ArtRexDesigns.Com

I have been drawing since before I can remember. Not too surprisingly, most of my subject matter involved animals, dinosaurs and monsters. I still have some of my original sketchbooks with characters that easily fall into the stick-figure category.

When I was 13, I entered the 1995 National "Written and Illustrated by..." Awards Contest. My submission was a children's book titled "Jasmine in the Everglades," a fictional story about my pet python at the time. I did not win the contest, but out of over 7,000 participants, I placed in the Top 100 Finalists.

Growing up, I always had (and still have) two main passions: wildlife and art. When I graduated highschool in 1999, I started working toward a degree in zoology. Nearly four years and over 80 credit hours later, I realized that such a degree was not for me, and I then decided to pursue a career more conducive to my natural artistic talents. Knowing that I could substantial further my academics in my hometown of Mobile, Alabama, I moved to the small town of Collegedale, Tennessee, to enroll into Southern Adventist University (SAU). The university had an excellent art department, known as the School of Visual Art and Design (SVAD), and it was there that I learned all the fundamental principles of design, as well as the craft of both traditional and 3-D animation.

During the summer after my sophomore year, I came back home and met Dale Dunnihoo, owner of the Intelligent Design Studio. Dale had been in the graphic design business for over 35 years, and had dominated the market for full vehicle wraps on the Southeast for over ten years. He was bored of traditional design software, and was impressed with my skill in 3-D modeling, an area he had only dabbled in. Consequently, I interned at his studio for that and the following summer, learning much about the world of commercial design and corporate branding, in addition to tutoring Dale in the world of 3-D.

For most of my junior year at SAU, I collaborated with several of my fellow students on an animation project titled "The Parable of the Lost Sheep." I helped with the storyboarding of the project, and was in charge of designing and modeling the characters, as well as creating blend shapes for the characters' facial expressions. The final project can be found in the Links section of this site.

I graduated from SAU in May 2007 with a Bachelor's Degree in Character Animation with a minor in Graphic Design. I soon returned home to Mobile and started doing contract work with the Intelligent Design Studio, as well as various other freelance projects in the Southeast.

Art REX Designs officially became incorporated in the summer of 2008, and during the process, this site was launched and my company vehicle was wrapped (see home page).

Some might say that I am a jack of all trades, but many can say that I am a master at creating original characters and bringing them to life in the 3-D world.

I hope you have enjoyed browsing my website and that will you consider me for any of your needs in the digital arts.

- Michael D. Crabtree