Summary
Lead 2D Artist and Art Director — 10+ years in game art, 5 of them leading a 2D team of 5–8 artists on outsourced productions for international publishers.
What I do
• Build art styles from scratch and write style guides
• Run paintover feedback and own final art QA
• Estimate art scope in people and hours; plan production across parallel projects
• Work with clients directly — from presenting concepts to defending style decisions
Experience
• Founder & Art Director — DonkeyTale (2025 – present): Black Pines: Chronicles, a 2D narrative adventure; UNDERSHADE, an interactive cinematic game in Unreal Engine 5
• Lead 2D Artist — Kevuru Games (2020 – 2026): Event Twins: Design & Blast (FOMO Games), Murder by Choice (Nordcurrent), and further productions under NDA
• Character Artist — Hesher Studio (2018 – 2020)
• 2D Artist — AMAX Interactive (2017 – 2018)
• Concept & Character Artist — freelance (2014 – 2020)
Tools
Photoshop · Blender, Substance 3D Painter, ZBrush · Unreal Engine 5. AI tools (Midjourney, Stable Diffusion) as pipeline support under direction, never as final output.
Contact: ArtStation messages or linkedin.com/in/victor-solonar
Skills
Software proficiency
Experience
- Founder & Art Director at DonkeyTaleKyiv, UAAugust 2025 - Present
Independent game studio. Art direction and development of two narrative projects:
• Black Pines: Chronicles — 2D narrative adventure: retro-noir style, key art, hand-painted backgrounds, characters, diegetic UI (in-world phone with working mini-games).
• UNDERSHADE — interactive cinematic game in Unreal Engine 5. - Lead 2D Artist at Kevuru GamesKyiv, UADecember 2020 - February 2026
As a 2d Lead Artist at Kevuru Games, I have been responsible for managing multiple projects and teams of artists, ranging from casual games to dating sims. My leadership qualities have enabled me to work effectively with both the team and projects. I take pride in creating and managing projects from start to finish, ensuring they are completed within the set deadlines while also meeting the required quality standards.
One of my key managerial skills is working with my team, providing individual feedback and ensuring that they are growing as professionals. I have successfully helped employees in my team grow in grades and develop their skills, which has ultimately contributed to the overall success of the company.
My focus on employee development has led me to suggest the introduction of training on 3d software such as Zbrush, which has been beneficial to our 2d artists, enabling them to improve their skills and optimize the development pipeline. I have also been instrumental in suggesting the creation of art guides separately for each project, which has helped our artists to pre-check their work for errors and reduce the number of iterations required during the feedback process.
Through my experience as a 2d Lead Artist, I have learned the importance of effective communication, planning, and teamwork, and I continue to work towards improving my skills in these areas.
- 2D Character Artist at Kevuru GamesKyiv, UAJuly 2020 - November 2020
As a 2D character artist at Kevuru Games, I have had the opportunity to work on a variety of projects, including casual games and dating sim games. My main responsibility is the creation of visually appealing and engaging characters for mobile games.
- 2D Character Artist at Hesher StudioKyiv, UADecember 2018 - June 2020
- 2D Artist at Amax InteractiveKyiv, UAJuly 2017 - January 2018