2D Artist Needed - Japanese Samurai Parallax Hero + Animation Sprites for Interactive Portfolio

# 2D Artist Needed - Japanese Samurai Parallax Hero + Animation Sprites for Interactive Portfolio **Budget: $600 fixed price** I'm looking for a talented **2D environment/concept artist** to design a custom Japanese samurai-themed hero scene for my interactive portfolio/resume website. https://rzeczko.com/ The hero will use **parallax scrolling**, with the environment separated into multiple depth layers that move independently as the visitor scrolls. The visual direction is a cinematic, stylized Japanese landscape — inspired by traditional Japanese artwork/woodblock prints combined with a modern premium game/concept-art aesthetic. I've attached a reference showing the general concept and how I'm envisioning the layers. **This is a visual reference, not the final design.** I'm looking for an artist who can take the concept and create a polished, original composition. ## Concept The scene should feature a lone samurai overlooking or traveling through a dramatic Japanese landscape. Possible elements include: * Mount Fuji / distant mountain * Large textured sun * Japanese-style clouds * Layered distant mountains * Valley fog/mist * Forested hills * Cherry blossom trees * A path through the landscape * Samurai character * Foreground rocks/hills * Grass * Falling/drifting petals * Birds or other subtle atmospheric elements The final composition should feel like the beginning of a journey and complement the theme of my interactive resume game: **Samurai Greg – The Quest for the Golden Résumé** I'm open to the artist's creative ideas for improving the composition. ## Parallax Layers The artwork needs to be designed **specifically for parallax animation**, not created as one flattened illustration and simply cut apart afterward. I'm envisioning approximately **10–15 depth layers**, such as: 1. Sky 2. Clouds 3. Sun 4. Mount Fuji / distant landmark 5. Far mountains 6. Mid-distance mountains 7. Fog / mist 8. Midground forest/hills 9. Cherry blossom trees 10. Samurai 11. Foreground hill/path 12. Foreground grass 13. Petals 14. Birds / atmospheric elements I'm open to changing the exact layer structure based on the artist's recommendations. Each layer should contain enough artwork behind overlapping objects to allow it to move independently during parallax without exposing empty areas. ## Animation / Sprite Assets I'd also like separate assets or sprite sequences for subtle ambient animation where appropriate, such as: * Samurai cloak moving in the wind * Grass swaying * Cherry blossom petals drifting/falling * Fog moving through the valley * Clouds drifting * Birds flying * Optional subtle samurai idle movement I'm **not looking for complex character animation**. The movement should be subtle, cinematic, and atmospheric. If you have recommendations for which elements should be sprites versus animated directly in the browser, I'm open to your suggestions. ## Deliverables Final delivery should include: * High-resolution master artwork * Fully layered PSD * Clearly named and organized layers/groups * Individual transparent PNG/WebP assets for each parallax layer * Animation sprites/frames where required * No flattened-only layers * Web-ready exports * Source files for created animation assets * Commercial usage rights for the completed artwork Target master canvas size is approximately **6000–7000 px wide**, 16:9 or a similar wide composition suitable for desktop displays and responsive cropping. The composition should also account for mobile/tablet cropping. ## Important I'm looking for someone with **strong visual design/art-direction skills**, not just Photoshop masking experience. I'd like you to help design the final scene and determine how the foreground, midground, background, samurai, path, mountains, lighting, and environmental elements work together. The finished hero should feel like **one cohesive original illustration**. ## When Applying **Please send examples of your previous work that are specifically relevant to this project.** I'm especially interested in seeing: * Layered/parallax environment artwork * Japanese-inspired landscapes * 2D game environments * Environment concept art * Cinematic landscapes * Animated 2D environments * Sprite animation * Layered PSD artwork Please don't send only a general portfolio. **Show me 2–5 specific examples that demonstrate you can create something similar to what I'm describing.** If you've previously created artwork specifically for parallax scrolling, please mention that and explain briefly how you prepared the layers. Also let me know: 1. Whether you would create the artwork from scratch. 2. How you would approach separating the scene for parallax. 3. Which elements you recommend animating. 4. Whether the $600 fixed budget works for the described scope. 5. Your estimated turnaround time. **Please begin your proposal with the words "SAMURAI GREG" so I know you've read the full description.**