Personal: About Me.

In the beginning...cartoons by Fred Quimby, Tex Avery, and Chuck Jones were my inspiration to get down on my hands and knees in front big pieces of butcher paper and create. Learning body shapes and cartoon exaggerations gave way to the refinement of hands, fingers, and 3D Computer graphics...haha. On breaks from working at my pop's buisness in junior high and high school, I would sit in the back drinking coke and perfecting shading and shadows. Then he'd tell me to get back to work. As I entered the real world, unsure of how my artistic puzzle piceces could fit into the frame of life, I first completed an Associtates Degree at Cuesta College, then went to Art Center College of Design for my BFA in Pasadena, CA. While at Art Center I began to justify my original artistic passions and inspirations to the spectrum of career paths available. At the same time I gained invaluable instruction on figure and perspective drawing, color theory, visual communication, photoshop/etc., and work presentation. Sharpening my skills and narrowing my goals the industry of entertainment, specifically in 3D computer graphics, emerged as my main focus. After graduating from Art Center I began work for a well-established Bank while persuing and marrying my beautiful wife. Then, I was accepted and enrolled in Vancouver Film School's Maya program in British Columbia. We moved up there, and I graduated from VFS, and grasped the fundamentals of the Autodesk Maya software package which includes modeling, texturing, lighting, rigging, and animating. Currently I have been working on several projects and drinking coffee. I had a few paintings up at "Jeff Claassen Studio" Creepster show which was lots of fun, and we worked on a small magazine which was sold at the Alternative Press Expo. I am still working on some cool projects for a local TV show, while doing freelance and volunteer work. Maybe at some point I'll update this website--it's been a while...Cheers! -rr