Creative

"The only true wisdom is knowing you know nothing"

I was one of those kids who loved to draw. I remember drawing dungeon levels for fictional videogames, and planning out impossible tasks for the player (unless you found the secret item!). Taking an idea, expanding on it, and refining it into existance was something I really enjoyed while growing up.

That passion for creative exploration led me to The Art Institute of Pittsburgh, where I graduated with a degree in 3D Animation and Modeling. I specialized in mechanical objects such as cars, jets, and trains. I also spent some time building various roadside "furniture" such as barns, shipping containers, etc.

What's new in Creative

Circuits

Image Date

October 25th, 2023

Project Description

I was playing around one day with using thick lines as shapes, and playing around with the ways they interacted. Eventually I came up with one that I liked, and decided to run with it. The result was easy to draw, easy to replicate, and the more time... Read More

Marker Renderings

Image Date

June 1st, 2023

Project Description

Recently I went through and scanned a bunch of artwork I did in college, and looked at what I enjoyed the most, what looked the best, and what I'd like to see more of. Then later, I was at a ComicCon and saw some really awesome pen/ink sketches, and ... Read More

Self Portrait (Emotions) – 2023

Image Date

May 24th, 2023

Project Description

Felt like time for another self portrait, so I slapped one together. I felt like I haven't been very expressive lately, and so I wanted to get some pictures where I was making faces. The range is supposed to be more->less negative as you move across ... Read More

Game – Produce

Date

September 25th, 2022

Project Description

Produce is a game I spent roughly 10 weeks Working on. The idea was that I wanted to complete a project before the holidays started, so I came up with an idea I thought could be completed in that span of time.

The concept was that you’... Read More

Game – Dish Crew

Image Date

April 15th, 2022

Project Description

Dish Crew is a game idea I spent some time working on, and plan to eventually get back to. It looks like it’ll take a while though, so I put it on hold for the time being…

The player would be able to pick their levels; Pots &... Read More

Linai Lunch

Image Date

March 14th, 2021

Project Description

A quick lunch sketch while having a salad for lunch on the Linai at our resort in Florida. If we're not out walking around, at least we're getting some Vitamin D!... Read More

San Pelegrino

Image Date

February 21st, 2021

Project Description

We bought David a drawing tablet lately, and I decided to take it for a spin. I'm working with a brush similar to Conte Crayon here, and paying highlights/shadows to simulate bottle refractions. Not bad for my first honest attempt in ~20 years...... Read More

Self Portrait – 2020 Edition

Image Date

December 8th, 2020

Project Description

I was looking at my profile picture recently, and it suddenly dawned on me that it's probably about 12 years old now! Clearly, it was time to update it. Since I was in middle of this site redesign, I decided to stick to the same basic elements; devel... Read More

Happy’s Animation

Image Date

November 15th, 2019

Project Description

The assignment was to animate the logo for Happy's Pizza to appear that he was dancing. Based on the level of detail they wanted to include, I figured the easiest way would be to animate his... Read More

Video Ad – Kona Complete Club

Image Date

December 19th, 2017

Project Description

A major chunk of our time at Pink Castle Fabrics was our Monthly Clubs – at one point, I believe we had 7 different clubs going around the month!

... Read More

Mystery Paintings

Image Date

January 1st, 2015

Project Description

Paint on canvas, probably 14" x 10". Abstract, no real plan here, just drawing things. I did a little masking on one, which came out great! More masking on the teal one... which did not, haha.... Read More

Fabric Design

Date

October 1st, 2013

Project Description

After spending several years seeing what fabrics were popular with the customer of Pink Castle Fabrics, we started noticing some common trends – low volume prints, text prints, coordinating (but not ... Read More

UAV Launcher

Image Date

February 1st, 2011

Project Description

This test model of a UAV (Unarmed Aerial Vehicle) Launcher was built while working at Blue Newt Software for a prospective client (guess who, haha). The end goal was to create a series of models and videos for use in training simulations.... Read More

