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KARIN LaPADULA
Email: karin@escapistimagery.com / Portfolio and Demo reel: www.escapistimagery.com
3D ENVIRONMENT ARTIST
MY PASSION:
Creating next generation 3D gaming environments – both architectural and organic - which are visually
compelling; have edge and atmosphere; and push technology and imagination to the limit.
SUMMARY OF QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERTISE
o Skills range from hard-surface and organic 3D modeling, texture/material creation, high res
sculpting, sky painting, and sky system prototype design; to world lighting and concept art.
o Shipped games:
o Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited, with Orsinium and Thieves Guild DLC (PC, PS4, Xbox).
o Godfather2.
o Forza2 Motorsports.
o Mechwarrior4: Vengeance.
o Combat Flight Simulator.
o Flight Simulator.
o Tools: 3D Studio Max, Maya, ZBrush, XNormal, Quixel Suite, Marvelous Designer, Photoshop.
o Development platforms: Xbox, PlayStation, PC, Web.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
ZENIMAX ONLINE STUDIOS: 3D Environment Artist • Sky Artist
Hunt Valley, MD (Washington DC/Baltimore area)
5/2010- present
Hard surface and organic 3D environment modeling and material creation for Elder Scrolls Online:
Tamriel Unlimited. Sculpting of high resolution meshes; modeling of low resolution meshes with
optimal topology and UV layout. Hard-surface modeling of buildings, statues, carved gates,
machines, stained glass windows, furniture, banners, and other props. Organic modeling of hybrid
tree temples; trees and plant sets. Designed and built landmark waterfalls. Sky system prototype
design and development; worked with programmers in building game's sky, time of day, and
weather system. Painted and animated many of the skies in the game. Research into new 3D art
techniques. 3D Studio Max, ZBrush, Quixel Suite, XNormal, Marvelous Designer, Photoshop. The
team won Mmorpg.com’s Game of Year award.
ART INSTITUTES OF CALIFORNIA AND SEATTLE: Faculty Member, Media Arts and Animation
San Francisco, CA and Seattle, WA
6/2004 – 6/2008; 1/2010 to 3/2010
Taught 3D environment art, architecture and modeling, and color theory for Bachelor’s program;
textures, materials, and lighting for Master’s program. Maya, Photoshop.
MICROSOFT STUDIOS : 3D Environment Artist • Skydome Artist • Concept Artist
Redmond, WA
1/1999 - 4/2004; 10/2005 - 7/2006
 Forza2 Motorsport: Creation of 3D environments and skies for realistic Xbox 360 racing game.
Painted skies and backgrounds, modeled and textured trees, buildings, fences, and race day
vehicles. 3D Studio Max, Photoshop.
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MechWarrior4: Designed, built and lit all alpine and swamp environments in game. Terrain
sculpting for each level. Painted textures, skies, and backgrounds; rendered light maps. Worked
with designers in building terrain to support game play. Created unique landmarks for
navigation. Developed tool feature specifications for in-house level editor. Team won PC
World’s Sci-Fi Game of the Year. 3D Studio Max, Photoshop, proprietary level editing tools.
Microsoft Combat Flight Simulator: Modeled destroyed buildings and aircraft; painted
accompanying textures. SoftImage/XSI, Photoshop.
Microsoft Flight Simulator: Modeled and textured landmark buildings, including the National
Gallery of Art and Italian villas. Created aerial terrain textures. Had technical duties of porting
art into the game engine. SoftImage/XSI, Photoshop, DOS scripts.
ESCAPIST IMAGERY: 3D Environment Artist • Concept Artist
Seattle WA, and Sausalito, CA
7/2006 – 5/2010
Freelance business: Concept art, 3D environment art, and animation on a freelance basis. Clients:
Electronic Arts, Amaze Entertainment, Mind Control SW, Eveo Biomedical, Stratogon
Entertainment/Jasmine Club, Sony PlayStation Home Game lobbies for Far Cry2 and SOCOM (PS3).
Maya, 3D Studio Max, Photoshop, ZBrush.
LOCKHEED MARTIN ADVANCED SIMULATION: 3D Virtual World Designer • Animator • Texture Painter
Bellevue, WA
1987 - 1998
Created 3D virtual worlds and FX for pioneering SIMNET networked simulation project. Modeled terrain, built
structures, vehicles, and vegetation for tank and helicopter simulators. Developed techniques for increasing
virtual environment realism. Created prototypes using experimental methods. Animated fly-throughs and
special FX. Created concept art for marketing. PC, proprietary 3D software tools, Photoshop.
EDUCATION
BA, Fine and Applied Art, Cornish College of the Arts, Seattle, WA.
BS, Marketing, University of Maryland, College Park, MD.
Masters, Education, focus on fostering creativity. City University School of Education, Seattle, WA.
PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS
- Member, Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences.
ART EXHIBITIONS AND ART PUBLICATION
o World Sketches, Watershed Gallery, Eugene, OR, 1/2015.
o Faculty Show, Art Institute of California, 2/2008.
o Metropolis Gallery of Contemporary Art, solo digital art show, Seattle, WA, 1/95
o Computer Graphics World Magazine, Portfolio section featured work, 1/93
o Defense News Magazine, virtual reality image showcased, 3/93
o Eurographics '91 digital art show, Vienna, Austria.
o SIGGRAPH, digital art show, Anaheim, CA.
AWARDS/GRANTS:
o Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited, Mmorpg.com’s Game of the Year, 2015.
o Mechwarrior 4: Vengeance: E3 Best Simulation Game, 2000.
o NEA-sponsored grant, through Seattle Art Museum’s OpenStudio Project, to learn HTML,
mentor others, and create website and online gallery, www.escapistimagery.com.