Summary
I'm an environment artist who wears many hats! For the past 6 years, I've taught high school students the entire game development pipeline. I teach them a dash of game design basics, a sprinkle of programming in C# inside of Unity, a dollop of 2D digital art creation and animation inside of Photoshop, and a zest of 3D art creation and animation inside of Blender and Maya. Then presto! I become their project manager as they combine these ingredients by working together in small groups to bring their own game projects to life starting from concept, all the way to completion and publication. When I am not teaching, I am participating in game jams, freelance work, and strengthening my environment art by learning new skills and staying up to date on industry pipelines and trends.
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Software proficiency
Experience
- Environment Artist at Go Face GamesRemote, USMarch 2023 - Present
I've been working as the team's environment concept artist, and I help bridge the gap between programming and art by getting art assets into the game build. We are currently working with Unity on a rogue-like deck building game with an announced title:
- Communicating across disciplines with production, programming, art, narrative, UI/UX, and audio to manage the art team's tasks.
- Run meetings while sharing team wide critique and information with the art team.
- Concept, polish , and refine environment assets, props, and UI for the game "Signified" using Photoshop, ArtStudio Pro, and Blender.
- Integrate and merge assets into the game using GitHub, and GitBash in conjunction with Unity.
- Support art team members by sharing resources, giving demonstrations, and answering questions on how to use Unity and Blender software. - Animation, Gaming, and Simulation Instructor at Suncoast Polytechnical High SchoolSarasota, United States of AmericaApril 2020 - Present
I teach students 9th-10th grade the game development pipeline. Starting from designing game mechanics, to concept art, programming, creating 2D art and 3D art for games, rigging and animation, importing assets into the Unity and Unreal game engines, and finally putting all these skills together to work with small groups to create and publish a game on itch.io.
I develop my own curriculum, and even though I am more of an artist than a programmer, I taught myself C# and how to program games inside of Unity in order to teach the course more effectively. - Video Game Design and 3D Art Instructor, Assistant Tech Manager at West Michigan Center for Arts and Technology (WMCAT)Grand Rapids, MI, United States of AmericaSeptember 2017 - Present
- Teach students how to create games and levels using Unreal Engine.
- Teach students how to create 3D and 2D art assets for games using Blender, Maya, 3Ds Max, Sculptris, and Photoshop.
- Working with community partners to complete projects and get students involved in the community.
- Project managing a class of 12-10 students through the game making process.
- Work with the Tech Manager to create and implement new systems for organizing and maintaining our organization's technology. - Art Lead - Contracted at Forward the GoodnessMuskegon MI, United States of AmericaDecember 2016 - July 2018
- Work with company leads to decide the overall look and feel of our artwork for clients.
- Trained company employees on how to use Slack and implemented remote lines of communication within the company.
- Collaborate with programmers to create organic 2D assets for website development and template creation using Photoshop and Illustrator.
- Creating and implementing asset creation schedules. - GDC Conference Associate at Eastridge Workforce SolutionsSan Francisco, United States of AmericaMarch 2014 - March 2018
- Promoted to leadership role (floater) in 2017.
- Took initiative to open lines of communication open between the Double Fine team and fellow CAs to unsure smooth and successful operation of the "Day of the Devs" booth throughout the conference.
- Troubleshot issues, used quick decision making, and delegation to ensure events/booths ran smoothly for the attendees, fellow CAs and exhibitors.
- Communicated directions to exhibitors and speakers and assisted them however needed to ensure smooth and efficient operation. - Environment Artist - Contracted at Near the Resolution - ExiguityGrand Rapids, United States of AmericaNovember 2015 - September 2018
- Collaborated with other artists and company executives to implement new innovative ideas.
- Created cohesive architectural and organic environment concept art using Photoshop.
- Helped render still frames, posed and animated characters in Blender and Photoshop to keep the agile game pipeline on schedule.
- Participated in weekly meetings and gave/received critique in a positive manner.
- Assisted staff members in handling day to day production issues.