funding milestones. We build the package around the right person and what they need to make this work

Equity: 4-year vesting, 1-year cliff

Benefits and culture

Remote-first; preference for candidates based in or willing to work Eastern Time (ET)–adjacent hours

3 weeks paid vacation minimum; studio closes between Christmas and New Year

What this role gives you that bigger studios can't

First art hire: you define the visual language of an original IP

Direct authorship — your creative choices become part of the shipped game

You own your domain, and the team commits to your decisions

What Success Looks Like

First 90 days

Visual style locked and documented in a style guide within your first two weeks

Concept art for 3 characters, 4 environments, and 3 key moments approved

Steam page art delivered by day 45: capsule, screenshots, page assets

Vertical slice art shipped by day 90 with the quality bar met; key art and trailer visuals delivered for launch

6 months

Art bible v1.0 delivered — complete enough that anyone joining works inside it without drift

Next Fest demo presented at full visual quality

Funding applications supported with presentation materials

Year one

Art roadmap to launch defined

Production-quality assets shipping at a predictable cadence

Pipeline, standards, and review process ready for the first art hires

Our Process

Intro call with the founder

Take-home assignment

Final interview

Offer

Apply

Your application and CV go straight to the founder and are used only to consider you for this role.

Name *

Email *

Include character performance or animation examples, or work you directed.

CV / resume * Choose file No file chosen

PDF or Word, up to 4 MB.

Message (optional)

Tell us about one visual direction decision you made on a shipped project and how you defended it — and your availability.

We respond within one week.

Prefer email? Send the same to hello@oinastudio.com.