{"id":404189,"date":"2026-04-30T02:00:27","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T02:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/404189\/"},"modified":"2026-04-30T02:00:27","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T02:00:27","slug":"this-game-artist-turns-emotion-and-dance-into-haunting-creature-designs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/404189\/","title":{"rendered":"This game artist turns \u201cemotion and dance\u201d into haunting creature designs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Liuyazi ‘Arya’ Hou is a senior concept artist and sculptor working across AAA, console, VR and mobile games. She combines digital and traditional sculpting, using the best 3D modelling software<\/a> to create characters inspired by fantasy and mysticism.<\/p>\n

On her website<\/a>, she says, “My personal art often reflects a bizarre, mystical, and fantasy theme, inspired by my experience, emotions, and dance”, and you can see that in each of the fantastic creatures she makes.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

With Tencent<\/a>, Lightspeed and Quantum Studios on her CV, Liuyazi moved to the US to fulfil her dreams of creating game art, which included joining Ready At Dawn, a great studio that sadly closed in 2024. It’s why Liuyazi joined our debate on ‘How artists coped with the video game industry layoffs in 2025<\/a>‘.<\/p>\n

You may like<\/p>\n

Now freelancing for studios like Meta, you can see just a slice of Liuyazi’s amazing work below.<\/p>\n

\n

\"3D\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Liuyazi ‘Arya’ Hou)<\/p>\n

The Glacial Rider of Judgment Day <\/p>\n

\u201cThis was an attempt to visualise vibration, weight and momentum. I wanted to attempt to explore the idea of catastrophe as a transformation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\"3D\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Liuyazi ‘Arya’ Hou)<\/p>\n

Serpent Dragon<\/p>\n

Sign up to Creative Bloq’s daily newsletter, which brings you the latest news and inspiration from the worlds of art, design and technology.<\/p>\n

\u201cAn ancient giant serpent dragon coils around a rocky ledge, emitting low, resonant chants that echo with a soaring eagle\u2019s cry.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\"3D\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Liuyazi ‘Arya’ Hou)<\/p>\n

The Plague Rider of Judgment Day <\/p>\n

\u201cTo create an insightful weapon, I explored the similarities between disease and vibration. Both are unseen forces that disturb inner balance, changing physical and mental states.”<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared in our sister magazine ImagineFX<\/a>. See the latest subscription deals<\/a> for print and digital for more.<\/p>\n

Get these creature design books:
\n<\/p>\n

\n

\"Design\n<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Design Studio Press<\/p>\n

Science of Creature Design: Understanding Animal Anatomy<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

\"Design\n<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Design Studio Press<\/p>\n

Principles of Creature Design: Creating Imaginary Animals<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

\"3DTotal\n<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

3DTotal Publishing<\/p>\n

Fundamentals of Creature Design<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

\"3DTotal\n<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

3DTotal Publishing<\/p>\n

ZBrush Characters and Creatures<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Liuyazi ‘Arya’ Hou is a senior concept artist and sculptor working across AAA, console, VR and mobile games.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":404190,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[442,498,499,500,501,156,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-404189","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-artsdesign","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/404189","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=404189"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/404189\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/404190"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=404189"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=404189"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=404189"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}