I really admire Jen Zee, the art director for the indie developer Supergiant Games. She did the art for Bastion and Transistor, which both have a really amazing art style and are hugely inspirational games for me.
Trailer for Transistor:
Transistor Art: http://conceptartworld.com/?p=33458
Jen’s Portfolio: http://jenzee.deviantart.com/gallery/
Interviews:
Text Interview: http://www.reminisc3.com/2012/06/09/interview-jen-zee/
Video Interview:
One of the things I think is really interesting about her is that she didn’t have a formal art education. In college she majored in informatics with a minor in math. In this regard she’s really inspirational, since recently I’ve been wondering if computer science and the BCSA program is really all that useful for me and whether I should have just pursued a major in solely art or animation. However, Jen’s background proves that your major choices in college don’t have to define what you do in the real world, which is cool to see.
It seems her path into the game industry began with a class in college, in which her team pitched their final project to people in the game industry as a learning experience, but her art made a good impression so these people later contacted her about doing freelance work. After holding various freelance positions, she worked for Gaia Interactive before coming to her current position at Supergiant Games.