Hi, I'm Clei, a 2D artist and illustrator with 4+ years of experience, including leadership roles. I enjoy adapting to a wide range of art and animation styles, and I have hands-on experience in educational games for kids. I'm passionate about storytelling and collaboration, and I love turning feedback into polished visuals. I was honored with the Expressive Art Award at USC Games Expo 2025.

Clei Barnhart

Hi, I'm Clei, a 2D artist and illustrator with 4+ years of experience, including leadership roles. I enjoy adapting to a wide range of art and animation styles, and I have hands-on experience in educational games for kids. I'm passionate about storytelling and collaboration, and I love turning feedback into polished visuals. I was honored with the Expressive Art Award at USC Games Expo 2025.

Available to hire

Hi, I’m Clei, a 2D artist and illustrator with 4+ years of experience, including leadership roles. I enjoy adapting to a wide range of art and animation styles, and I have hands-on experience in educational games for kids.

I’m passionate about storytelling and collaboration, and I love turning feedback into polished visuals. I was honored with the Expressive Art Award at USC Games Expo 2025.

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Language

English
Fluent

Work Experience

Newspaper Comic Strip Artist at The Limestone News
September 1, 2025 - November 15, 2025
Illustrating humorous cartoons to be printed monthly; bringing the boss's vision to life with creativity and precision; drawing quickly in a purposeful, sketchy style aligned to editorial needs.
Animation & Narrative Design Intern at Altera Inc.
August 1, 2025 - November 15, 2025
Contributed as an animation and narrative design intern on an educational game. Used Unity's Animator, Animation Controller, and prefabs to animate cutscenes and sequences; edited and condensed scripts for CSV formatting and integrating into Unity; participated in weekly team meetings.
Co-Director, Concept Artist, Illustrator, 3D Modeler at Death Fish (Unity project)
January 1, 2025 - November 15, 2025
Directed the demo for a sci‑fi horror fishing game; assigned weekly tasks to a five‑person team; designed UI and led playtests; iterated visuals based on feedback; created concept art for creatures, props, locations, and protagonist characters.
Monster Concept Artist at The Hunter System
August 1, 2025 - August 1, 2025
Created concept art for four monsters, each with three evolution stages; attended bi-weekly team meetings; provided and received consistent feedback.
Writer, Artist at Raspberry Red
December 1, 2025 - December 1, 2025
Brainstormed story, world, and art style concepts; built a visual reference library; designed four characters and iterated on their designs; plotted events and drafted multiple script versions; thumbnail sketches and a 14-page illustrated sequence.
General Concept Artist at Potion Problems
May 1, 2025 - May 1, 2025
Designed four playable characters and six consumable items; contributed six in-game ingredients; helped build environmental assets and assets for a 53-person Unreal Engine project; participated in weekly sprints and asset iteration.
Co-Director, Concept Artist, Illustrator, Animator at The Hans Project (Unity)
January 1, 2024 - January 1, 2024
Created concept art for monsters with an eye toward Unity development; led a small team; participated in bi-weekly meetings; collaborated on animation and asset pipelines.
Art Lead at Blood Berry Red (Unity)
May 1, 2023 - May 1, 2023
Directed a team of 12 artists to produce all game artwork; led weekly meetings; presented updates to USC Advanced Games Project Faculty; contributed to protagonist asset design.
Art Lead at Bloobo (Unity)
May 1, 2023 - May 1, 2023
Led a 26-person art team; produced 34+ art assets and concept pieces; created an art bible for reference; navigated iOS restrictions and iteration cycles for assets.
Animation & Narrative Design Intern at Alter Inc.
August 1, 2025 - November 15, 2025
Contributing as an animation and narrative design intern on the educational game Agents of Influence. Utilizing the Unity Animator, animation controller, and prefabs to animate cutscenes. Participating in weekly art, narrative, and content insertion team meetings. Editing and condensing the scripts, formatting them for CSV conversion, and implementing them into Unity.
Co-Director / Concept Artist / Illustrator / 3D Modeler at Death Fish
January 1, 2025 - November 15, 2025
Directed the demo for a sci-fi horror fishing simulator; assignments included UI design, asset creation, and prototyping characters and props; authored and illustrated the Compendium of fishable monster creatures.
Art Lead at Baseball Rising
May 1, 2024 - May 1, 2024
Created the art bible, led art team meetings, designed 4 playable characters, 10 props, and produced 16+ assets; integrated art into the Unity project and contributed world map / 2.5D backgrounds.
Co-Director / Concept Artist / Illustrator / Animator at HANS
January 1, 2024 - January 1, 2024
Co-directed game development; created concept art for monsters and characters; contributed animation and art assets for a Unity project (team size 6).
Art Lead at Bloobo
May 1, 2023 - May 1, 2023
Led an art team of 26; produced 34+ art assets, illustrations, and concept art; created an art bible and managed iOS art constraints.
Art Lead / Art Producer at Machine Heart
May 1, 2023 - May 1, 2023
Directed a team of 12 artists to create all game artwork; led weekly art team meetings; presented updates to USC Advanced Games Project Faculty; contributed to character design and asset production.

Education

BA in Interactive Entertainment, Minor in Visual Narrative at University of Southern California
January 11, 2030 - May 1, 2025
BA in Interactive Entertainment, Minor in Visual Narrative at University of Southern California, School of Cinematic Arts (Roski School of Art & Design)
January 11, 2030 - May 1, 2025

Qualifications

Expressive Art Award — USC Games Expo 2025
January 11, 2030 - November 15, 2025

Industry Experience

Gaming, Media & Entertainment, Software & Internet, Education