Goal Statement

      My desired employment would be to work for an animation company such as Rooster Teeth or Disney and Pixar as well as be able to teach the skills that I have to college students. As an instructional designer, I want to be able to design exceptional training modules and be able to train others like I have been able to experience at Axogen. I have proficient skills in Maya, Unity, Adobe Suite, Articulate 360, and Camtasia, as well as HTML, CSS, jQuery, and PHP; I excel at Maya, Unity, Adobe Suite, Articulate 360, and Camtasia. I have mastered these skills by using them for animations, creating training modules, and productions for companies, as there are many aspects to using code I would say that I am advanced in most aspects but still have much to learn about coding.

In Maya I have used it for creating models, UV modeling, rigging them, and animating them as shown by the shark, bird in flight, blender, and Kitsune were all created using Maya as well as putting the assets into Unity. I believe these show my skills for being able to create life-like models, as well as taking a long route in UV modeling the textures and figuring out the difference between FK and IK for rigging and animating. In the Adobe Suite, I have used various apps such as Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Premiere Pro, CC Animate, and Lightroom; I used these apps to create backgrounds for my senior project, as well as create flyers, edit photos and videos, and making animations from 2D to stop motion and rotoscope. Doing coding using HTML, CSS, jQuery, and PHP has given me the edge when creating websites such as my own, as well as helping to edit the backend of WordPress. I have also started researching XR/VR and have been working in those avenues as the advancement of technology is something as an artist and instructional designer I have to be able to keep up with. 

The core of my art is derived from some of the whimsical and child-like fun that I feel when it comes to creating from my imagination. I take my inspiration from reading old fairy tales, watching Disney movies, anime, Rooster Teeth Animation, and Hayao Miyazaki films. Walt Disney and Hayao Miyazaki have had an impact on me because they take stories many people are familiar with and add a new spin. Anime and Rooster Teeth Animation create many different genres that anyone can enjoy. Animation in both anime and Rooster Teeth can vary from the time it was made, or how much their budget is.  After watching their movies and shows, I realized instead of hiding what was weird, I should embrace the differences that some saw in the art I created and use them to create what I wanted without fear of being called weird.

       I find that color, texture, and shape are compelling to me because color can be rich or dull; the value of the color can give a different meaning to the artwork. Texture can give the piece body and almost a human touch, and shape can keep things well-rounded and balanced. I find these to be important to my work because I believe if you can make something that seems like it could be true, many people will have an emotional connection to the piece. I use the symbolism of the moon to represent my dog not just because it’s her name but because I feel that if I’m lost, it’s the light at the end of the tunnel and it’s the goal I’m reaching toward. This is also my own way of honoring the “Hidden Mickey” that Disney has created throughout their movies.