EXPERIENCE
DANMYCKA.COM. Cockeysville, Maryland
Freelance Art Director September 2008 - Present
Clients include:
Outplay Entertainment, Inc. Edinburgh, United Kingdom. Created Facebook game art direction, game sprites, environment tiles, UI elements, and Flash animations.
Hands-On Mobile. San Diego, CA. Created Facebook game pre-production concepts, art direction, UI art assets and layout assembly, Flash animations, avatar costumes, and gifting items.
ASAP Games, LLC. Los Angeles, CA. Created Facebook game UI layouts and game-play screen designs.
Xplosive Enterprises, Inc. Los Angeles, CA. Created Casino game game-play screen designs and 3D art assets.
Wild Goose Games (A Subsidiary of Kari Development). Thousand Oaks, CA. Created Logo design.
BREAKAWAY GAMES. Hunt Valley, Maryland
Managing Art Director June 2007 - September 2008
Art Staff Management. Managed and oversaw the production efforts of 14 art department staff members.
Management of External Art Outsourcing. Coordinated and oversaw the contract negotiations, production, and feedback with numerous outsourcing vendors.
Employee Reviews. Gathered performance evaluation feedback, collated information and evaluation scores, and conducted annual reviews.
Management of Personnel Issues. Met regularly with all art department staff to anticipate and avoid personnel conflicts.
Project: Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath - PC, X Box 360. Publisher: Electronic Arts, Inc. Release date: March 2008.
Responsibilities: Management and supervision of a 10-member internal art team. Coordination with external art team at Electronic Arts. Management of 3 external art outsourcing vendors creating vehicles, characters, and animations.
THE COLLECTIVE, INC. Newport Beach, California
Studio Art Director April 2005 - June 2007
Art Staff Management. Managed and oversaw the production efforts of 32 art department staff members.
Internal Project Review. Provided Art Direction for 4 internal studio projects.
Harker (Original IP Title) - X Box 360, PS3. Unpublished.
Silent Hill V (Working Title) - X Box 360, PS3. Publisher: Konami. In Production.
Dirty Harry (Working Title) - X Box 360, PS3. Publisher: Warner Brothers Interactive Entertainment. Unpublished.
The Da Vinci Code - X Box, PS2, PC. Publisher: 2K Games. Release date: May 2006.
Art Direction for numerous Original IP and Publisher Project Pitch Presentations. Managed Concept Art Department and oversaw the creation of concept artwork, both internally and through external vendors. Coordinated the shared art resources and concept art needs for both internal project production and ongoing pitch presentations. Created presentation graphic layouts for Power Point Pitch presentations.
Next-Gen Art Production Pipeline Creation. Worked with art, production, and design staff to establish new production pipelines and methodologies for Character Art and Environmental Art creation, incorporating the use of high-rez modeling and normal-map creation in Zbrush and Mudbox.
Management of External Art Outsourcing. Coordinated and oversaw the contract negotiations, production, and feedback with numerous outsourcing vendors. Conducted research and vetting of numerous outsourcing studios. Acted as liaison between internal production teams and outsource vendors.
Studio-wide, Art Department Recruitment Efforts. Discussed individual project Art Staffing needs with Production and made staffing recommendations. Created and revised Art Department Job Descriptions. Reviewed Artist portfolios and resumes. Conducted phone and onsite interviews. Created and reviewed art tests for potential candidates. Reviewed feedback and made hiring recommendations. Established relationships with local art schools and attended student portfolio reviews.
Employee Reviews and Raise Recommendations. Gathered performance evaluation feedback, collated information and evaluation scores, made salary recommendations, and conducted both annual and 90-day reviews.
Management of Personnel Issues. Met regularly with all art department staff to anticipate and avoid personnel conflicts. Conducted verbal and written warnings and follow-up meetings with problem employees. Made re-assignment and termination recommendations to Production and Management.
Additional Production Artwork. Created the User Interface (in-game HUD and Shell Screens) design, layout, art elements, and motion graphics for Marc Eckos Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure - X Box, PS2, PC. Publisher: Atari, Inc. Release date: February 2006.
Lead Artist December 2003 - April 2005
Project: Star Wars, Episode III: Revenge of the Sith - X Box, PS2. Publisher: LucasArts Entertainment Company. Release date: May 2005.
Responsibilities: Management and supervision of a 12-member internal art team. Coordination with external art team at LucasArts.
Review and organization of large volume of reference art and materials from LucasFilm and ILM.
User Interface (in-game HUD and Shell Screens) design, layout, art elements, and motion graphics creation.
Lead Artist July 2001 - December 2003
Project: Wrath Unleashed - X Box, PS2. Publisher: LucasArts Entertainment Company. Release date: February 2004.
Responsibilities: Pre-visualization and design of entirely original game universe. Personal design and creation, as well as visual supervision for the design and creation of game world and characters.
Art style guide creation and environmental design pre-visualization.
User Interface (in-game HUD and Shell Screens) design, layout, art elements, and motion graphics creation.
Senior Artist April 2001 - August 2002
Project: Buffy The Vampire Slayer - X Box. Publisher: Electronic Arts/Fox Interactive. Release date: August 2002.
