Mentorships run in 8-week blocks, but your growth doesn’t have to stop there. If you have a larger project, you are absolutely welcome to book multiple blocks back-to-back. Just keep in mind that our mentors book out fast. Let us know in your application if you want multiple 8 week blocks.
This includes 2 x one hour career coaching sessions where you can ask questions on any topic, from portfolio reviews, career advice & interview coaching.
Meet your mentor
Jared Sobotta │ Principal Environment Artist at Naughty Dog
🚨 Reminder: In order to get started with your mentorship, we require that you first complete an application process. If you are approved, we’ll send you the details to book and pay for your mentorship.
Overview
In this Vegetation Art mentorship, you’ll gain a comprehensive understanding of designing and building custom vegetation and plant assets for video games.
Under the guidance of Jared Sobotta, a Principal Environment Artist with extensive AAA experience in creating handcrafted vegetation and organic assets at distinguished studios like Naughty Dog, BioWare, and Digital Domain, you’ll receive hands-on, production-tested advice to confidently approach any foliage creation challenge.
You’ll work with Jared to assess your project, aligning on everything from your overall goals to the nitty-gritty of your design objectives for organics, building a tailored roadmap for growth. Together in this mentorship you’ll cover a diverse range of topics, including blocking out foliage in a scene and how to approach creating various plant types, to sculpting, texturing, in-game implementation, and portfolio-ready presentation.
Each week, you’ll receive actionable feedback, detailed breakdowns, live or recorded demonstrations, and practical resources, all tailored to your learning style. You’ll also have the opportunity to work collaboratively to develop a clear, sustainable path toward your next role or broader career aspirations in the game industry. This mentorship provides an open, honest, and motivating environment designed to challenge you and elevate your foliage creation skills.
By the end of this mentorship, you’ll have the confidence to tackle any vegetation project and the skills to problem-solve unforeseen challenges. You’ll also complete a high quality portfolio piece, and you’ll be newly equipped with a suite of resources, techniques, and workflows grounded in the expertise of industry professionals that will continue to benefit you long after your mentorship concludes.
- Hand-crafted foliage creation from a simple block out to finished 3D asset
- Foliage Blockout in Speedtree or Maya
- Foliage building best practices
- Hand-sculpting in ZBrush and scan usage workflow integration
- Foliage Texturing in Substance Painter & Substance Designer
- Material Storytelling & Micro detail for plants
- Complex foliage asset assembly using SpeedTree and Maya
- Simple Wind and Material creation in Unreal Engine 5
- AAA Calibration & Presentation for Portfolio
- ZBrush
- SpeedTree
- Maya
- Substance 3D Designer and Painter
- Unreal Engine 5
- Photoshop (as needed)
- Format – Personalized guidance in one-on-one sessions, conducted via video calls.
- Mentee Spotlight – Your final project will be featured on the Vessel Forge website and social media.
- Mentee Showcase – You’ll have the chance to collaborate with us to write a blog breakdown of the project you complete during your mentorship. Note: Must be selected for this opportunity.
- Post-mentorship Support – Receive access to our exclusive community Discord, where you can connect with other mentors and mentees, ask questions, get feedback and more.
- Skill Level – Intermediate to Advanced
- Prerequisites – Strong Sculpting fundamentals in ZBrush (or equivalent software), Basic to Intermediate understanding of Speedtree software. Strong understanding of PBR workflows and basic modeling/texturing in UE5 & Substance.
What's included?
Industry pro at your side, weekly.
Not tied to a nonsense curriculum.
Provided to eligible mentees.
Career coaching
Get actual career advice from pros who understand.
Ask questions in the exclusive community.
Meet your mentor
Jared Sobotta │ Principal Environment Artist at Naughty Dog
Jared Sobotta has been in the video game industry for over thirteen years, and has shipped several renowned AAA games like Uncharted 4, The Last of Us Part II, Batman: Arkham Origins, and Star Wars: The Old Republic. For the last 10 years he has called Naughty Dog home, where he crafts stunning environments as a Principal Environment Artist.
Jared is known for his work in Organics, Foliage, Material Art and hand-crafted Sculpting, but he got his start in the industry as a Cinematic Lighting Artist at Digital Domain. He later transitioned into Environment Art, honing his skills at Whitemoon Dreams and Bioware. Jared has an extensive background in mentorship, with eight years of online teaching experience with a focus on Vegetation and Plant creation for Games.
In his free time he enjoys drawing, collecting retro games and Pokémon cards, live music, and exploring the beaches of Southern California.
