Illia Cherkasov

Senior Environment Artist

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Senior Environment Artist

Biography

I’m Illia, a Senior Environment Artist with 7 years of experience in the AAA games industry. My journey began in Ukraine, and despite the challenges I’ve faced, my passion for creating immersive game worlds has only grown stronger. Today, I specialize in environment art, level art, and the creation of detailed, atmospheric spaces for leading game studios.

Location: Valencia, Spain
Experience: 7+ years in the gaming industry
Languages: English, Ukrainian
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Expertise

Art solutions shaped to fit your production.

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01

Environment Art

Building immersive and believable worlds — from prototyping to final polish.

Modular architecture, biomes, and large-scale open environments
Procedural world-building with Houdini and Unreal Engine
Integration of storytelling elements through scene composition and set dressing
Destruction pipelines (RBD, decals, debris sets) to support gameplay and drama
Close collaboration with level designers, lighting, FX, and tech art teams

02

Prop Art

High-quality assets that bring worlds to life.

Full asset pipeline: from highpoly to final in-game mesh with LODs and collision
Visual storytelling through hero props and environmental details
Optimized geometry and UVs for performance across platforms
Support for interactive, animated, and destructible props
Advanced pipeline using trim sheets, tileables, and mask-based texturing for maximum flexibility

03

Material Art

Smart materials with depth, flexibility, and realism.

Procedural workflows in Substance Designer for scalable AAA production
Creation of trim sheets, tileable textures, atlases, and decals tailored for performance and reusability
Advanced material blending techniques using masks and channel packing
Layer-based material systems in Unreal Engine 5 for terrain and mesh painting
High attention to real-world references, photogrammetry, and custom surface detail

Projects History

A showcase of my key contributions to AAA game development, highlighting my roles, responsibilities, and impact on each project.

AAA titles in portfolio
Visual Portfolio, Posts & Image Gallery for WordPress

2x AAA games from 2K Games

2024 – Present

AAA Game from Avalanche Studios

2023 – 2024

AAA game from Nintendo

2023-2024

AAA game from 4aGames

2022

Ghost runner 2

2022

STALKER 2 Heart of Chornobyl

2020 – 2022

World of Tanks

2020

SQUAD

2019 – 2020

Metro Exodus

2018 – 2019

PUBG

2018

Certificates

My certifications reflect my commitment to continuous learning and excellence in game development. Each certificate demonstrates mastery of advanced tools, pipelines, and industry best practices—empowering me to deliver high-quality results and stay ahead in a rapidly evolving field.

