Aliena Riu
Aliena Riu
Art Direction & Visual Development
Valencia, Spain

About

Art Director and multidisciplinary game artist with 10+ years of experience in game development, illustration, and visual development.

While studying Fine Arts, I joined a small team of programming and art students determined to create a game. This led to my first professional role in 2013 at BraveZebra, a startup developing outsourced games for clients including Nickelodeon, EA games, ZeptoLab, 11 bit studios, Netflix, and the NBA.

Working across a wide range of projects allowed me to develop skills in multiple disciplines, including character and environment design, visual development, animation, UI, and 3D art.

As part of the evolution into making our own games as Digital Sun Games, I contributed to the development and release of Moonlighter, one of the studio's most successful titles. Later, I was promoted to Art Director, leading the visual direction of a new project.

I'm a versatile artist who enjoys exploring different visual styles and workflows, with a strong interest in stylization, expressiveness, dynamism, vibrant color, and linework.

My inspirations range from fantasy and science fiction to socially driven stories, from works such as Steven Universe, Arcane, Doctor Who, Ori and the Blind Forest, Inside, Spider-Verse, and the novels of Brandon Sanderson. And yes, I will always wait for the release of Beyond Good and Evil 2.

Open for freelance opportunities.

Skills

IllustrationConcept ArtVisual DevelopmentGame DevelopmentArt DirectionCharacter DesignEnvironment DesignCostume DesignMarketing IllustrationBook Cover IllustrationPortraitureStylizedPixel Art

Software proficiency

Photoshop
Photoshop
Procreate
Procreate
Aseprite
Aseprite
CLIP STUDIO PAINT
CLIP STUDIO PAINT
Maya
Maya
Unity
Unity
Blender
Blender

Productions

    • Video Game
      Moonlighter 2: The Endless Vault
    • Year
      2025
    • Role
      2D & 3D art for environment.
    • Company
      Digital Sun Games
    • Video Game
      Moonlighter
    • Year
      2018
    • Role
      Pixel artist, concept artist and animator.
    • Company
      Digital Sun Games

Experience

  • Vis-Dev, Illustrator & Comic Artist at Freelance
    April 2024 - Present

  • Lead Artist at Digital Sun Games
    Valencia, ES
    March 2022 - March 2024

    Working on an unannounced project and Moonlighter 2.

    As a Lead Artist I:

    - Collaborated closely with the Art Director and other leads to align visuals with gameplay and technical constraints.

    - Developed all the concept art for indoor environment and all concept+final art for characters.

    - Established art pipelines and workflows in my area, to optimize efficiency and quality throughout the production process.

    In the production stage:

    - Supported planning and scheduling, estimating task durations and resource needs for the art team.

    - Supervised and mentor the art team of my area, providing feedback and guidance regarding concept and final 3D art.

    - Review and approve assets to ensure quality, coherence, and performance optimization.

  • Art Director at Digital Sun Games
    Valencia, ES
    November 2017 - February 2022

    Working on an unannounced project.

    - Align with the Creative Director and other leads to ensure art reinforces gameplay, narrative, and user experience.

    - Define the overall visual style, including mood, color palette, lighting, and composition.

    - Work with production teams to plan resources, schedules, and priorities for the art department.

    - Reserch tools, and techniques that can make us meet our goals in the most efficient way.

    - Create style guides and define workflows to maintain a cohesive aesthetic throughout production.

    - Supervise and mentor the art team (external artists too) by providing feedback.

    - Review and approve the art production.

  • 2D Artist at Digital Sun Games
    Valencia, ES
    April 2013 - November 2017

    Working on Moonlighter.

    Responsible for concept art, character design and animation of Will and various villagers; background design across key locations including Will’s shop, Rynoka town and dungeon entrance; familiars design; cinematic and seasonal illustrations; gameplay animations (attacks, armor, weapons and environments); item artwork; and logo concept exploration.

  • 2D Artist and Lead Artist at BraveZebra
    Valencia, ES
    April 2013 - November 2017

    Working across a wide range of outsourced projects allowed me to develop skills in multiple disciplines, including character and environment design, visual development, pixel art, illustration, animation, UI, and 3D art.

    Freqüently acted as the primary client-facing artist, coordinating feedback and visual direction.

    I also established pipelines, workflows and coordinated a team of artists.

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