Hello! My name is Kirsten Roethel, and I am from Long Island, NY. I’m currently a senior IMGD BA student with a love for all 3D art, specifically character modeling, environment modeling, texturing, and level design.
I’ve always loved art, but never really considered creating a career out of it until I started to get into video games and was introduced to 3D art programs in high school. I fell in love with Maya and Mudbox, and after realizing I could make 3D art for different types of media, I wanted to learn how!
Right now, I’m building up my personal portfolio of 3D art in hopes of finding a career doing what I love. I’d love to make art for video games, but I’d also enjoy making toys from 3D models or even working on movie effects, practical or CGI. I particularly enjoy creature design, as I’m a big fan of horror media.
I have an assortment of experience when it comes to digital and traditional art. I have taken many art courses here at WPI, including figure drawing where I learned a lot about drawing from life. I also do crafts in my own time, including sculpting, sewing, and painting. I have experience in digital painting, 3D modeling characters and environments, texturing, rigging, 2D and 3D animation, and level design.
I’m hoping to improve some things about my art skills this term and beyond. For one, I would really like to sharpen up my 3D animation skills. I’ve taken 3D animation I and II, but since it was done remotely during COVID, I still feel I have much to learn. While it isn’t something I’m as passionate about pursuing, I do think it is a very useful skill to have for a 3D artist.
When it comes to making games, I have a bit of experience on the tech side and much more experience with the art side. I have worked with tech students to make a complete game in a term during Artistic Game Development II, where I handled environment modeling, texturing, and level design. I also have made multiple miniature levels with some blueprint coding in Unreal Engine 5 during Advanced Storytelling and Quest Logic.
I’ve played many different games from a variety of genres, from cozy to horror. Some games that I’ve found artistic inspiration for are as follows:
- Nier: Automata – Amazing environmental storytelling and plot, beautiful visuals and music.
- The Pedestrian – Some of the best environmental art I have seen in a game, very creative concepts for puzzles too!
- Hades – Great character and creature design, really unique environments that stand out among each other.
- Breath of the Wild – The game looks beautiful and is beyond fun to just explore and discover things.
Some other honorable mentions that have definitely inspired me include the Life is Strange series, Celeste, Stardew Valley, Resident Evil 2 Remake, and Jedi: Fallen Order.
2D Animation: Ruby out of Reach
My Portfolio: https://www.artstation.com/kirsten_roethel
I see the picture you used as quirky, because it is right up in your face right away and very differnt.
Badge: Dark
A lot of your pieces have some dark and unsettling figures or situations which are very fun to view.
Badge: dark
Your use of shadow in these pieces does a great job at creating a very interesting overall darkness in your work, and you seem to enjoy dark themes in your work which is very neat!
badge: familiar
oh man i remember seeing a video of the dead hand from OoT on youtube and being too scared to start the game because of it. you did a great job capturing the terror of it
Badge: thought-provoking
I like how a lot of your art has some quality that makes it look like it was all made by the same person, and seems like it could fit into the same world. I especially like the wings on Cthulhu, it seems like something that would be really difficult to make in 3D but you executed them very well.
Badge- dark. Between Cthulhu and the Dead Hand and the creepy mask there’s a lot here that wouldn’t be out of place in a horror game
Dark
The usage of colors and exaggeration on both the Dead Hand and the wooden mask convey an eerie and mysterios vibe.
Badge: Dark
The sparing use of lighting, plus the stylistic elements of these pieces give horror genre vibes. Very well made models!
You got the striking badge! A lot of your art is absolutely horrifying in the best possible way. Case in point: You found a way to make Dead Hand even scarier.
Badge: Dark
The ominous atmosphere from your environment and models is really cool and well made!
Dark – Throughout your work you’ve been able to give it this alluring dark touch, whether that be in the literal visual aesthetic, the sheer vibe of the piece, or even the humor you give it. Stellar stuff!
Badge: Thought-provoking
Explanation: Specifically in reference to the two “miscellaneous” pieces above the wooden face — there’s something not exactly haunting but just a bit… eerie, maybe? The lighting is super cool and adds to the overall vibe, and I love how they both use the silhouettes of people. Nice work!!
Badge: Inventive
I really like the way you used lighting in “3D Art: Miscellaneous Pieces” messing around with lighting to create interesting scenes has always been something I’ve found interesting.