Check Out Kris Yu’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kris Yu.

Hi Kris, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I was originally born from China until the age of 13, and our family moved to New Zealand first, then settled in Australia. I spent six years at Australia to finish my high school, once I graduated from a local high school. I was lost, I am not certain what I want to in the future, just like everyone else.

During leisure time, I am a hardcore player, and never thought this could be my job. After watching the E3 trailer for The Last of Us Part II. I decided to go to the US to study game art, I want to become one of the developers for the game industry,

My first stop was Ringling College in Florida. I spent my freshman year at there to study fundamental art knowlege. I did figure drawing, game design, art history, etc. Then I decided to transfered to Gnomon School of Visual Effects in Los Angeles and spent three years to study game production pipeline such as modeling, texturing and post-process, etc.

Before I graduated, I attended an international CG contest which called “The Rookie Awards”. This contest has thousands of entries. I won the contest as “The Rookie of the Year 2022”. Opportunities opened up for her. Recruiters from major International Video Game corporations were contacting me, including Blizzard Entertainment.

During my last year of school, an art director of the Diablo IV team reached me out and connected me. He likes my work and wants me to show him my demo reel once I graduated. After winning the rookies, I presented my work to him along with my Rookies’ entry. I got my offer in the same day after I finished my interivews.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The pandemic was largely impacted my studies. I have to take online classes and it was a rough time. To keep myself motivated, I scheduled my tasks every single day to keep up my best performance. If something went wrong, I would take a break and come back later.

When comes the year of my graduation, I felt nervous because I do not have solid portfolio pieces. I forced myself do not overthink about it and just focus on my current work.

After spending five months on one project, I created my most successful piece, ‘Takeover – The Abandoned Factory”. This piece helped me not just won the Best of Term at school but also helped me to gain public attention and a few interiviews before I won the Rookies. Which definitely gave me confidence before I signed up the contest.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
During my school time. I spent my major focus on environment art. I specialize in Environment Modeling, texturing, compositing and lighting.

I am very proud of myself getting a job at Blizzard Entertainment as a junior artist. It was such a rare opportunity to break into the entertainment industry.

As an Associate Environment in Diablo IV team, I am responsible for compositing scene layout in exterior art.

What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
In my first five years of working in the industry, I want to learn as much as possible to get to know the production pipelines. I am the sponge and this is the perfect time for me to absorb knowledge, skills, and experiences.

In ten years or within ten years, I am eager to become a lead or director to be more contributed to this industry. Or eventually to start a new studio to create my own games.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.artstation.com/krisyu
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/krisyu.art/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kris-yu-3a2059171/
• Other: https://www.therookies.co/entries/14368 

Image Credits
Concept credits: Blood Moon Village – 茄茄 Takeover (Abandoned Factory) – Dawid Jurek Abandoned Bunker – Gabriel Nagypal Typewriter Workstation – Original work