Dimitri Sirenko
The senior artist on working on multiple projects at TSG
How did you come to get a staff job at Sequence?
Sequence was my first industry experience. I was a fresh graduate of Emily Carr University of Art and Design in Vancouver, and had been participating in weekly challenges on the now-defunct ConceptArt.org to improve my portfolio. Then one of the artists who I’d been chatting to online contacted me about an artist opportunity at Sequence.
What were you first asked to do once you joined the company?
Initially something entirely new to me: painted backgrounds that were layered specifically for animation and parallax purposes. Many of these backgrounds also included characters that I had to paint and separate in layers for animators.
And how have your art skills developed since?
Sequence has given me a big jumpstart into my art career – my skills have improved tenfold. I also had the pleasure of working with a great team led by the incredible art direction of Andrew West. His artistic skills and keen eye really helped me to improve my own abilities. Sequence also taught me about project management deadlines, review processes and production flow for actual projects.
Your proudest moment?
Working on multiple Halo projects. Each one challenged my artistic ability and that made me work that much harder to hit the quality bar.
How’s the working environment?
At Sequence, things get done at the highest quality in a fast-paced environment. I enjoyed that because it taught me how to work at speed without reducing the fidelity of the artwork. Most importantly, the work environment at Sequence is fun and doesn’t have any trace of condescending corporate structure.
Do you work mainly on your own or collaboratively?
As with most studios there’s a chain of dependencies from one team to the next. Sequence has a very strong chain composed of reliable links. The company offers a great balance between having your own workload and at the same time being able to help out, get help, or collaborate with other artists and animators. I recently had the chance to work on multiple projects at once, which was really refreshing – it ensures that the art team’s creative juices don’t get stagnated by working on one thing only.