Hi, I’m Vikram S. Athavale, a senior concept artist and art leader with over 18 years of experience in animation and game development. I’ve steered visual direction, built in-house art pipelines, and delivered artwork from concept to final production for mobile and PC titles, educational games, and animated sequences. I thrive in agile environments, mentor artists to reach their best, and enjoy turning bold ideas into polished visuals. I’m comfortable in both pre-production and production, collaborating closely with design, PMs, and clients to ensure timely, high-quality outputs that spark engagement. My strengths span concept art, environment and character design, 2D/3D art production, and leading cross-functional art teams to deliver cohesive visual worlds.…

Vikram S. Athavale

Hi, I’m Vikram S. Athavale, a senior concept artist and art leader with over 18 years of experience in animation and game development. I’ve steered visual direction, built in-house art pipelines, and delivered artwork from concept to final production for mobile and PC titles, educational games, and animated sequences. I thrive in agile environments, mentor artists to reach their best, and enjoy turning bold ideas into polished visuals. I’m comfortable in both pre-production and production, collaborating closely with design, PMs, and clients to ensure timely, high-quality outputs that spark engagement. My strengths span concept art, environment and character design, 2D/3D art production, and leading cross-functional art teams to deliver cohesive visual worlds.…

Available to hire

Hi, I’m Vikram S. Athavale, a senior concept artist and art leader with over 18 years of experience in animation and game development. I’ve steered visual direction, built in-house art pipelines, and delivered artwork from concept to final production for mobile and PC titles, educational games, and animated sequences. I thrive in agile environments, mentor artists to reach their best, and enjoy turning bold ideas into polished visuals.

I’m comfortable in both pre-production and production, collaborating closely with design, PMs, and clients to ensure timely, high-quality outputs that spark engagement. My strengths span concept art, environment and character design, 2D/3D art production, and leading cross-functional art teams to deliver cohesive visual worlds.

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Skills

Experience Level

Language

English
Fluent
Hindi
Advanced
Marathi (Marāṭhī)
Advanced

Work Experience

Principal Artist at GameBerry Labs
January 15, 2024 - September 30, 2025
Heading a team of game artists, UI artists and animators; art direction for in-house games such as Draw Match Decor (Card game) and Match Star 3D; set up direction for the art and ensuring quality benchmarks from concepts to final output; setting timelines.
Art Director at Gametion Technologies (Contract)
December 8, 2022 - July 31, 2023
Art direction for various in-house games including Ludo City and Teen Patti; lead art direction and production for multiple titles.
Senior Concept Artist at Innogames GmbH
May 1, 2022 - June 30, 2022
Visual development and concept art for in-house games; collaborated with cross-functional teams to define art direction and asset quality.
Principal Artist at BYJU’S (Think & Learn Pvt. Ltd.)
July 1, 2019 - April 30, 2022
Visual development for BYJU’S educational games for children; lead a team of game artists; production from scratch; ensuring timely, high-quality outputs.
Lead Concept Artist at Zynga
July 1, 2016 - June 30, 2019
Concept art, game art, leading a team of concept artists; ensuring quality benchmarks for environments and characters; coordinating with design, PMs, Producers, 3D and Animation for timely delivery.
Lead Artist at Electronic Arts
June 1, 2015 - January 31, 2016
Concept art, game art, leading a team for Bejeweled Blitz; planning and implementing art from concept to final stage; guiding art team and solving production challenges; regular client interactions.
Senior Illustrator at Mumbai Mirror
December 1, 2009 - October 1, 2011
Daily cartoons and illustrations for daily newspaper; varied visual storytelling and editorial illustrations.
Senior Pre-production Artist at Fuse Interactive
October 1, 2008 - September 30, 2009
Storyboarding, character design, BG layout and painting for animated series; pre-production art for TV and animation projects.
Senior Pre-production Artist / Flash Animator Team Lead at Silverline Animation Ltd.
June 1, 2007 - September 30, 2008
Storyboarding, character design, Flash animation for multiple projects; team leadership in pre-production and animation.
Storyboard Artist at Mauj Telecom
June 1, 2005 - November 30, 2005
Storyboarding and character design for telecom-related animated content.
Pre-production Artist / Flash Animator at Thatz It Productions
January 1, 2005 - May 31, 2005
Character design, storyboard development and animation for various animated shorts.
Cartoonist & Illustrator at Jam Magazine
December 1, 2002 - July 31, 2004
Illustrations and cartoons for fortnightly magazine; varied editorial art.
Clean up / In-between Artist at Silv erto ns
January 1, 2000 - January 1, 2002
Clean up and in-between animation for various short formats and features.

Education

Bachelor in Fine Arts (Drawing and Painting) at L.S. Rahaeja School of Art, Bandra, Mumbai, India
January 11, 2030 - January 1, 2004
Certificate course in Photography at SC Institute of Photography, Thane, India
January 11, 2030 - December 23, 2025
Certificate course in UX design at Mobignosis Institute, Bangalore, India
January 11, 2030 - December 23, 2025

Qualifications

Certificate course in Photography
January 11, 2030 - December 23, 2025
Certificate course in UX design
January 11, 2030 - December 23, 2025

Industry Experience

Gaming, Media & Entertainment, Education, Software & Internet

Skills

Experience Level