Objective

To work with a team of dedicated and passionate developers to create inspired and innovative experiences.

Experience

Art Director - Everhaven - Phoenix Labs - San Mateo, CA - 2021-Present

  • Worked closely with creative leadership to develop a delightful new fantasy IP.

  • Built a highly efficient, world class art team focusing on key internal hires and strong external partnerships and collaborators.

  • Provided visual direction across all disciplines to ensure consistent style, quality and tone.

  • Responsible for planning/scoping all art content, establishing art pillars and style guides, and maintaining quality and consistency across all departments.

Art Director - Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time, Spyro: The Reignited Trilogy - Toys For Bob - Novato, CA - 2017-2021

  • Successfully re-defined the art style and visual design of 2 classic gaming franchises.

  • Shipped 2 80+ Metacritic AAA games in less than 4 years.

  • Leveraged external partnerships to deliver high quality on time without having to massively expand our internal staff.

  • Spearheaded the development of The Art of Spyro: The Reignited Trilogy and The Art of Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time books with Blizzard Publishing.

  • Collaborated with Activision’s marketing department to create promotional materials, key art, merchandise, and trailers.

Art Director - Shardbound - Spiritwalk Games - San Mateo, CA - 2015-2017

  • Worked with studio leadership to establish the visual direction of the IP

  • Assembled and oversaw a team of distributed artists across multiple disciplines including visual development, concept art, character art, technical art, environment art, and animation.

  • Responsible for all art production responsibilities including content/feature scoping, budgeting/accounting, scheduling, tracking, and communicating progress in daily team updates.  

  • Responsible for designing and running Shardbound's successful Kickstarter campaign.

Art Director, Lead Artist - Nightmare Guardians, KingsRoad - Rumble Entertainment - San Mateo, CA - 2010-2015

  • Created core assets to establish the style, technical requirements, and quality bar for both KingsRoad and Nightmare Guardians.

  • Managed internal art team, and directed and produced all outsourced content for both KingsRoad and Nightmare Guardians, including concept art, environment art, characters, UI icons, and promotional/marketing materials.   

  • Designed character customization system for Kingsroad to provide optimal balance of performance and flexibility.

  • Established and maintained scope of work documentation and defined time estimates to accurately assess budgets and schedules.

Senior Character Artist - The Sims 4 - Electronic Arts - Redwood City CA - 2010-2011

  • Worked closely with the art director to define the style and quality bar of the characters.

  • Redesigned the character customization system for the next generation of the Sims to provide a more performant, flexible, and higher quality experience.

  • Collaborated with the creative director and technical artists to build a robust genetics system that allowed Sims to pass on their physical characteristics to their offspring.

  • Defined character art creation processes and best practices to ensure consistency.

Designer/Developer - Connext

  • Independently designed/developed the mobile puzzle game for iOS devices.

Lead Character Artist - Gazillion Entertainment - San Mateo, CA - 2008-2010

  • Designed and implemented a robust character customization system for an unreleased MMO.

  • Defined the look and feel of all player classes and MOBs, and generated benchmark assets to establish aesthetic and quality bar.

  • Managed a small internal team of artists to ensure aesthetic and technical consistency.

Lead Character Artist - Star Trek Online, Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising - Perpetual Entertainment - San Francisco, CA - 2005-2007

  • Worked closely with the art director and concept artists to establish the look and feel of characters for the next generation MMORPG Star Trek Online.

  • Defined character creation pipelines using high resolution digital sculpting software, dedicated UV mapping tools, Maya, and in house tools.

  • Worked closely with the technical art and engineering departments to design and implement shader technology focused on enhancing asset reuse and providing dynamic material variety with minimal texture footprint requirements.

  • Devised and documented outsourcing pipelines for next generation character creation, and directed a team of external artists to maintain our high internal quality standards.

  • Established and maintained scope of work documentation and defined time estimates to accurately assess budgets and schedules.

  • Defined the quality and style, and created the majority of creatures for the MMORPG Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising.

Art Director, Lead Artist - New Pencil - Sausalito, CA - 1999-2005

  • Managed a team of over 25 on and off-site artists to create outsourced content for best selling, award winning video game titles.

  • Delivered Consistent quality and style to achieve client’s internal standards.

  • Created a supportive and productive environment to inspire artistic growth and excellence.

  • Tacked project status to ensure milestones were met on time and within budget.

  • Created 3D and 2D artwork for over 30 video game titles.

  • Devised art pipelines and procedures for production artists.

  • Adjusted to each project’s unique artistic and technical guidelines and specifications.

Lead Character Artist, Animator - C. Everett Koop Institute - Hanover, NH - 1998-2000

  • Co-created Smoky Lies, a 20 minute animated anti-smoking film produced by the non-profit organization founded by ex-surgeon general, C. Everett Koop.

Education

Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH — B.A., Creative Writing and Studio Art 1998

Skills

3D Modeling (High Resolution and Low Polygon), Texturing, UV Layout, Outsource pipelines and production, Project Management, UI/UX design.

Software

Maya, ZBrush, Photoshop, Headus UV, Mudbox, 3D Studio Max, Modo, Lightwave

TITLES

Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time, Spyro: The Reignited Trilogy, Shardbound, Nightmare Guardians, KingsRoad, The Sims 4, Connext, Star Trek Online, Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising, The Sims 2, The Sims 2 Nightlife, The Sims 2 University, Lord of the Rings: Battle For Middle Earth, Medal of Honor: Dogs of War, Goldeneye: Rogue Agent, Sim City 4, Sim City 4: Rush Hour, The Urbz, The Sims House Party, The Sims Hot Date, The Sims On Vacation, The Sims Unleashed, The Sims Makin’ Magic, The Sims Superstar, The Sims Deluxe Edition, The Sims Online, The Sims Livin’ Large, Simsville, Zoo Tycoon 2, Mythica, Earth & Beyond, Magic The Gathering: Battlegrounds, Everquest, True Crime: Streets of LA, Harry Potter: Hogwarts Online, Word Whomp Whackdown, Casino Island, Phlinx, PoppaZoppa, Pop Fu, Tri-Peaks Solitaire, Fortune Bingo