INDEPENDENT CHARACTER STUDIO VANCOUVER BC, CANADA / WORKING WORLDWIDE

CHARACTERS
FOR VFX & VIDEO GAMES

High-fidelity facial blendshapes. FACS-based expression systems. Realistic skin deformation.

CONTACT

CHARACTERS CREATURES DIGITAL HUMANS 3D ASSETS

Gears of War: E-Day poster — **GEARS OF WAR: E-DAY**GAME

Lioness Season 3 poster — **LIONESS — SEASON 3**EPISODIC

TRON: Ares poster — **TRON: ARES**FEATURE FILM

PORTFOLIOPOSTERS + FEATURED WORK

SELECTED
PRODUCTION WORK.

These are among the studio’s most relevant projects, representing high-end work across video games and feature-film visual effects.

THE COALITION / MIGHTY CANVAS

GEARS OF WAR:
E-DAY

ART DIRECTION / BLENDSHAPES

High-fidelity facial production delivered through Shelter Creative’s collaboration with Mighty Canvas for The Coalition.

VISIT GEARS OF WAR

DIGITAL DOMAIN · 2021

MORBIUS

FACIAL MODELING LEAD

Facial-modeling leadership and FACS-based expression work for the production at Digital Domain.

VIEW ON ARTSTATION

IMAGE ENGINE · 2017

LOGAN

ASSET LEAD / FACIAL MODELING

Digital doubles and facial expressions for Logan, X-24 and Laura: facial modeling, FACS blendshapes and facial shot modeling.

VIEW ON ARTSTATION

THE STUDIOFOUNDED 2024

SENIOR EXPERIENCE.
DIRECT INVOLVEMENT.

Marco Menco, founder and Art Director of Shelter Creative Studio — MARCO MENCO · FOUNDER / ART DIRECTOR

Shelter Creative Studio is led by Marco Menco, an Art Director and facial-modeling specialist with over 20 years of experience across high-end VFX, AAA games and cinematic production.

Marco’s background includes facial-modeling leadership at Digital Domain, lead and senior facial work for PlayStation, senior facial modeling at The Mill, and art direction and blendshape production through Mighty Canvas. Shelter brings that experience directly into every brief.

Marco was part of the character team nominated by the Visual Effects Society for Outstanding Animated Character in a Photoreal Feature for Edvard/Adam in The Thing.

FULL EXPERIENCE ON LINKEDIN IMDB CREDITS REQUEST DEMO REEL ACCESS

FACIAL MODELING LEADDIGITAL DOMAIN

LEAD / SENIOR FACIAL MODELERPLAYSTATION

SENIOR FACIAL MODELERTHE MILL

ART DIRECTOR / BLENDSHAPE ARTISTMIGHTY CANVAS

THE TEAMSENIOR ARTISTS / PRODUCTION SPECIALISTS

THE PEOPLE
BEHIND THE WORK.

A spotlight on some of the talented artists on the team, each bringing specialized experience to the needs of the production.

FOUNDER / ART DIRECTOR

MARCO MENCO

Marco is an Art Director and character and facial specialist with over 20 years of experience across feature-film VFX, AAA games and cinematic production. With a foundation in fine arts, theatre and concept design, his work spans digital doubles, creatures, facial modeling and FACS-based blendshape systems.

He has held lead and senior roles at Digital Domain, PlayStation, The Mill, Image Engine and DNEG, and now leads character and facial work through Shelter Creative Studio and Mighty Canvas. His credits include Logan, Morbius, Spider-Man: No Way Home and The Thing.

LINKEDIN IMDB

LOOK DEVELOPMENT / TEXTURING

PEDRO COSTA

Pedro is a Look Development and Texturing Artist working in VFX, with a focus on creating detailed, physically grounded materials and character looks. He has worked on contracts with Crafty Apes, Digital Domain, and Framestore.

His toolkit includes Maya, ZBrush, Houdini, Mari, Substance Painter, V-Ray, Arnold, Unreal Engine, and Unity, with experience spanning look development, texturing, shading, and character workflows. Alongside his work in lookdev, Pedro has a strong interest in facial modeling and FACS/blendshape systems.

CHARACTER ARTIST

MARCO IOVINO

Marco is a Character Artist with seven years of experience in the video-game industry, specializing in realistic character modeling, sculpting and texturing. Across AAA and independent productions, he translates concepts into detailed, believable characters built to hold up in demanding real-time pipelines.

Working primarily with ZBrush, Maya and Substance 3D Painter, Marco combines strong anatomical understanding with production-focused modeling and surfacing. His approach balances visual storytelling, technical precision and the practical requirements of game-ready character assets.

CHARACTER ARTIST

ADRIENNE VARGAS

Adrienne is a 3D Character Artist and modeller focused on production-ready character work for VFX and games. She currently works with Mighty Canvas and previously spent nearly six years at Digital Domain, contributing her modeling expertise within high-end production pipelines.

Based in Colorado, Adrienne brings a practical, detail-driven approach to character modeling, combining strong form, clean production execution and the flexibility needed to support demanding team workflows.

CHARACTER ARTIST

JASON WU

Jason is a Character Artist creating high-quality game characters across realistic and stylized visual directions. He currently works with Mighty Canvas and brings extensive production experience from This Game Studio, where his character work included Warcraft Rumble.

His practice spans organic and hard-surface sculpting, character modeling, texturing and material work, with a strong focus on quality, clear team collaboration and assets built to perform reliably in real-time production.

CG ARTIST / 3D ASSET ARTIST

HENRY JUNE

Henry is a CG Artist at Mighty Canvas specializing in character-focused 3D assets. His work combines character development, look development and technical exploration, with an emphasis on building polished assets for cinematic production.

His current practice spans FACS blendshapes, clothing, grooming, V-Ray look development and procedural environment work in Houdini. Henry approaches each project as an opportunity to strengthen the pipeline while maintaining a clear artistic direction.

EXPERTISEFROM SCULPT TO FINAL

SPECIALIZED FOR
HIGH-FIDELITY WORK.

CHARACTERS & CREATURES
Design translation, sculpting, anatomy, topology and production-ready character assets.
DIGITAL HUMANS, FACS & BLENDSHAPES
Facial anatomy, likeness, FACS-based expression libraries, high-fidelity blendshapes and realistic skin deformation.
TEXTURE, GROOM & LOOKDEV
Skin, materials, hair and final presentation developed as one cohesive character.
REAL-TIME & VFX ASSETS
Production-ready characters and props built for modern real-time engines and visual-effects pipelines.
COLLECTIBLES & DIGITAL SCULPTURES
Premium sculptural work designed for physical production, digital presentation and close inspection.

COLLABORATIONSBUILT AROUND PRODUCTION NEEDS

A FOCUSED STUDIO.
A WIDER NETWORK.

Shelter Creative collaborates actively with Mighty Canvas and its wide network of talent, assembling the right senior specialists for each production and working as a direct extension of internal teams.