A longtime fan of anime and manga, Karina Bastos always knew she wanted a creative career, but wasn’t sure exactly what; until, that is, she saw what games had to offer. “I started to see how videogames help you bring to life things that [were previously only] on paper,” she says.
Brazil offers little in the way of major game development studio work, so she began by taking advantage of mobile and marketing artwork opportunities. This gave her a chance to experiment with different types of art, and she found herself particularly drawn to character work – so that’s what she began to specialise in.
Bastos is keen to point out that, while the early part of her career working on smaller projects allowed her a hand in design, generally speaking 3D character artists are interpreting concept art. “You don’t do your concepts most of the time,” she explains. “You have to know how to work in a team, and don’t let your ego get in the way, because there are people doing the design and the concepts for your work. It’s about the 3D version of the character; and that’s OK, that’s your job.”