Julia Axiuk

Concept Art - 3D Worlds - Illustration

3D, Concept Art and Game Concepts ; these are the ways I express myself, with a focus on worldbuilding and storytelling. As an artist, my goal is to explore worlds, dimensions and characters through various means with a concentration on digital media. By mixing mediums, I aim to create immersive and unique narrative experiences.

Dawson Graduating Film: Requiem
May 2022

As our graduating project from the 3D Animation Program at Dawson College, each student was required to make their own 3D animated film. We were given free range of the idea, designs and storytelling but we were also responsible for every aspect of production. As a result, I am responsible for every aspect of the film, save the music and individual sound effects. This includes but is not exclusive to: 3D modelling, rigging, texturing, storyboards, animation, designs and more.
I used my cumulative knowledge of many different digital software including, but not exclusive to, Photoshop, Maya, Zbrush, Nuke and Substance Painter to finish the project, as well as developing important skills in organization and time-management.
I wanted to focus on having visually striking scenes, playing into my love of all things gothic and mysterious, while expressing my love for detail, drama and bold lighting in order to present a brief glimpse into a much wider world.

Final Film - Requiem

Concept Stage - Design Sheet Samples

Storyboarding - Colour Scripting

Game Concept - Think
May 2023

"Think" is an exploration on mental health, as you play through as a character with severe anxiety and depression attempting to navigate the world, with a dash of humor. The player's choices have a direct impact on the narrative.
The concept, done by myself in 2023, was then turned into a short demo done in collaboration with Olivia Axiuk in March 2025. The demo gives a sample of what the final experience of 'Think' would look and feel like.

Think - Concept

Think - Mini Demo 2025

My Work:
- Original Concept
- 'Ren' Character Sprite
- Computer lab background
- UI design and Illustration
- Coding Assistant

Liminal Spaces - March 2025

For this project I directly re-create spaces seen within one of my dreams, with the desire to communicate their disjointed yet familiar feeling. The original design process pushed me to create a short film based on these emotions, aiming to communicate this sense of unfamiliarity and strangeness.
The original set is a series of 3D rendered images, edited with live footage in After Effects.

Syn Studio Isometric Drawing - Victorian Oddities Shop
August 2023

I joined the 2023 Summer Syn Studio workshop in order to improve my environment and building design skills. I opted to design an oddities shop, set up in what was possibly the owner's private residence before they decided that their collection had gotten far too large.
I wanted to convey this story through the design and its details. I had the idea that this could be used as a design in a game, particularly one that features a top-down/isometric style of gameplay.
For this I used Photoshop to illustrate as well as Maya for the 3D base.

Character Sculpt - Monster Bust
October 2022

Including elements of body horror and creature design, I aimed to sculpt a realistic character with monstrous distortions while still aiming to keep the anatomy of it believable. I challenged myself by analyzing human facial anatomy and breaking it in order to create a character that was familiar yet undeniably other-wordly. This project was done using Photoshop and Zbrush.

Library Guardian
June 2023

As an exercise in illustrative storytelling and worldbuilding, I challenged myself with a highly detailed illustration. Although certain aspects like the intricacies of the robotic parts of the Librarian wouldn't be shown in the illustration, I placed this work within an imagined context of being a concept piece that would later be used in either a game or film.
I was inspired by Victorian aesthetics and machinery, particularly those which were thought to be the vision of the future and since have fallen into obscurity. The Librarian character is supposed to represent one such relic, left to guard forgotten knowledge.
This project was done using Maya and Photoshop.

Traditional Illustrations
August 2023 - Jan 2024

Although I concentrate on digital media, I also enjoy doing traditional illustrations with pencil-crayons and Copic markers. My primary goal in my traditional art is to capture a sense of movement and fluidity while still maintaining a strong element of storytelling.