Concept Artist · Visual Development

FEDOR  KATSUBA

Concept Artist Visual Development IP Development Worldbuilding Cinematic Environments

01 / Profile

About the artist

Discipline Concept — VisDev

A visual development artist building cinematic worlds at the seam of the organic and the engineered — biomechanical creatures, brutalist interiors, and atmospheres that feel inherited rather than invented.

Fedor Katsuba develops original intellectual property and contributes to film, games, and advertising as a concept and key-frame artist. His work focuses on long-form worldbuilding — establishing tone, silhouette, and material language across a project so every shot reads from the same world.

Currently based in Berlin. Available for studio collaboration, IP development, and select freelance commissions worldwide.

Recognition
2024 Red Dot Design Award Winner
2024 iF Design Award Winner
2023 Selected Press & Features Editorial
2022 Festival Screenings Official
02 / Project

KULT — Personal IP Project

Status Biomechanical Worldbuilding

KULT is an original IP project set in an underwater universe, where part of humanity has adapted to life in the ocean depths.

The project explores worldbuilding through the design of characters, architecture, interiors, vehicles, and transportation systems, reflecting a fusion of technology and organic forms. Inspired in part by H.R. Giger’s biomechanical aesthetics and enriched with historical references, KULT combines conceptual experimentation with structured design methodology.

Modern approaches to topology optimization are used in the process, creating lightweight yet durable structures adapted to extreme environments. The project is conceived as long-term and continues to expand, developing a consistent and immersive world step by step.

Format
Original IP
Medium
2D / 3D Hybrid
A - Sculpture

Sculpture study.

Physical and digital maquettes used to lock proportion, weight and lighting before the matte painting stage.

Sculpture study render 15
SCU - 15
Wide frame
Sculpture study render 16
SCU - 16
Detail frame
Sculpture study render 17
SCU - 17
Detail frame
Sculpture study render 18
SCU - 18
Wide frame
B - Interiors

Underwater interiors — pressure, salt, and light.

Habitable wrecks: chapel halls re-cast from boiler rooms; transit corridors threaded with anchored umbilicals; bridge decks fogged by trapped breath.

Kult — Chapel Hall interior
INT — 06 — KEY FRAMEBlender / Unreal Engine 5
Chapel Hall — 2.39 : 1
Kult — Engine Reliquary interior
INT — 07 — KEY FRAMEBlender / Unreal Engine 5
Engine Reliquary — 2.39 : 1
Kult — Symmetry Hall interior
INT — 08 — KEY FRAMEBlender / Unreal Engine 5
Symmetry Hall — 2.39 : 1
Kult — Bridge Deck interior
INT — 09 — KEY FRAMEBlender / Unreal Engine 5
Bridge Deck — 2.39 : 1
Interior scheme study
INT · 10 · INTERIOR SCHEMEBlender / Unreal Engine 5
Interior scheme
C - Character concept

Kult character concept.

Portrait studies for the ceremonial cast: reflective armor, elongated crowns, and silhouettes balanced between ritual object and living body. Made with Substance Painter, ZBrush, Blender, and Unreal Engine 5.

Kult character main portrait
CHAR - 09Substance Painter / ZBrush / Blender / Unreal Engine 5
Main portrait
Kult character portrait study
CHAR - 10
Portrait study
Kult character helmet close-up
CHAR - 11
Helmet close-up
Kult character full-body front
CHAR - 12
Full figure
Kult character full-body rear
CHAR - 13
Rear figure
Sketching initial hand-drawn design
1. SketchingInitial hand-drawn design
Character base sculpt in 3DCoat
2. SculptingCharacter base sculpt in 3DCoat
Building MetaHuman avatar
3. Building MetaHuman AvatarIntegrating the sculpted head
Costume sculpting
4. Costume sculptingHuman avatar costume pass
Shading and texturing
5. Shading / texturingSurface finish and final material pass
Face capture sync Facial timing and expression tests used to check sync between captured motion and the ceremonial head silhouette. Face rig control studies validate how the helmet and facial forms behave in close-up.
Face rig control Close-up rig behaviour and facial control tests used to verify deformation, reflective breakup, and readability of the final head design in motion.
D - Vehicle 01

Hydroglide Transport.

Concept of a biomechanical underwater vehicle. Focus on sleek design, release system, and world integration. Made in Blender and Octane Render.

Hydroglide side elevation
VEH - 09 - BEAUTYBlender / Octane Render
Side elevation
Hydroglide front detail
VEH - 11
Front detail
Hydroglide rear detail
VEH - 10
Rear detail
E - Vehicle 02

The Abyssal Carrier.

A leviathan-class fleet mother. Living hull, tethered shoals of sub-craft, and a mile-long spine built for slow descent.

The Abyssal Carrier clean diagram
VEH - 13 - HEROBlender / Octane Render
Carrier diagram
03A / Process

Early Visual Exploration

Tools Photoshop

Loose paintovers and silhouette passes used to find tone, anatomy and machine language before the cleaner 3D plates.

These early studies track the project before hard-surface precision locked in: broad gestures, value grouping, and fast Photoshop iterations used to discover the ceremonial cast and the hydraline forms.

Stage
Pre-production
Tool
Photoshop
Focus
Mood + Form
Type
Loose exploration
Early vehicle side study
EV - 01Photoshop
Hydraline side study
Early painted character bust
EV - 02
Character bust study
Early visual narrative sketch
EV - 03
Narrative exploration
03 / Project

Abandoned Collider Facility

Tools Unreal Engine 5

A flooded collider turned into an accidental greenhouse. Broken ring, soft daylight, invasive growth.

A series of daylight explorations focused on scale, overgrowth, and the relationship between the lone figure, the stranded hydroglide, and the abandoned machine core.

Year
2024
Format
Personal
Plates
7 selected
Medium
Environment
A - Daylight

Daylight - return to the ring.

A soft daylight pass through the breached collider chamber, focusing on vegetation, debris, and human scale.

Collider daylight wide
ENV - 21 - DAYUnreal Engine 5
Establishing
Collider approach view
ENV - 22
Tunnel exit
Collider central massing
ENV - 23
View from tunnel
Collider figure and chamber
ENV - 24
Collider view from tunnel
B - Details

Details - growth and machine.

Closer views of the collider shell, the suspended cables, and the stranded transit vehicle embedded in the ruin.

Collider side detail
ENV - 25
Lighting type 1
Collider waterline detail
ENV - 26
Lighting type 2
Collider vehicle detail
ENV - 27
Lighting type 2
04 / Project

Desert Runner

Tools Blender / Octane Render

An off-road vehicle concept built around endurance, dust and silence. A single-driver runner for long-range crossings.

A privately commissioned vehicle study focused on long-wheel travel, lightweight armor, and dune-scale stability. The design language stays grounded while pushing the silhouette toward something more mythic.

Year
2023
Format
Commission
Plates
3 selected
Medium
2D / 3D Hybrid
Desert Runner beauty shot
VEH - 27 - BEAUTYBlender / Octane Render
Three-quarter - golden hour
Desert Runner low-angle pass
VEH - 28
Low-angle pass
Desert Runner top-view sheet
VEH - 29
Top view / iteration sheet
05 / Process

Early explorations

Format Early Exploration Sheets
Early exploration sketch sheet
SK - 29
Early sketch sheet
Sketch 1 exploration sheet
SK - 30
Sketch exploration
Early exploration process capture
SK - 31
Process capture

Let's build a world.

Open to studio collaboration, IP development, and select freelance commissions. Replies within 48 hours, Berlin time.