Meet Rui Rou Teo | 3D Character Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Rui Rou Teo and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Rui Rou, how has your perspective on work-life balance evolved over time?
I haven’t really prioritized my work-life balance until recently. When I was fresh out of college and working my first job, I wanted to live up to expectations, maybe even exceed expectations. As a junior artist, I wanted to prove myself to my team and my leads to leave a good impression. I would work overtime to finish my task earlier, even though I was on schedule. However, little did I know that it would do more harm than good, not just to me but to my teammates. I was setting my teammates up for failure by setting unrealistic expectations. “She did this in x amount of days, why can’t you?” That type of thing. I was also burning myself out super fast by working overnight, on top of doing personal projects after work. It took up so much of my energy that I didn’t have any left for my personal life. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t go above and beyond whenever you can at work, but know your limits.

Now, I’m more aware of my personal limitations, and I have a schedule that can accommodate a bit of everything. I made sure to leave some time out for going out with friends or just resting to recharge my battery. For personal projects, I would take 1-2 hours per day to work on something. 1-2 hours might not sound like much, but over a week, it’s decent progress. I’m also more comfortable with saying “no” to certain things, just so that I’m not tiring myself out too much. Overall, I’m learning to prioritize my mental and physical health.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I’m a 3D Character Artist for games. I take concept art and turn them into 3D that not only is optimized for gameplay but also looks good from all angles. I especially like doing stylized art, which can be described as a simplified interpretation of an object from real life. It’s fun to experiment with different shapes and colors to achieve a certain style, and different styles can have so much personality. It’s also very fun to see how other artists interpret certain ideas in their artwork.

Right now, I’m working at Riot Games as a 3D Character Artist for VALORANT. Previously, I was studying Game Development at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco for 4 years. Between the semesters, I interned at a mobile game company called nWay Games and helped make arenas for their game WWE: Undefeated. I also interned at Riot Games in my senior year as a character artist, which led to my current position now. I also worked as a junior 3D artist at a studio in Malaysia called Lemonsky Studios on WarCraft III: Reforged.

This whole journey wasn’t easy, but the challenges along the way brought me here today and I don’t regret them. For one, my parents were against me pursuing an art career in the first place. It took a lot of convincing and work for them to enroll me in an art college. I recently just gave them a tour of the Riot Games campus when they came to visit LA, and they were very happy with what I’ve done so far. There were also the challenges of leaving home and adapting to a new lifestyle, a new culture that is so foreign to me. Sure, I was familiar with certain aspects of the US, but most of those were what I saw on the Internet and in movies. It was surreal, but I’ve made a lot of friends here that gave me the support I needed.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I’m still new to LA, and not having a car has its pain points. Sawtelle is my go-to place for food. It’s a few minutes away from where I live and there are a lot of options there, especially for desserts. My favorite there is Tsujita’s dipping noodles and Melo Melo’s mango coconut jelly.

I recently tried a Peruvian restaurant called Lonzo’s Restaurant in Culver City and that has been on my mind since. There is also a great Cuban food place that an Uber driver recommended (perks of calling Ubers to get around) called Versailles that has great plantains and rice dishes. If I ever miss home, I’d go to Simpang Asia for their Nasi Lemak (coconut rice) and fried noodles. Simpang Asia is the more accessible option for Indonesian / Malaysian food, but if I had a car I’d go to Ipoh Kopitiam more frequently.

One of the most memorable things I’ve done is to see the Poppy fields with friends. We drove up for a day trip and got to see the poppy superbloom earlier this year. We brought snacks and drinks and had a small picnic there. It was an amazing view!

I also like going to flea markets and thrift stores. One of my favorites is the Melrose Trading Post, I met a few artists there that I really like, and go often to see if there are any new artists. I like buying prints and posters to decorate my home, and also to thrift some clothes.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
There are a few people that I can think of. The first one would be my friend all the way from middle school. She was the one that introduced me to a lot of games, even the ones that would open my eyes to a career in game development. I didn’t have a console back then, but she would show me screenshots or recordings of the game to me. I would also go on YouTube to watch gameplay and be amazed by the characters, environments, and stories. We still keep in touch to this day.

I also had an art teacher whose teachings shaped me into who I am today. He taught me a lot of the basic fundamentals of sketching, taught me how to use different art mediums like gouache, watercolor, Copic markers, lineart, etc. He also pushed me to attend art contests and helped me brainstorm ideas for it. The contests would win me a scholarship to an art college that I attended after graduating high school.

Of course, I had to also give a big shoutout to my circle of friends and my partner whom I met in college. We loved what we did, and we were constantly pushing each other to the best that we can. We shared our favorite books, comics, movies, and any art references that we found interesting. It was a very supportive circle, and seeing other people do good work motivates me too.

Website: https://ruirou.artstation.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reyruo/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ruirouteo/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/rui_rou