“SUMMER IN THE MOUNTAINS” is the animated GIF I created for the opening page of this website. It acts as a showcase of every skill I've learned over the course of my studies at CSU, and a direct reflection of myself.

This past year has been a journey of emotional healing, and part of this process was reconnecting with the natural landscapes in Colorado. I feel a spiritual connection to it, and I find myself hiking all the time. My heart is beyond the peaks of the mountains, and my soul is within the trees.

This piece was modeled and animated entirely in Blender. I created a complex, 2D-image facial rig in order to give my character more emotion in the face, which was a previous limitation my style in 2024. The video was composited in After Effects, adding 2D-animated wind, dust, and birds to add atmosphere.

All of the sounds were recorded by me on a hiking trip, and the music is a royalty-free beat from BaadBeats titled "PASADENA," which I sampled and slowed down to make it calmer.

This piece was an animated study I created to experiment more with environment design. Inspired by classic detective noir films, notably "The Third Man," and "Batman: The Animated Series," my goal was to create a grimey and eerie world with a sense of intrigue.

What I took most into consideration was how light and shadow was used in these works in order to create these crime-filled worlds. Most works within this genre have high-contrast lighting and stark, angular shadows. These shadows aren’t just decorative; they serve as metaphors, hinting at the hidden depths and secrets that lie beneath the surface of the narrative. The play of light and shadow becomes a language of its own, communicating emotions and subtext without words.

This piece was modeled and animated entirely in Blender, and I composited everything in After Effects. This is where I created animated rain, smoke, and reflections, adding to the atmosphere.

All of the sounds were recorded by me in Fort Collins, and cleaned up in Audacity.