Farm Models

Image Date

January 1st, 2011

Project Description

These farm models were created while at Blue Newt while working on a midwest rural environment. Farms are everywhere, so we wanted to see how cheaply we could model buildings, and how many variations we could create without them all looking like the ... Read More

City Props

Image Date

December 1st, 2010

Project Description

A series of city props, to be used in promo shots for Blue Newt Software.... Read More

Industrial Props

Image Date

November 5th, 2010

Project Description

Industrial props, to be used alongside train engines, airplanes, etc.... Read More

Modular Tower Crane

Image Date

November 3rd, 2010

Project Description

A crane with modular height segments.... Read More

Modular Bridge

Image Date

November 2nd, 2010

Project Description

We wanted to add some items for overhead objects. These would have been used in a sunken highway with large sidewalls, to add some vertical elements. to the scene. It was also built to have repeating middle sections, so that we could shrink/grow it a... Read More

Seaport Environment

Image Date

October 1st, 2010

Project Description

This was an early stress-test for our simulator. My boss told me to model a Gantry Crane, an RMG (rail mounted gantry), some shipping containers and various lights, and to see h... Read More

GE Dash 8-40B

Image Date

July 1st, 2010

Project Description

This was an early study on commercial modeling/texturing options while at Blue Newt Software. The goal was to create models of trains and airplanes that could feature different paint schemes, yet still use the same model.... Read More

City Environment

Image Date

July 1st, 2009

Project Description

A "geotypical" city in the midwest (definitely no Ann Arbor buildings here...). The goal was to create a series of modular buildings with various paint schemes so that we could do urban testing for our vehicle simulator. These would mostly be used fo... Read More

Honda CRV

Image Date

January 1st, 2009

Project Description

One of roughly 20 vehicles I made while working at Blue Newt Software. All vehicles included multiple Levels of Detail, with textures largely coming from the vehicle simulator my coworkers were building. Users would sit inside a hollowed-out vehicle,... Read More

Portfolio – 2001

Project Date

April 1st, 2001

Project Description

This one was definitely created after I graduated, but I believe it reused a model I created for a looping animation I made in art school. It felt particularly detailed (at the time…), and the movements were pretty fun to watch.

... Read More

Macaroni Men

Image Date

February 1st, 2001

Project Description

An unfinished project I worked on; "What REALLY causes a toddler's table to become so messy...". It was a cute idea, but I don't think I had time to finish it, sadly.... Read More

Storyboard Classwork

Image Date

January 1st, 2001

Project Description

A few projects that required storyboards. Since animations take so long to create, planning out the flow of the story is one of the most important steps, so we spent a lot of time planning out the scenes. Some of these projects were built, some we... Read More

Pencil Renderings

Image Date

January 1st, 2001

Project Description

I'm not particularly fond of my pencil sketches (colored or otherwise), but I did really enjoy the ones I created on toned paper. We'd draw light/shadows, and ignore the actual forms of everything. Eventually, if you draw enough light/shadow, the sha... Read More

Gesture Drawings – 3

Image Date

December 1st, 2000

Project Description

A lot of charcoal work in this series. I had better control over line width, sharpness, etc, and ended up really enjoying Conte crayons as a drawing tool.... Read More

Gesture Drawings – 2

Image Date

November 1st, 2000

Project Description

Most of the female models you'll see during this period were the same woman (I forget her name). I didn't particularly like her - she moved a lot, or would scratch her face 10m into a 1hr pose, and then put her hand in a COMPLETELY different position... Read More

Gesture Drawings – 1

Image Date

October 1st, 2000

Project Description

A lot of these are in paint. Our model was taking 15s poses - meaning we'd have time to draw a line or two, dip our brush maybe 2-3 times, then flip to the next page and start over. EXCRUCIATING.... Read More

Cell Animation – Character Stills

Image Date

April 1st, 2000

Project Description

A series of early character sketches for some of my 2D animation work. Testing out different techniques that could be easily repeated for character use.... Read More

Bone Studies

Image Date

April 1st, 2000

Project Description

... Read More

No-Look Self Portrait

Image Date

February 15th, 2000

Project Description

The assignment was to do a self portrait in front of the mirror, but without looking at the page. The goal is to train your hand to do what your eye sees, and not what your brain thinks it's drawing.... Read More

