{"id":143,"date":"2025-11-30T22:47:05","date_gmt":"2025-11-30T22:47:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/et4g23-yr3\/?p=143"},"modified":"2026-01-09T03:05:27","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T03:05:27","slug":"rhys-shepherd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/et4g23-yr3\/2025\/11\/30\/rhys-shepherd\/","title":{"rendered":"Rhys Shepherd"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Technical Artist at Epic Games
Alumni at University of Southampton
Games Design and Art<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[LinkedIn Link]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Introduction<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This week\u2019s speaker was Rhys Shepherd<\/strong>, a Technical Artist now working at Epic Games<\/strong>. Since graduating in 2018, he\u2019s moved through a surprisingly wide range of roles\u2014QA tester, junior programmer, artist\/designer on a tiny indie team, tech artist at Mediatonic, and eventually into Epic. What stood out straight away was how non-linear his path was, and how much he mixed art and programming along the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As someone who genuinely enjoys both sides of game development but hasn\u2019t committed to one direction yet, this made his talk feel a lot more relevant to me than I expected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Getting into the Industry<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Rhys talked a lot about how he first broke in, and honestly it was refreshing. He didn\u2019t start in some dream role\u2014he worked in QA<\/strong>, testing gambling games, learning tools like Jira, and basically getting used to a studio environment. He said QA is one of the most realistic gateways into the industry, which actually made me feel better about being open to different routes after graduating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also shared how messaging studio leads directly helped him get interviews. He contacted the CEO of Two Point Studios, and even though they had no roles open, he got forwarded to 22cans and ended up landing a junior programming job there. His takeaway was simple: message smaller studios, keep it focused on one role, and just ask.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is Tech Art?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Technical art covers a ridiculous amount of ground\u2014VFX, shaders, tools, animation, UI, environments, optimisation\u2026 the list kept going. Rhys described it as sitting between artists and programmers, which honestly sounds exactly like the spot I naturally gravitate toward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hearing how varied the role can be made me realise there\u2019s more room for people like me who don\u2019t want to lock themselves into just code or just art.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tools & Skills<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

He gave a huge rundown of software he uses daily\u2014Unreal 5, Unity, Perforce, Visual Studio, Maya, Substance, Houdini, Photoshop, and more. The main advice here was to always be in-engine<\/strong>, no matter what discipline you\u2019re aiming for. Just get comfortable building things, breaking them, and fixing them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interviews & Expectations<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Rhys shared some of the interview questions he\u2019s been asked, which were mostly about problem-solving and explaining your thinking. He also made a point that juniors aren\u2019t expected to know everything. What matters is showing that you actually want to learn and can ask for help when you\u2019re stuck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Useful Resources<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A few he mentioned:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  • tech-artists.org<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Following specific studios you\u2019d love to work at<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Personal projects that show both technical and artistic problem-solving<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Keeping up with industry tools and tech<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    Nothing fancy\u2014just things that keep you improving and visible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    Hireability<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    A few things I\u2019m taking from this talk:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    • Keep improving my FMP and use it as a serious portfolio piece<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Spend more time in-engine, especially experimenting with Unreal<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Reach out to smaller studios when I start applying<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Work on projects that let me combine both programming and design<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Stay open to roles like Technical Artist, where those interests overlap<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

      More than anything, Rhys showed that careers in games don\u2019t need to be perfectly planned\u2014they just need momentum, curiosity, and a willingness to learn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Reflection<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

      This was one of the talks that genuinely clicked with me. Rhys didn\u2019t follow a neat career path, and that\u2019s exactly why it felt relatable. He bounced between art and programming, took roles that weren\u2019t always perfect, and slowly figured out what he actually enjoyed. That really stuck with me, because I\u2019m in a similar place, I like both sides of development, but I haven\u2019t chosen a specialism yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      His story made it clear that I don\u2019t need to force that decision right now. Exploring different areas, building projects that interest me, and staying open to opportunities can lead me to the right role naturally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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      These were the notes I took during the talk<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Technical Artist at Epic GamesAlumni at University of SouthamptonGames Design and Art [LinkedIn Link] Introduction This week\u2019s speaker was Rhys Shepherd, a Technical Artist now working at Epic Games. Since graduating in 2018, he\u2019s moved through a surprisingly wide range of roles\u2014QA tester, junior programmer, artist\/designer on a tiny indie team, tech artist at Mediatonic, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-143","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-professional-contexts","category-semester-1"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/et4g23-yr3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/et4g23-yr3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/et4g23-yr3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/et4g23-yr3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/et4g23-yr3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=143"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/et4g23-yr3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":302,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/et4g23-yr3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143\/revisions\/302"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/et4g23-yr3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=143"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/et4g23-yr3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=143"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/et4g23-yr3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}