Building a Versatile Career in Character Art: Gnomon Grad Alvaro Zabala’s Story

For Alvaro Zabala, the path to becoming a character artist began with nonstop drawing and a love for video games—and took him across continents in pursuit of the skills to bring those characters to life. Originally from Spain, Alvaro made the leap to Los Angeles to attend Gnomon, where he immersed himself in both cinematic and game workflows. Since graduating, he's worked with studios like Blur and built a career that spans stylized and realistic art. In this interview, Alvaro reflects on finding community far from home, navigating the industry across borders, and why curiosity remains his most important tool.

Alvaro, how did you get into the world of 3D art? Did your parents play a part in it?

My mother understood I wasn’t going to pursue anything I didn’t feel truly passionate about, and the only thing I was ever interested in at school was drawing.

I drew all the time, everywhere, while simultaneously failing every class. She initially found an illustration school, and I was ready to go there until she came upon the video game design degree. It was a no brainer. I loved video games, and I loved art. Even though I wasn’t aware of how much back then; being 17 you know very little.

I will always be extremely grateful to my parents for their support, and to my mom for nudging me in the direction of what would become my career. That said my, dad secretly thought I was going to starve to death when I started studying (ha). I’m sure he’s now very happy that that’s not the case.

My parents have supported me, and my two brothers, in all our endeavors as long as we work hard for it. One is a sailor, one is an architect, and I make cool characters. I guess doctor and lawyer wasn't for us!

What was the experience like moving to the U.S. to study at Gnomon? Tell us about some of the challenges and what helped you adapt to a new country?

I can still remember the anxiety attack I had on the flight over there (0/10 experience). Luckily for me, my dad loves to travel and always tried to teach us how incredible the world is and how much we can learn from it. So, by the time I got to Gnomon I had already lived in the U.S. a couple of times for short periods of time (about a month each time) so the culture itself wasn´t that big of shock.

Obviously living so far from my family was very hard. I did find that, culturally, the U.S. is not as close, family-wise, as we are in Spain. People were surprised that my mother and brother came to visit me in my 2+ years at Gnomon. So, I definitely felt the culture differences there.

But living in the U.S. was fairly straightforward in a way, because my only focus was school, so everything else faded away. I was also lucky to find really good people around me. People without whom I truly wouldn’t be here. We each came from a lot of different places in the world, so we stuck together. L.A. has a big Mexican culture and being Spanish, I gravitated towards that big time. I still miss the chilaquiles poblanos for breakfast.

It helped me connect with L.A. and a part of the culture that is more familiar to me. All in all, you make the best out of the city and what it has to offer, Mexican culture, the ocean, the breeze, traveling around, the people. L.A. has a big place in my heart. If life were a little different, I might still be there!

Tell us about the next step of your journey. Why did you want to pursue further education? How did you first discover Gnomon and what were your goals in attending?

When I finished my degree in Madrid, I knew I didn’t have the skills to do the projects I wanted. My goal was always to work at studios like Naughty Dog and Sony Santa Monica. I was a big Sony fanboy growing up, but I knew I was not there when I finished my degree in Spain. Then Gnomon came along.

I wanted to push every skill I had and get the best education I could. I wanted to open my skillset and be a more well-rounded and polished artist. I still laugh at how I fanboyed meeting all these incredible artists that I admired from Madrid. For me it has been an incredibly rewarding investment and journey in every sense, I’m extremely proud to be a Gnomon alum.

What did your job search process look like after graduating Gnomon? How did you land your first job?

I started at Blur right after I graduated. Gnomon hosted an Employer Preview Day on campus and Blur was one of the studios interested in me. I had a six-month period to work in the U.S. after graduation, and I spent all of that at Blur. It was my first job in the industry so you can imagine how incredibly intimidated I was. As time went on, they wanted me to apply for a visa and be able to move there permanently, since my student visa expired after six months.

After that happened, I started freelancing for them from Madrid until the visa was settled. Sadly, the visa didn’t work out, but I still worked for Blur another year or so. It was an incredible experience; I’m really lucky that Blur gave me the opportunity fresh out of school. I was able to see the birth of Love, Death + Robots, which was fantastic. Blur allowed me to solidify my goal that Gnomon started, which was being able to work both in cinematics and games. Couldn’t have asked for a better kickstart to my career.

Can you talk about the transition from CG and cinematics to game modeling?

In my experience, you can do both, especially as a modeler. I feel FX or other departments might have a bigger gap in technology, but modelling is the same in 70% of the process. The mindset, optimization, etc. that comes with games is a different skillset than cinematics, but it’s parallel, not opposed.

It was a little rough to start learning how to render, and everything that comes with that, at Gnomon. But after that, I was able to understand both pipelines and open up the possibilities of my career. As far as pipelines go, technology changes so fast that it is hard to keep up, but being aware of what is being done and trying to learn from everyone around you is a good way to keep up.

You seem comfortable working in many different disciplines and styles. Do you think this is an advantage that 3D art provides; to be able to work in any part of the pipeline?

Absolutely. One of the things that Gnomon teaches, which is no small feat, is being able to find your way around any problem and figure it out. I still remember Max Dayan’s phrase 'you guys are students of the world' (one hell of a teacher). He meant we need to figure out why things are the way they are and understand them, to interpret and replicate them. There are nuances that come with games, cinematics, commercials, and art direction, style, technical limitations, etc. always play a part. But, intrinsically, modeling a character is the same. It doesn´t matter if it’s for God of War or for a League of Legends cinematic.

I’ve been told that my path is not as common; doing stylized and realistic, games and cinematics etc. But I never saw these matters as separate. I’m an artist, and I like making interesting things. The medium is secondary.

What advice would you give to aspiring artists looking into 3D art education or recent graduates thinking about career pursuits?

I’m well aware we are visual artists, and that studios and potential clients need to see our work as clearly and as directly as possible, so keeping an online portfolio is extremely important. ArtStation is very easy to use, visualize, and it's also an industry standard. So, if you are new, it's a good option. You want any potential employer to clearly know what your skills are, no matter your level. But, even more important, they should also see what you are passionate about.

In my experience, people react strongly when they feel you care about what you do. It doesn’t matter if its Warcraft, SoulsBourne games, high sci-fi weapons, whatever it is, show it. Let them know what you find interesting. Technology moves very fast; too fast for us to understand and integrate properly.

This last piece of advice is as much a personal one as it is a professional one: stay curious. Curiosity, in my opinion, is the biggest driving factor for learning, and learning is key in maturing as a human and as a professional. Again, it doesn’t matter what it is: USSR military, hydraulic machinery, female clothing in Scandinavia in the XII century...stay curious.

Alvaro’s story is a reminder that passion, curiosity, and support from the right people can shape an incredible journey. From his earliest sketches to a career that bridges styles, mediums, and continents, he’s stayed grounded in what drives him: the love of making characters. We’re proud to have been part of his path—and even prouder to see where it’s taken him.

About Gnomon

For over 25 years, Gnomon has educated many of the world’s best digital artists on its state-of-the-art campus in Los Angeles, California. Recognized as one of the top U.S. colleges in Forbes' 2023 rankings and called “the MIT of visual effects” by Fast Company magazine, Gnomon offers a variety of educational options to help students reach their goals in the entertainment industry, with certificate and degree programs, and over 100 individual courses. Our comprehensive programs, experienced faculty, and state-of-the-art facilities ensure that every student can achieve their full potential, just like Alvaro. Gnomon's strong industry partnerships give students real-world experience and a competitive edge in the job market.