From Aviation Engineer to Senior Ukrainian Technical Artist – Viacheslav’s Journey

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.SUPPORT THE PODCAST- Donate: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=3VHRDYNMFJ3KW- Get one of the Courses: https://linktr.ee/jack.the.generalist/shopLinks & 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 zoneTimestamps:00:00 Intro01:00 From aviation to games03:00 Early career as QA tester05:00 9-month mentorship into tech art09:00 Creating Road to Tech Art12:00 Why he built learning materials15:00 Tool automation in Substance Painter20:00 Perforce workflow and version control28:00 Empathy and communication as core skills33:00 Unreal Fellowship experience40:00 Learning to build landscapes47:00 Working under war conditions in Ukraine53:00 Soft skills and staying resilient1:00:00 Closing thoughts