Marker Sketches

Image Date

February 1st, 2000

Project Description

I don't recall this assignment; most of my life drawing classes used pencil/paper, sometimes colored pencil to capture lighting. I'm assuming the goal here was just to capture the binary "what is in shadow; what is in light?". Most of the drawings sh... Read More

Bugs (Self Portrait)

Image Date

January 15th, 2000

Project Description

... Read More

Marker Self Portrait

Image Date

January 1st, 2000

Project Description

... Read More

Graphic Design

Image Date

January 1st, 2000

Project Description

"Take the logo from an existing business, and create an entire logo package for them". I repeated the design everywhere, but the logo itself would never print particularly well. As much as I hate the original, as a business owner, it's much more vers... Read More

“Initials” Variations

Image Date

November 2nd, 1999

Project Description

The assignment was to create a design using our logos, and to see how many of these we could create. I think I've probably made at least 25 of these, but these are all I can seem to find today. If I come across more, I'll definitely update this en... Read More

Shading & Texture

Image Date

November 1st, 1999

Project Description

Early Art School class where I studied shading, design, layout. We had a few assignments where we'd sketch something, then come back later and shade it. Both halves of the assignment were graded. I feel like this was a good exercise and helped me bre... Read More

Hand Sketches

Image Date

September 1st, 1999

Project Description

I believe the assignment was to draw hands and feet (probably 20 of each). Some of these came out pretty good, others still look like High School work. The feet definitely have a lot of un-assumed shapes.... Read More

Self Portrait – 1999

Image Date

August 1st, 1999

Project Description

A self portrait from one of my life drawing classes. You can tell that I put a lot of effort into it from the shading... but it's simply not there yet. This was probably one of the earliest drawings I did at The Art Institute of Pittsburgh (and it sh... Read More

Japan Trip

Image Date

July 1st, 1999

Project Description

I studied Japanese in High School, and even entered a Speech Contest (for which I received an honorable mention). I practiced a little calligraphy as well.... Read More

Castle Project

Image Date

May 21st, 1999

Project Description

A 3d rendered image of a castle I modeled as a senior in high school. The castle doesn't look like my first sketch, but it was on the page before my other plans, so it must have been important... Following that, we have an image that was used to plan... Read More

Film Festival

Image Date

May 1st, 1999

Project Description

I don't remember this specific project, but I kept the booklet, so it must've been something important! The project was a video assignment for "Empty Bowls", and was designed to raise awareness about their efforts to combat hunger. Apparently I got a... Read More

SAE Poster Contest

Image Date

February 18th, 1999

Project Description

The assignment was to create a poster for the 1999 SAE event that was held. We had to include the text provided, and use an image that represents the theme. According to my framed award letter, the award also included a $100 US Savings Bond. I th... Read More

Commercial Art

Image Date

December 1st, 1998

Project Description

My senior year of high school, I took a vocational commercial art class; it ran 3 periods long, and allowed us to work on larger projects throughout the year. We covered a lot of concepts (negative space, shape, graphic design layout), and the course... Read More

Self Portrait Variations

Image Date

December 1st, 1998

Project Description

The assignment was to take a photograph of yourself, alter it in 3 different styles on the computer, and then reproduce each of those results by using a different style by hand. The computer versions included a BW posterization effect, a "pointali... Read More

Photography Assignment

Image Date

October 1st, 1998

Project Description

This project was created during my junior year of high school. The photograph was taken using a 35mm film camera, and I was responsible for the entire process of shooting, developing, and printing, and even framing this photo. "I chose to print th... Read More

Art Sketches

Image Date

January 1st, 1994

Project Description

This was a series of pencil sketches I did in high school in my Commercial Art class. The assignment was to find a newspaper clipping, and to draw exactly half of the image.... Read More

Middle School Art

Image Date

October 1st, 1993

Project Description

I believe this is my earliest piece of art I have on here. It was from a Jr. High art assignment; not sure what the lines and shapes were, but I spent a lot more time on other parts of the drawing, obviously.... Read More