I will bring 15 years experience in the video game and publishing industries along with a passion for crafting detailed and memorable artwork together to help your product stand out in the marketplace...
I would love to help in visualizing your unique world. I can bring life to your heroes and villains through extraordinary detail, realism and individuality. The images I create will elevate and energize your franchise; conveying to the consumer that you have an exciting product with a compelling cast of believable characters.
I have extensive practical experience in the industry, and am easily able to anticipate and respond to challenges in illustrating and marketing your product. I am professional and communicative, and I look forward to exceeding your expectations!
As you explore this website you will find artwork that I have produced while working as a marketing artist for the video games industry. There is also a selection of oil paintings which showcase my other passion of crafting timeless images in traditional media. Over the years my illustration work has been highly influenced by old-masters painting techniques. My aim is to pursue both artistic areas on the common ground of making striking and well-crafted artworks. These dual interests require me to constantly keep in mind the respective attributes each genre demands for success; whether that is to grab the viewer's attention, or decorate an intimate space...
I attended the Alberta College of Art and Design in the mid-nineties, where I pursued a degree in Visual Communications as the best route I could see to obtaining some practical, focused instruction. There was an even split of illustration and graphic design assignments, giving students a broad, multi-faceted education. Upon graduating from College, I had produced a portfolio of assorted traditional and digital art that reflected the changing times in commercial art in the nineties. This was sufficient for me to land the role as an artist for a startup video game company making their first game title.
This situation was ideal for my broad-based skill set, as I tackled everything that was needed and produced a variety of art assets. This was in the days of DOS operating systems, primitive 3-D technology and "figuring things out for yourself". Our first game, Shattered Steel was critically acclaimed, and I was on my way to a long and gratifying career with BioWare Corp.
During my 12 years with BioWare, I began focusing more on the illustrative side of video game art, eventually shedding the animation and 3-d modeling skills in order to focus myself into a marketing illustrator. I brought my design education, technical experience and passion for painting together, to create much of the marketing art for this growing and successful company. I'm privileged to have worked on some of the game industry's most storied titles, including the Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter Nights series as well as Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Jade Empire and the Star Wars game, KotOR.
In late 2008 I took the opportunity to set out as an independent artist, free to split my time between the two passions of illustration and painting, and to take my artwork to the next level.
Please enjoy your stay, drop me a line, and visit again!
Mike Sass
