Kaspar Tamsalu
Kaspar Tamsalu
Lead Artist at ZA/UM
Tallinn, Estonia

Summary

Lead Artist at ZA/UM.
Previously: Artist at TIKS; Head of the Painting Department at Pallas University of Applied Sciences.
As a Concept Artist and a Designer at ZA/UM studio I worked on the video game Disco Elysium and as a Lead Artist on Disco Elysium the Final Cut.

Skills

DrawingPaintingIllustrationConcept ArtConcept DesignBasic 3D

Software proficiency

Procreate
Procreate
Photoshop
Photoshop
Blender
Blender

Experience

  • Concept Artist, Lead Artist at ZA/UM
    Brighton, United Kingdom
    August 2020 - Present

    After a few years of working at a managerial role in an arts university I returned to gamedev after a year’s hiatus. I resumed my role as an artist at ZA/UM and six months later in 2021 took on the role of Lead Artist and Designer on Disco Elysium the Final Cut (2021)

  • Head of Painting Department at Pallas University of Applied Sciences
    Tartu, Estonia
    September 2018 - January 2021

    I managed a small team of art instructors and our department of approximately 50 students every year. As an instructor I taught various subjects whichnincluded artist career development, project organization, figure drawing, and painting.

  • Illustrator at Freelance
    Afghanistan
    January 2013 - January 2021

    As a freelance illustrator my main focus has been editorial illustration for print and the web and poster artwork. I have also designed multiple album covers and done preproduction concept work for films.

  • Concept Artist / Level Designer at ZA/UM Studio
    Tallinn, Estonia
    August 2015 - July 2019

    As a member of the small, but talented ZA/UM art team I got to stick my fingers into pretty much every art pie we had cooking: from environments to characters to GUI elements.

    My main focus and responsibility was creating environments and props for the game's pre-rendered backgrounds – from concept to basic modelling & texturing in Blender to rendering and in-engine lighting. I also designed characters, sculpted and textured them in Blender and Photoshop.

  • Lecturer/Art Instructor at Tartu Art College
    Tartu, Estonia
    September 2017 - June 2018

    During my time as a lecturer I instructed a figure drawing class for senior students and an introductory painting class for beginners and multiple shorter creative workshops.