Visual Portfolio, Posts & Image Gallery for WordPress

CGMA Advanced Substance for Environment Art by Ben Keeling

CGMA Environment Art for Games by Peyton Varney

Fundamentals of Level Design with Unreal Engine Epic Games

World Design for Video Games California Institute of the Arts

Story and Narrative Development for Video Games California Institute of the Arts

Modern Art & Ideas The Museum of Modern Art

Modern and Contemporary Art and Design The Museum of Modern Art

Game Theory Stanford University

Art for Games Michigan State University

Work experience

2K Games
Senior Environment & Prop Artist
Valencia
Mar 2024 – Present
Projects:
Two unannounced game from 2K
  • Designed and built modular architectural kits for immersive environments
  • Created high-quality procedural materials using Substance 3D Designer
  • Managed and maintained the studio-wide material library and standards
  • Set up QA benchmarks and supported optimization workflows
  • Collaborated with leads and directors to ensure artistic consistency and timely delivery
  • Mentored junior artists, reviewed work, and provided detailed feedback
  • Supervised outsourced content and ensured technical/artistic alignment
Avalanche Studios Group
Experienced Material Artist / Environment Artist
Stockholm
Jan 2023 – Mar 2024
Projects:
Unannounced game from Nintendo, Unannounced game from Avalanche Studios
  • Developed advanced procedural materials for terrain, vegetation, and architecture
  • Built environment generation tools in Houdini to speed up biome/world production
  • Created photorealistic yet stylized landscapes using hybrid workflows
  • Worked closely with the Visual Target Team to match art direction and fidelity
  • Provided material and shader support across multiple environment teams
  • Acted as a key bridge between art and tech teams to streamline content pipelines
SadSmile Collective
Art Manager / Lead Artist
Wrocław
Apr 2022 – Dec 2022
Projects:
Ghostrunner 2, Unannounced game from 4A Games
  • Directed and reviewed environment and prop art across multiple external studios
  • Led mentoring sessions for artists, producers, and managers across remote teams
  • Defined project milestones and scoped team delivery capacity
  • Collaborated with creative leadership to maintain visual direction and production quality
  • Created documentation and best practices for clients and internal training
  • Diagnosed production bottlenecks and proposed scalable solutions
GSC Game World
Environment Artist
Mariupol
Apr 2020 – Feb 2022
Project:
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl
  • Created modular architectural kits and high-quality props
  • Developed procedural materials and optimized assets for open-world usage
  • Processed and cleaned photogrammetry scans captured on-location in Chernobyl
  • Worked directly with environment leads and level designers
  • Fixed bugs and polished scenes to meet performance and visual benchmarks
  • Helped integrate scanned assets into the game pipeline and build realistic Soviet-era settings
Freelance / Outsource Studio
Junior Prop & Environment Artist
Mariupol
2018 – 2020
Projects:
PUBG, Metro Exodus, Squad, World of Tanks
  • Created low-poly and high-poly props, architecture, and world assets
  • Sculpted and textured assets using PBR workflows in ZBrush and Substance
  • Delivered optimized content with custom LODs, collisions, and UVs
  • Built tileable and trim-based textures, set up materials, and prototyped kits
  • Communicated with remote teams to troubleshoot technical challenges
  • Assisted with visual consistency and large-scale world building

Private Portfolio

Some of my most advanced and unreleased work is available in a private portfolio.
If you're a recruiter, lead, or studio representative — feel free to request access.

Request Access

11+ titles

High-end productions shaped with hands-on expertise

7 Years

Delivering content for top-tier studios

5000+

Props, environments & materials crafted across multiple AAA titles

100%

Projects delivered ahead of deadline

What People Say

Trusted. Proven. Recommended.

Trusted by studios, appreciated by leads. Here’s what collaborators say about working with me.

Illia Cherkasov is a person with deep knowledge and great abilities in modern solutions in environment art. He is extremely enthusiastic about his work which is infectious. Energetic, broad-minded, and detail-oriented team player - that's him! Ambitious and independent expert. He denotes a lot of analytical capability and willingness for both his personal & professional development. Absolutely worth recommending.


Damien Lappa

Senior Technical Artist

Ubisoft

I know Illia as a talented and hard-working person. He has always worked with great interest and dedication, showing that he is very receptive to feedback and criticism, always trying to think through the best solutions on the fly.
I highly recommend working with him, as he will be an invaluable asset to any team.


Serhii Vursta

Lead 3D Artist

GSC Game World

Illia is easy to communicate with, also a team player. He has great attention to details. Can give and receive feedbacks in the job field. Strong candidate and awesome addition to artist's team.





Nikita Hrushevskyi

Senior 3D Artist

(EA) Ripple Effect

Illia is a great professional, with passion to details and a strong team player. Highly recommend to hireIlya is a great professional, with passion to details and a strong team player. Highly recommend to hire.



Alexander Sheynin

Senior Hardsurface Artist

Crytek

I know Illia as a talented and hard-working person. He has always worked with great interest and dedication, showing that he is very receptive to feedback and criticism, always trying to think through the best solutions on the fly.
I highly recommend working with him, as he will be an invaluable asset to any team.


Sergey Chebotok

Art Director

VOLMI Virtuos Studio

Illia is a wonderful artist and team member. He is purposeful, active and sociable. As an artist, he works very well with both the block out and the details. Strong artist and team player.





Viktor Balushynskyy

Senior Environment Artist

River End Games

Illia took my Advanced Substance class through CGMA in the summer of 2020. Throughout the course
Illia was engaged in the class showing a determination to learn, asking as many questions as possible.
Illia always completed the assignment on time and to a high standard. Throughout the class, he also took my feedback on board and would share his progress in actioning any feedback received.


Ben Keeling

Principal Environment Artist

Respawn Entertainment

Illia made a great job during our online course and always was eager to learn new things! In the end he produced very good result and I can recommend him, because he is really great specialist!






Alexander Kolyasa

Environment Artist

Techland

I recommend Ilya as a responsible and hard-working employee who stands out for both his professionalism and dedication. We have worked together on various projects on numerous occasions.





Kostiantyn Surkov

3D Environment Artist

Wargaming Kyiv

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