Real-time prop design, 3D mesh creation, and texturing.
User Interface (in-game HUD and Shell Screens) design, layout, art elements, and motion graphics creation.
Lead Artist December 2000 - April 2001
Project: The X-Files: Resist or Serve - PS2. (Involved in pre-production. Developed by Black Ops Entertainment.) Publisher: Vivendi Universal Games, Inc. Release Date: March 2004.
Responsibilities: In-depth study and understanding of license reference materials. Application of license knowledge to all aspects of game content visualization, both referenced and original. Supervision and coordination of a 3-member, pre-production art team.
Art style guide creation and environmental design pre-visualization.
User Interface (in-game HUD and Shell Screens) design and layout pre-visualization.
Lead Artist April 1999 - December 2000
Project: Star Trek, Deep Space Nine: The Fallen - PC. Publisher: Simon and Schuster Interactive. Release date: November 2000.
Responsibilities: In-depth study and understanding of license reference materials. Application of license knowledge to all aspects of game content visualization, both referenced and original. Supervision and coordination of a 9-member art team. Coordination of art content with the programming team.
Coordination of art and design with 4, external, level designers.
Real-time character and prop design, 3D mesh creation, and texturing.
User Interface (in-game HUD and Shell Screens) design, layout, art elements, and motion graphics creation.
3D-Environment level design, building, world texture painting, texture-mapping, lighting, and game-play set-up.
In-game, cut scene design and set-up.
MICROPROSE SOFTWARE, INC. Hunt Valley, Maryland
Lead Artist May 1996 - April 1999
Project: Star Trek, The Next Generation: Klingon Honor Guard - PC. Publisher: Microprose Software, Inc. Release date: October 1998.
Responsibilities: Creation of original designs and coordination of the approval process with the Paramount Studios production department. Supervision and coordination of an 11-member art team. Coordination of art content with the programming team. Coordination and creation of specific art for the marketing department.
Real-time character design, 3D mesh creation, texturing, and animation.
Real-time game weapons design, creation, and texturing.
User Interface (in-game HUD and Shell Screens) design, layout, art elements, and motion graphics creation.
3D-Environment level design, building, texturing, lighting, and set-up.
Cut scene design, layout, art, and animation.
Senior Artist September 1994 - May 1996
Project: Star Trek, The Next Generation: Omega Gate - PC. Unpublished.
Project: Magic: The Gathering - PC. Publisher: Microprose Software, Inc. Release Date: March 1997.
Project: Sid Meier's Colonization - PC. Publisher: Microprose Software, Inc. Release date: December 1994.
Responsibilities: Character design, concept art, story boards, 2D sprite art, 3D modeling, and animation.
THE BECKER GROUP. Baltimore, Maryland
Assistant Art Director December 1993 - September 1994
Responsibilities: Supervision and coordination of full-time art staff and seasonal illustrators.
Art request and job information coordination.
Layout and Illustration of seasonal theme displays.
Senior Illustrator and Product Designer March 1992 - December 1993
Responsibilities: Supervision and coordination of seasonal illustrators.
Layout and Illustration of seasonal theme displays.
Engineering and product installation supervision.
Illustrator April 1989 - March 1992
Layout and Illustration of seasonal theme displays.
COBERG DESIGN ASSOCIATES. Baltimore, Maryland
Freelance Illustration and Design Ongoing
Design and Art for Lance Burton Productions (Las Vegas, NV): Magic stage show.
Design and Computer Animation for Bush Gardens theme park, VA: “Rockin' The Boat” stage show.
Design and Art for Walt Disney on Ice: Production of Aladdin.
Designs and Art for Rockefeller Center (New York, NY): Christmas display.
Designs and Art for Time Warner: “Warner World” theme park attraction.
EDUCATION
Baltimore School for the Arts May 1988
Baltimore, MD.
Major: Visual Communication and Fine Arts.
Artwork displayed at Alcazar Gallery, Baltimore, MD.
Congressional Achievement Award: “An Artistic Discovery” Art Competition.
Hello, my name is Dan Mycka. I am a video game artist, graphic designer, and illustrator. I'm a 16-year veteran of the game industry and I've been working as an artist for the past 21 years. As a Lead on numerous projects, I've done just about everything on the art production side from Concept Art, to 3D Modeling, to Texture Painting, to Game User Interface, to Graphic Design. In the past few years, I've focused on the GUI art and design, while managing my internal and external art teams and fleshing out the artistic vision for the numerous projects I've seen to completion.
My real passion and strength is in visual storytelling. I thrive on working with the Designers, the Cinematic Animators, and the Artists to find the compelling story and to bring out the captivating visuals that take the artwork beyond the polygons and pixels. I love getting my team fired up about making games. I've seen the ups and downs of video game production, time and time again. I know how to spot the pitfalls, how to power through the challenges, and how to make the hard work feel rewarding and fun. When things on a project come together and you finally see your box sitting on the shelves, it makes all that effort worth it. I love being inspired by what I create and inspiring my team in the same way.
