In this episode of The Generalists Podcast, I sit down with Viacheslav Makhynko, Senior Technical Artist and creator of courses on Tech-Art. If you’re curious about the real work of a technical artist and how to start your own path, this episode is for you.

Links & Resources:

- Road to Tech Art Course: https://www.reddit.com/r/TechnicalArtist/comments/1dwtg8i/technical_artist_learning_materials/

- Donate to Ukraine: https://u24.gov.ua/donate

- Viacheslav on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/viacheslav-makhynko-a25742168/

- Udemy Courses (search “Viacheslav Makhynko” on Udemy)

We cover:

- How Viacheslav transitioned from aviation engineering to game development

- The real day-to-day of technical artists—tools, pipelines, and soft skills

- Why empathy and communication matter more than code

- How he created courses to guide others into tech art

- Staying productive and creative while living in a war zone

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

01:00 From aviation to games

03:00 Early career as QA tester

05:00 9-month mentorship into tech art

09:00 Creating Road to Tech Art

12:00 Why he built learning materials

15:00 Tool automation in Substance Painter

20:00 Perforce workflow and version control

28:00 Empathy and communication as core skills

33:00 Unreal Fellowship experience

40:00 Learning to build landscapes

47:00 Working under war conditions in Ukraine

53:00 Soft skills and staying resilient

1:00:00 Closing thoughts