My name is Mason, I’m from New York City (Harlem – Manhattan). I am a IMGD Major with a Technical Art Concentration and I’m currently in my Senior year. I really liked drawing as a kid, and my dad, who has a background in fine arts and now designs T-Shirts for childrens clothes, encouraged me to create back then. I entered a long period of not considering myself an artist. I’ve always liked games and have known for a long time I wanted to make them, but I assumed it would be as a programmer until I found my passion for art again.

I have some experience in traditional art. I took figure drawing, as well as the introductory art course here at WPI, and I’ve done some short programs aimed at art training in the past.

I have experience in digital illustration and 2D animation. It is my favorite medium because of the flexibility and immediate creative feedback that 2D art tools provide. It’s also my safe low stakes space / outlet and because of that, it’s where I’m most comfortable creating.

I am very inspired by music. I like music that’s either very layered, or an assault on the senses, and I like to play it loud. I’m most likely developing hearing problems in the not so far future. This is a work in progress animation I’ve been planning out over the summer (just imagine theres someone recieving those attacks).

(Song: Spell Check – Disconnected)

When it comes to 3D art, I am most confident and have the most fun as a character modeler, I have also done some rigging, animation, and hard surface modeling work.

The following is gameplay from Chord Clash, which you can learn more about here: https://sites.google.com/view/chordclash/home?authuser=0

Credits: scene desinged using Unreal Engine in collaboration with Ryker Germain and Mia Bourguignon. Scene programmed and designed in collaboration with Brittany Ficarra, Jason Kardon, Jade Logan, and Zesheng Chen.

I started making this guy to experiment with making VR Chat avatars

I am also very interested in narrative design. I like the idea of games and gameplay mechanics as art, and I like experiencing / creating art with an embeded argument or philosophy (what ought one think, feel, or believe).

The main skills I want to improve when it comes to art is my speed, color theory, and hard surface modeling. I need to practice curbing perfectionsim so I can share and be proud of incomplete or unpolished work. When it comes to coloring, I find that I lose a lot of what I like about my 2D and 3D pieces in color, and I must be missing some techniques or methodolgy. I’d also love to improve my enviornmental modeling skills. I find hard surface work much more difficult to wrap my head around compared to organic forms you can sculpt.

Some games I find inspiring are: Splatoon, Pokemon, Kingdom Hearts, Blasphemous, Octopath Traveler, Fear and Hunger, Elden Ring, and Monster Hunter.

Other things I find inspiring: The band Sungazer, producer MARAUDA, the band The Breathing Effect, movie Do The Right Thing, video essayist Jacob Geller, author Sam Harris, mangaka Eiichiro Oda.