Not Sunnyside High School graduate James Chea. He is a principal character artist for Obsidian Entertainment, creating the look of characters and creatures in video games. His games include“ The Outer Worlds,” which he is working on a sequel for.

“ This is my dream job since I was a kid. I enjoy everything about it— the challenge, the struggle and ability to create something from nothing,” said Chea, who lives in Garden Grove.“ I ' m proud of myself for going through the hard work and developing skills to achieve my goals.”

At Sunnyside High( class of 2003), he took every art class offered and learned how to make basic websites and graphic design at the Center for Advanced Research and Technology, a half-day career pathway program for Fresno Unified and Clovis Unified students.

Chea was drawing and designing his own characters in high school, inspired by Batman, X-Men, Spiderman comics and Cowboy Bebop, Dragon Ball Z and Outlaw Star anime.

“ I actually still have some of my old drawings from elementary and high school. I keep them as a fun reminder to see how far I ' ve grown,” Chea said.

After high school he attended the Art Institute of California in Orange County, majoring in media arts and animation. After landing a job at Obsidian as a junior character artist, he has steadily advanced in his work, with five of the games he created characters for making it into the video game market for purchase.

His career goal is to continue honing his skills.

“ This tech scene moves fast, so I ' m looking forward one day to see how realistic video games can be,” Chea said.

He’ s worked in the video game industry for more than 15 years, with few canceled projects.

“ I’ m fortunate to have worked with different teams, pipelines, genres, and game engines,” he said.

His advice to students who want to work in the video game industry is to focus on a department, such as level design, character art, environment art, animation or special effects, and learn as much as they can about workflow and software in that area.

“ Sacrifice some time and dedicate yourself to develop a small portfolio with a few examples of your work. As they say,‘ Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity,’" Chea said.

When he’ s not working, he’ s – you guessed it – playing video games. He also likes to work out at the gym, ride his motorcycles and is learning 3D printing.

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