Animation + Visual Effects Brochure

The official Art+Design Department brochure showed up today...and the image of Matthias and I was utilized once again! I'm happy I was wearing one of my most professorial cardigans that day :)

More TN Art Conference Photos

The conference posted a huge selection of photos taken by the talented Karen Orozco (who I also had as a student once!).  Fun seeing all the reactions to people trying VR for the first time.

VR at TN Arts Conference

This past week I had the awesome chance to hold several VR workshops for the artists and art educators at the Tennessee Arts Commission’s 2018 Tennessee Arts and Arts Education Conference.  The event was titled "Design Thinking: A Pathway for Innovation in the Arts" and was held at APSU this year.  It was a lot of fun to have people explore virtual painting, sculpting and animation for the first time and talk about the possibilities that VR opens up for students. APSU featured us in a video and press release that you can read below or HERE

APSU’s CECA highlights art innovations on campus during state conference 

More than 200 art educators, administrators and artists from across the state visited the Austin Peay State University campus this month to discover new, innovative ways to teach and advocate for the arts in the coming year. Austin Peay’s Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts (CECA) hosted the Tennessee Arts Commission’s 2018 Tennessee Arts and Arts Education Conference, which allowed CECA to show off the groundbreaking projects taking place at Austin Peay. 

“It was an honor to host this conference at Austin Peay and be able to showcase our amazing facilities and faculty, many of whom were session presenters,” Dr. Janice Crews, CECA director, said. “Providing meaningful resources to arts professionals and getting such positive feedback made it all worthwhile.” 

Scott Raymond, APSU assistant professor of art + design and former DreamWorks animator, unpacked two of the University’s new virtual reality systems so attendees could walk through 3D virtual paintings they made. 

“Coming from digital animation, virtual reality is really taking off,” Raymond said. “They’re making interactive cartoons and shorts. And for artists, you can now paint and sculpt in a three-dimensional space.”   

Educators from public and private schools took turns donning the VR headsets and hand controllers, and then they created wild, three-dimensional works in their own personal worlds. Down the hall in the APSU Art + Design Building, a group of music teachers huddled in a classroom, learning to play the Beatles’ “Let It Be” on ukuleles. 

Other sessions included incorporating visual arts in elementary music, presented by APSU music professor Eric Branscome, and improv for everyone, led by APSU theater professor Talon Beeson. Arts administrators participated in sessions on grant writing, strategic planning and more. 

The three-day event, titled “Design Thinking: A Pathway for Innovation in the Arts,” marked the first time APSU has hosted a Tennessee Arts Commission Conference.

Highway Rat at Annecy

The Highway Rat is screening at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival this year - and has been nominated in the TV Films category!  Congrats to the whole Triggerfish crew who put together some amazing animation.

Random Madagascar 2 Shot

It's always interesting when something you worked on turns up in a random place.  Like the one time we're waiting for our plane in a Chicago airport and my wife looks at the giant United Airlines mural starting back at us and goes "wait - I painted that!"

Well, surfing through my news app the other day I ran across this image in an Engadget article about the latest cut of VLC media player.  And there is one of my earlier shots from Madagascar 2 staring at me.  The "dance fight" sequence in Mad2 was my second crowds sequence at DreamWorks, and probably one of the highest number of shots in any overall sequence during my time there.  So, there was a lot of care and consistency going into those 3 lions you see on the right side of the screen :)

Updated Reel

Summer break is always a good time to update the ol' animation reel.  It includes new shots from The Highway Rat, Planet Blue, and Racing Legends.  Check it out!