My passion for all things art started when I was young. I have an older Brother, Matt. Of course, I was your typical “little” Brother and wanted to copy and do everything he did. So, I decided I should get into art too.
Matt had one particular drawing that really spoke to me. He drew a picture of the character, “Chrono.” Chrono Trigger was one of our all-time favorite video games. I was so inspired by his drawing and the likeness of the character, I decided to draw it myself. Eventually, I found myself drawing the whole cast of Chrono Trigger. This was the beginning of my love for art. To this day, I still have my Brother’s original “Chrono” drawing on my desk as a reminder of where my passion began.
My love for CGI and animation continued to grow with my love of video games. It wasn’t until Final Fantasy VII when I realized I wanted to make this my career. I have always admired the artistic value of video games, but it was the narrative cut-scenes of FFVII that drew me in. From that point on, I continued to take every art class I could find, attended Radford University, and received a Bachelor of Fine Arts.
While doing research in high school, it appeared to me that having a strong, traditional art background would help to bring CGI even more to life. This is why I pursued a degree tied so strongly to my roots. Of course I took every 3D Art class I could find (which was about 2…). So I took many independent studies to continue to learn, and I’ve been self-teaching since.
After graduating college, I was very fortunate to start an internet marketing business with a friend. This was a great opportunity because it allowed me to continue to use my art skills and training. During this time, I learned a lot about front-end development and how to provide a user-friendly experience. My love for Web Design and Development continued to grow as I began working professionally at The Roanoke Times.
Some of my other passions include music, playing guitar, sports, playing soccer, drawing, movies, and video games. However, my favorite thing to do is spending time with my family, friends, and my amazing, loving wife, Jen.