SEAN KEETON
Art Director     seankeeton@gmail.com     seankeeton.art


Expertise

Art Direction / Concept Art / Illustration / Painting / 3D Modeling & Texturing / Animation / Photoshop / Unity / Maya / 3ds Max / AnimateCC / Illustrator / After Effects / Jira / Click Up / Agile / Mobile / Console / Steam / Games-as-Service / F2P / UGC / MMORPG / Casual / Mid-core

Work Summary

Art Director and STUDIO Art department head
Hidden Variable Studios | June 2016 – Present

Spellomancer (Steam game: currently in Alpha)

  • Lead art department in creation of new IP and game

  • Identify, test, hire and manage remote and internal artists

  • Art direct characters, environments, animation, props, items, VFX, and UI

  • Work directly in engine to build optimal 2D art pipeline

Skullgirls Mobile (mobile F2P games-as-service)

  • Lead the art department in creation of new game

  • Revamp and expand IP to become cross platform games-as-service

  • Develop art styles, create art bibles, define workflows

  • Identify, test, hire and manage outsourced and internal artists

  • Provide direction, paint-overs, notes to maintain vision and quality

  • Work directly in Unity to maximize art pipeline and implementation

  • Create art solutions to gameplay, player acquisition, retention needs

  • Work closely with design team on live ops events and new features

  • Create mockups, characters, UI, VFX and other 2D/3D assets

  • ~360K DAU ~2.1M MAU ~608K Peak DAU ~3M Peak MAU and ~$455K average monthly revenue

Skullgirls 2nd Encore (Steam and console game)

  • Revive and expand dormant IP

  • Identify, hire and manage internal and outsourced artists

  • Direct teams of artists in creation of characters, animation, stages, VFX, and promotional materials

  • Provide direction, paint-overs, notes to maintain vision and quality

Art Director
SEGA Networks | Nov 2014 – Mar 2016

Cranky Food Friends (mobile F2P games-as-service)

  • Designed new IP that tested well with target audience

  • Provided direction, paint-overs, notes to maintain vision and quality

  • Defined workflows, set deadlines, kept team motivated and ahead of schedule

  • Created art bible, mockups, characters, animation, and other art assets

SENIOR ARTIST
SEGA Networks | OCT 2013 — Nov 2014

Spiral Knights (Steam F2P games-as-service MMORPG)

  • Designed , modeled, textured, and animated 3D characters, buildings, props, ground tiles, and weapons

  • Created 2D icons and UI elements

Lead Artist
Three Rings Design | Mar 2012 – Oct 2013

Spellwood (mobile game)

  • Created IP and art style

  • Designed and created 2D characters, backgrounds, items, and UI

  • Defined workflows, kept art team motivated, and ahead of schedule

  • Provided direction, paint-overs, notes to maintain vision, and quality

Artist
Three Rings Design | Jan 2008 – Mar 2012

Puzzle Pirates (UGC, PC games-as-service MMORPG), How to Train Your Dragon: Dragon Academy (PC game), Whirled (UGC, F2P games-as-service browser), Bang Howdy! (PC games-as-service), Downtown (browser games-as-service)

  • Designed and created 2D and 3D characters, environments, props, UI elements, and animation

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

  • 2025 Giant Robot, 30 Year Anniversary, Tokyo, Japan (curated by Eric Nakamura)

  • 2024 Solo Show: Thinkspace Projects, Rebirth, Los Angeles, CA (curated by Andrew Hosner)

  • 2024 Nucleus Portland, Post Card Show, Portland, OR (curated by Stella Ischan)

  • 2024 Giant Robot, 30 Year Anniversary, Los Angeles, CA (curated by Eric Nakamura)

  • 2024 Giant Robot 2 Gallery, Five by Seven, Los Angeles, CA (curated by Eric Nakamura)

  • 2024 Nucleus Portland, Salut 9, Portland, OR (curated by Stella Ichsan)

  • 2024 Giant Robot 2 Gallery, Rakugaki 6, Los Angeles, CA (curated by Eric Nakamura)

  • 2024 Wonderfrontfest, 1dropwater, San Diego, CA

  • 2024 Gallery 1988, The Sci-Fi Show, Los Angeles, CA (curated by Scott Listfield)

  • 2023 Giant Robot 2 Gallery, 8x8, Los Angeles, CA (curated by Eric Nakamura)

  • 2023 Giant Robot 2 Gallery, Multimater, Los Angeles, CA (curated by Eric Nakamura)

  • 2023 Giant Robot 2 Gallery, Rakugaki 5, Los Angeles, CA (curated by Eric Nakamura)

  • 2022 Muzeo Museum & Cultural Center, Houdini Unchained, Anaheim, CA (curated by Clark Silva)

  • 2022 Times Square Billboards, New York, NY

  • 2022 La Luz De Jesus, EBTKS, Los Angeles, CA

  • 2022 Nucleus Portland, Salut 7, Portland, OR (curated by Stella Ichsan)

  • 2022 Giant Robot 2 Gallery, Rakugaki 4, Los Angeles, CA (curated by Eric Nakamura)

  • 2021 Gallery 1988, Crazy 4 Cult, Los Angeles, CA (curated by Jensen Karp)

  • 2021 Nucleus Portland, Salut 6, Portland, OR (curated by Stella Ichsan)

  • 2021 Gallery 1988, oNE Sheet, Los Angeles, CA (curated by Jensen Karp)

  • 2021 Gallery 1988, 30 Years Later, Los Angeles, CA (curated by Jensen Karp)

  • 2020 Nucleus Portland, Salut 5, Portland, OR (curated by Stella Ichsan)

  • 2020 Gabba Gallery, No Pants Required, Los Angeles, CA

  • 2020 Gallery Nucleus, PIN 5, Alhambra, CA

  • 2020 Featured Artist #1: The Hive Gallery, Hive Tarot 11, Los Angeles, CA (curated by Nathan Cartwright)

  • 2019 Giant Robot 2 Gallery, The Post-It Show 15, Los Angeles, CA (curated by Mark Todd)

  • 2018 Giant Robot 2 Gallery, The Post-It Show 14, Los Angeles, CA (curated by Mark Todd)

  • 2018 Featured Artist: Garage Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

ANIMATION SCREENINGS

  • My animated shorts have been featured in the following:

  • 2007 Channel Frederator: Episode 83

  • 2006 I Castelli Animati Festival

  • 2005 The Nicktoons Animation Festival

  • 2005 Stash DVD Magazine: Issue 14

  • 2004 SoFA Honors Show

  • 2001 SoFA Honors Show

EDUCATION

  • Rochester Institute Of Technology: BFA, Animation

  • Summa Cum Laude (Top 1% of graduating class)

  • Outstanding Undergraduate Scholar Award

  • RIT Presidential Scholarship

  • R. Bruce Reinecker Art Scholarship

  • Edward J. Blounstein Distinguished Scholar Award