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
Jonathan Benainous │ Lead Material Artist at Lightspeed L.A & Vessel Forge Founder.
🚨 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 dive deep into the art and craft of creating stunning materials for games, while developing your own voice and workflow as a material artist.
You’ll learn from Jonathan Benainous, a Lead Material Artist with over 10 years of experience in texture and environment artistry across acclaimed studios like Naughty Dog, Guerrilla Games, and Ubisoft. This mentorship uses practical, production-tested guidance to help you level up your work and build confidence in your skills.
We’ll begin by reviewing your current project and goals, then define a personalized roadmap to target your areas of focus. This mentorship covers a variety of areas, including everything from procedural workflows, sculpted textures, shader readability, to portfolio-ready presentation, and more.
Week by week, you’ll receive actionable feedback, in-depth breakdowns and demonstrations, tangible resources, and creative support tailored to your learning style. You’ll also collaborate to build a sustainable and actionable path forward that will prepare you for your next role in games.Expect an open, honest, and motivating space designed to help you challenge yourself and take your material art to the next level.
You’ll walk away from your mentorship with improved technical precision, a high-quality portfolio piece , and an arsenal of resources, techniques and workflows grounded in the real-world experience of industry experts – all of which will stay with you long after your mentorship comes to a close.
- Procedural Material Creation in Substance 3D Designer
- Sculpting & Blending Textures for Realism or Stylization
- Surface Readability & Material Definition
- Material Storytelling & Microdetail Techniques
- Creating Trim Sheets & Tileables for Production Use
- Shader Optimization & Real-Time Performance
- AAA Calibration & Presentation for Portfolio
- Substance 3D Designer & Painter
- ZBrush
- Marmoset Toolbag
- Unreal Engine 5
- Photoshop (as needed)
- Format – Personalized guidance in one-on-one sessions, conducted via video calls.
- Mentee Spotlight– Your project will be featured on the Vessel Forge website and social media accounts.
- 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 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.
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
Jonathan Benainous │ Lead Material Artist at Lightspeed L.A & Vessel Forge Founder.
Jonathan Benainous has spent nearly 20 years in the video game industry, collaborating with studios around the world on major AAA titles such as The Last of Us Part I, Horizon Zero Dawn, Ghost Recon Wildlands, Heavy Rain, and Assassin’s Creed Odyssey. His work has been featured in top industry publications, and he is widely regarded as a leader in his field. His eye for detail and passion for knowledge-sharing has led him to serve on judging panels for awards like the Rookie Awards and to present at high-profile industry events such as the Game Developers Conference.
Jonathan spent the majority of his career as an Environment Artist, and over the last 10 years he’s specialized in material art. He’s worked at numerous acclaimed studios – including Naughty Dog, Guerrilla Games, Ubisoft, Quantic Dream, and Warner Bros. Currently, Jonathan is a Lead Material Artist at Lightspeed L.A. and the Founder & CEO of Vessel Forge.
