I started out in the field of traditional commercial art and technical illustration, creating illustrations, technical diagrams, and package designs for companies like Procter & Gamble, Kenner Toys, and General Electric.
I expanded my horizons studying Industrial Design at one of the top colleges in the country, University of Cincinnati. It was there that I took my opportunity to focus on using the computer to create art and design. I worked independently the majority of the time because there were no classes that taught computer art or animation at that time. During this time I was able to work with another Cincinnati designer, Jon Pittman, at Wavefront Software, where he was working on building a user interface for the Wavefront Advanced Visualizer product.
In Santa Barbara, at the Wavefront offices, I spent nearly every night learning the complex workings of that software, which at that time was mostly command line driven. That training was instrumental for getting me my first job out of college, doing technical visualization at Ford Motor Company in the Detroit area. After that, I got the chance to work at a local production house as a production manager, and at a design firm, Sundberg-Ferar, doing advanced concept rendering using Alias software.
I got the chance to head out west when I took a job at Atari Arcade Games in Milpitas, California. I was the manager of the CG department, and then was selected to Art Direct on the game San Fransisco Rush when the arcade game company Williams-Bally-Midway purchased the company. I left Atari Games in 1996 when I got the offer to come to Rhythm & Hues in Los Angeles.
It is at Rhythm & Hues where I was able to still use the core code that was in the Wavefront software years earlier, and create some of the most fun and exciting work I have even been fortunate enough to work on. Collaborating with some of the nicest and most talented people in the industry. I miss those days, and all the good times here in Los Angeles when the whole industry seemed to be right here.
In these days of dramatically changing job markets and technologies, I hope to help the artists in Los Angeles establish new connections around the world and access new technologies that will allow those who stay here in Los Angeles to thrive right here where we call home.
