2D Main Character Artist & Animator – Hand-Drawn Frame-by-Frame Game Hero

About the project

I am developing a 2D hand-drawn action/adventure game, and I am looking for an experienced 2D character artist and animator to create the game’s main playable character, Strich. This is one of the most important art assignments in the project. Strich is not a secondary character or an enemy that appears occasionally. He is the main hero of the game. The player will control him throughout almost the entire adventure, and he will also appear repeatedly in story sequences and cut scenes. For this reason, character consistency, personality, silhouette, movement quality, and animation quality are extremely important. Character Strich is a young Tuatara prince. The character design already exists and will be provided as the visual reference. The purpose of this project is not to completely redesign him, but to refine the existing character where necessary and create a strong, consistent animation system around the approved design. His appearance should remain recognizable across every pose and animation. The art direction is: * 2D cartoon / hand-drawn style * Expressive but not overly exaggerated * Clean and readable silhouette * Suitable for a fantasy action/adventure game * Frame-by-frame animation * Consistent proportions between animations * Consistent costume, face, colors, weapons, and character details * No realistic 3D appearance * No generic sprite-generator appearance The character is normally presented at approximately a 2.5/4 viewing angle rather than a completely flat side view or strong 3/4 view. Maintaining this perspective consistently is particularly important. Animation Requirements Strich requires a complete playable-character animation set. The expected animation library includes movements and abilities such as: Core movement * Idle * Walk * Run * Jump * Falling / airborne movement * Landing * Death / defeat Combat * Main attack animations * Additional attack variations * Air attacks where required * Special attacks * Damage / hit reaction Traversal and abilities * Vertical rope climbing * Vertical wall/lizard-style climbing * Horizontal rope traversal * Double jump * Dash * Creeping / low movement * Swimming * Invisible/special attack ability Some abilities may require several animation states rather than a single animation. The exact animation list, number of frames, timing, and priorities will be discussed and agreed upon before each stage. Animation Style I am specifically interested in traditional frame-by-frame 2D animation. Natural movement is extremely important. I do not want the character to look as though individual body parts are simply being rotated or translated between poses. Animations should demonstrate proper: * Weight * Balance * Anticipation * Follow-through * Overlapping movement * Acceleration/deceleration * Contact with the ground * Personality * Readability during gameplay The animation should look good when viewed frame-by-frame as well as when played at game speed. Source Files Are Mandatory This is extremely important. The selected artist must provide the original editable source files used to create the artwork and animations. Krita, Photoshop, Procreate or another suitable genuine 2D workflow can be discussed before starting. I need access to the actual working files, including the relevant layers and animation frames. Flattened images, rendered videos, MP4 files, GIF files, After Effects compositions containing only imported/rendered artwork, or reconstructed files are not considered original source files. Final game-ready exports will also be required as transparent PNG sequences and/or sprite sheets according to the agreed Unity pipeline. Unity Compatibility The animations will ultimately be integrated into Unity. Therefore: * Canvas dimensions should remain consistent. * Character scale should remain consistent. * Pivot/ground position should remain consistent. * Transparent backgrounds are required for game assets. * Frames should be cleanly named and organized. * Animation sequences should be easy to import into Unity. * The character must not visually jump around because of inconsistent frame positioning. I will handle the programming and Unity integration, but the artist should understand how 2D game animation assets need to be prepared. Cut-Scene Importance Strich will also appear throughout the game’s story and cut scenes. Therefore, I am looking for someone who can truly understand the character rather than simply complete a list of animation cycles. The artist should be able to reproduce Strich consistently in different poses, expressions and situations while preserving his identity. This could become a long-term collaboration, because additional Strich animations and story sequences will be required as development progresses. Workflow I prefer to work incrementally. We will not create the entire animation library and review everything at the end. For important animations, we will normally follow a process such as: 1. Discuss the required action. 2. Prepare key poses / rough animation. 3. Review the movement and character proportions. 4. Make corrections where necessary. 5. Complete the in-between frames. 6. Review the complete animation. 7. Clean and finalize the artwork. 8. Deliver the original source file and game-ready frames. This approach is important because Strich must remain consistent throughout the entire game. Quality Is More Important Than Speed I am not looking for the cheapest or fastest possible animation work. I would rather have 10 excellent frames than 30 unnecessary frames. Frame count should be determined by the movement itself. Some actions may require relatively few frames, while more complicated actions may require considerably more. The objective is smooth, expressive animation without wasting frames simply to increase the frame count. Application Requirements Please do not send only a generic proposal. When applying, please provide: * Examples of your own 2D character animation work. * Preferably frame-by-frame animation examples. * Examples showing walk/run/combat or action animations. * An example where the same character appears consistently across several different animations. * The software you normally use. * Whether you can provide the complete original editable source files. * Your experience preparing animation assets for Unity or other game engines. If possible, please also provide a source-file screenshot or short screen recording from one of your previous animation projects showing the actual frames/layers/timeline. You do not need to send me another client’s source file; I simply want to understand your normal working process. Important Please apply only if the work shown in your portfolio is your own work and represents the quality you can personally deliver. Because this character is central to the game, I may ask shortlisted artists to complete a small paid test animation before awarding the complete character project. The paid test will be based on the supplied Strich design and will allow us to confirm: * Character consistency * Drawing quality * Understanding of the required viewing angle * Animation quality * Ability to follow feedback * Source-file structure * Suitability for the game’s visual direction If the test is successful, we can proceed with the complete Strich animation project and potentially continue working together on future animations and cut scenes. What I Am Looking For I am looking for an artist who sees Strich not as another freelance animation task, but as a main game character who needs to remain visually convincing through hundreds of poses and frames. If you enjoy building expressive hand-drawn game characters and can maintain excellent consistency across a large animation set, I would be very interested in seeing your work.

Skills required