From 3D Generalist to Character Artist

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When Ignacio Rivera joined Character Class, he wasn’t starting from zero. He’d been freelancing as a 3D Generalist. Taking on contracts through Upwork, contributing to games, and even working in Archviz. But none of that matched his true passion.

“My real passion was 3D Character Art, and while I practiced regularly, I struggled the most with sculpting and presentation for social media and my portfolio. I felt I had a solid basic education, but I needed something more advanced and specifically geared toward characters and the videogame industry.”

Finding the right focus

When Ignacio was searching for the next step, he looked at a bunch of different courses and mentorships. What made him choose this class was how specific it was to what he wanted: character art for videogames.

“It was focused on characters, tailored for videogames, and with examples leaning toward contemporary realism, which is my favorite style to work in. The software emphasis was also a big plus, especially the focus on ZBrush and Unreal, which were the areas I wanted to improve in most.”

Ignacio came in with one goal:

“to create the best character I had ever made up to that point, and I truly feel I achieved that.”

Tackling the Project

For his class project, Ignacio chose Tooth Wu’s “Dark Elf” concept.

“At the time, it felt a bit intimidating to take on such a challenging design, but with dedication I managed to complete it, and I’m really proud of the result.”

Taking on a concept like that is never easy, and most students feel the same hesitation. Challenging projects force you to level up. But you do want to select one that is just out of your reach. Then you have to commit to it, even when it feels like it's dragging on. That’s where you just trust the process. When you know the steps, you can stop guessing and start building. The workflow takes care of the order, which frees you up to focus on the technical and artistic parts piece by piece.

Pipeline

“Establishing a solid pipeline had the biggest impact. Before, I often worked in a scattered way without a clear order, but now I have a more organized process that I’ve since refined and adapted to fit my personal and professional work.”

So many students get stuck halfway through projects because they don’t know what comes next. Without a clear pipeline, every step feels like a new decision; do I retopologize now or later? Should I texture before I pose? That constant decision-making wears you down. Once you’ve got a pipeline, it’s like having a map. You can put your energy into the character itself instead of second-guessing the order of operations.

👥 Learning through others

Community was another big piece for Ignacio.

“The community aspect of the class was also great, getting feedback from other artists really helped me push my project further.”

That outside perspective helps you see things you’d never catch on your own. On top of that, we’ve had guest speakers join to share their workflows and stories from inside the industry. Ignacio said those sessions stood out:

“Hearing directly from industry professionals about their workflows and experiences made the idea of working on big ‘dream projects’ feel more realistic and attainable.”

And because feedback is so important, I extended it in the new evergreen pro tier. Instead of just eight weeks of live sessions, pro students now have access to weekly feedback until July 2026. That means even after finishing your main project, you can still get help on new work, polish your skills, and keep improving with support behind you.

Building the Portfolio

By the time Ignacio finished, the change in his portfolio was obvious.

“The class improved my portfolio tremendously. Comparing my work before and after, the difference is big. Once I finished my class project, I kept building on what I learned by creating two more characters using the same pipeline, tools, and workflows.”

That’s the key: your portfolio doesn’t transform from one project alone. The class is built around giving you a workflow you can repeat. You don’t learn everything the first time, you learn by building again, making new characters, and refining each step along the way. That repetition is what recruiters and art directors notice: consistency. Ignacio’s portfolio stood out because he showed not just one polished character, but several, all built with the same professional process.