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
Eric Wiley │ Principal Material Artist at Blizzard
🚨 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 mentorship, you’ll build a stronger foundation in creating materials in Substance Designer, with a focus on believable surfaces, strong artistic decision-making, and practical production workflows.
You’ll learn from Eric Wiley, a Principal Material Artist at Blizzard Entertainment with over 15 years of experience in the video game industry. We’ll begin by reviewing your project idea, current skill level and goals, then define a personalized roadmap based on what you want to create.
This mentorship can cover topics such as Substance Designer workflows, texturing fundamentals, model-based texturing, shader setup and blending in Unreal Engine, portfolio presentation, and more. We’ll explore what makes a good texture, how to create materials that are readable and visually interesting, and how to achieve a specific style.
Each week, you’ll receive feedback, practical demonstrations, breakdowns, and resources tailored to your project needs. The goal is to help you improve your technical execution and create more polished, portfolio-ready work while keeping your goals realistic, focused, and achievable.
This mentorship is designed for beginner to intermediate artists who want to improve their material art skills in a focused, constructive learning environment. Whether you’re learning Substance Designer for the first time or refining your current workflow, we’ll focus on strengthening your fundamentals, elevating your skillset, and creating more polished materials for games.
Prerequisites: PBR basics, Substance Designer, and Modelling software (as needed).
- Substance Designer workflows
- Texturing fundamentals, readability, and material definition
- Creating game-ready tiling textures, decals, trim sheets, and foliage atlases
- Material look development for a specific style or art direction
- Building custom parameters and generators
- Shader setup and material blending in Unreal Engine
- Portfolio presentation
- Substance Designer
- Unreal Engine
- Maya (as needed)
- Zbrush (as needed)
- Speedtree (as needed)
- Marmoset (as needed)
- Format – Personalized guidance in one-on-one sessions, conducted via video calls
- Mentee Spotlight – Your previous work will be featured on the Vessel Forge social media
- Mentee Final Project 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 – Beginner to intermediate
Prerequisites – PBR basics, - Substance Designer, and Modelling software (as needed)
What's included?
Industry pro at your side, weekly.
Not tied to a nonsense curriculum.
The tools you need are included.
Career coaching
Get actual career advice from pros who understand.
Ask questions in the exclusive community.
Meet your mentor
Eric Wiley │ Principal Material Artist at Blizzard
Eric Wiley has over 15 years of experience in the video game industry, with a strong foundation in environment art. He has contributed to titles such as Diablo IV, Guild Wars 2, Gigantic, Destiny 1 and 2, and Skylanders Superchargers. Much of his recent career has been at Blizzard Entertainment as a Principal Artist, focusing on materials and environment look development.
He is known for his Substance Designer materials and attention to detail, with work featured by Adobe Substance, LevelUp Digital and 3D Artist Magazine. He has a particular passion for natural materials and believable surfaces that help bring game worlds to life.
