Meet Christiane H.K. Meister - Senior Character Artist at Bethesda Game Studios

Christiane Meister is a Senior Character Artist here with tons of character and creature designs under her belt.

Infact, you’ve probably encountered some of her work while exploring the wastelands of Fallout or climbing the mountains of Skyrim. Hear from Christiane on what it’s like to be a dev at Bethesda Game Studios, some of her favorite moments, and what she’s excited to be working on.

What does a normal day look like for you?
I’ve been working for the company since 1999. My “normal” day these days is to get woken up by chickens and cats and then grab my cup of coffee. I then get my child out of bed and getting him on the bus. I finish my now cold coffee and head to our basement, which at least has a window. I then check Slack for messages and meetings and sit down to work! Some days I make cool monsters and some days I meet a designer via slack or Teams to discuss what they would like their NPC to look like and wear. Somewhere in there, I eat lunch and there are also lots of impromptu cat visits. They swear they are helping... But depending on family/farm needs I am able to take a bit of time away as long as no one at work needs something done RIGHT NOW and then I can get back to it late at night. I love this new flexibility. And of course, my cats.

What was your path into the video games industry?
I started out as a contractor. I went to George Mason University and got a B.S. in Biology. I’m basically self-taught, but I’ve done traditional art all of my life. I lucked into the video game world, really. Before this I worked in defense contracting making tanks in a program called MultiGen. Video games are way better!

What advice do you give someone who wants to break into the industry?
I have been with the company since September 7th of 1999, but my advice to folks asking to apply is “Make sure you have an updated portfolio and know our games.” Games are getting so very technical now and there are always new programs and processes to learn in making the best art. Learn them! I’m still learning new programs all the time.

What was your favorite project you’ve worked on while at Bethesda Game Studios?
Skyrim is my favorite project, mostly because the technology was catching up to the vision of what we had in mind for the Elder Scrolls series. I’ve enjoyed working on Khajiit and Argonians and the Skyrim horses. Fun fact, the palomino is my horse, Nina. Well, she’s not that chunky, but it’s her face markings.

The beast races have always been a challenge, technically. In Oblivion, we went the route of everyone having the same face and using FaceGen to morph that face into the beast races. That was a… look. In Skyrim, I just make the faces how I wanted and then provided them with their own facial features to change. This looked much better! The only thing that it required was that we make separate helmets to fit their heads.

Additionally, I loved the timeless story aspect of Skyrim. The game really struck a chord which can be seen when you look at how well it’s still doing 10 years later. I can’t wait for the future where we can make even better changes!

Tell us a favorite work-related story.
There are too many, but this one came to mind recently. When we were doing remote voice over recording with Sean Bean (I was fangirling because I had really pushed for him to be involved with the game), I was allowed to sit in and listen. They got to a certain point in the script and Todd Howard and Matt Carofano got a sly look on their faces… They had inserted my name in a line for Sean Bean to say. “Christiane will be back later. She’s with her horses. If you give me the message, I can take it to her.” I still have the audio file. 

What do you love most about your job?
I love making cool art with a purpose and story. It gives me great joy to know we have made people happy and helped them weather rough times. The Make a Wish children always humble me when they choose us to visit. 

And I can’t forget about Kenny! He is a long-time personal chef to the company; he is an absolute joy, and everyone loves him.

Do you currently have a favorite game or game that inspires?
Seriously, our games broke other games for me. We are making the games I’ve always wanted. But I’ve been looking at Red Dead 2 again recently. The horses and interactions with them are damn near perfect.

What was your favorite contribution to the Fallout series and was there a feature or detail that didn’t make it into a Fallout game?
I worked on a lot of the creatures for Fallout, but I think my favorite is the Mirelurk Queen.

There was an underwater vault where the Overseer was supposed to be this giant octopus/squid. The model was still in the Creation Kit so some people found it and used it, I believe. Fun fact: I made the carousel horses in Fallout 76. You will note that one of them is a hippocampus, with a giant squid eating the sea horse... Revenge of the squid.

What is your favorite community-related story?
I love Skyrim Grandma! I mean she gets such joy and shares that joy with people all over the world. We all could use more joy (and cat videos).

What are you working on next that you’re excited for everyone to see?
I’ve made little cube robots that are getting big personalities. They seem to be a big hit among the developers.

Thank you so much Christiane for taking the time to answer our questions. If you want to work with Christiane or anyone at Bethesda Game Studios, visit our careers page and apply today!