The Latest

So, it's been a long time since I made a blog post. I think it's partially because nothing exciting has really happened and partially because I haven't felt the need to write a whole blog post about anything. In related news, I made a tumblr because it seemed like a better way to make quick art updates rather than posting here. You can find mine here: http://chrixeleon.tumblr.com/

Let's see, what's happened since last June... Last summer mainly consisted on working on the Virtual Joust project for the Higgins Armory and searching for jobs (which, I admit, should have been done before the summer!). I feel like I used the end of college and this project to prolong job searching and working on my portfolio, which was a big mistake! Towards the end of the Virtual Joust project, which was completed in October and is now installed in the museum, I buckled down and started really working on pursuing my goal of getting a job in the game industry.

For the month of September I decided to make at least one piece of art a day and post it to tumblr to practice my skills. I also worked on making a game called God's Tower for the Super Friendship Club forum's Mysticism Pageant to get more experience with flixel. In October I ordered some nice business cards from 123Print.com which I am very happy with. Also during this time I kept working on making my website better and now I'm finally satisfied with it (you can check it out here: http://chrixeleon.com/). November was pretty uneventful and December was full of holiday preparation and celebration. Starting in October and continuing through January I was in (and got pretty far through) the hiring process of a local game company but didn't get the job. I was pretty bummed but it was my very first job hiring process experience (and real job interview) ever!

With New Year's 2012 came new resolutions and an increased desire to get a job. My resolutions are mainly about increasing my skills and breaking into the game industry: get better at art, get better at networking (and talking to people in general), get a job! In mid-January I remembered iD Tech Camps, of which I had been a student at one point, and decided to apply for an instructor position. By February 1st I had a job offer and some definite employment later in the year. It was great to finally have something, but I still wanted to be working sooner. Also in January I participated in the Global Game Jam (GGJ) at the Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab. I met a bunch of new people, got some excellent game jam and art experience, and helped make a game called Canopy of Shadows in a weekend. It was a great experience and I can't wait to do it again next year!

GGJ was sort of a confirmation that my life was moving in the right direction. I got introduced to a small game company in Boston that was looking for an art intern and someone looking for a pixel artist for their indie project. Shortly after GGJ (and completely coincidentally) I saw a job posting for a position at a game company I applied to in August but was put on file because they weren't hiring then. Long story short, they offered me a job! It's a contract position that starts at the end of March and I'm excited! Since the beginning of February I've also been doing some concept art work for the company I was introduced to after GGJ and can hopefully provide some more help until I start working full time. As for personal work, I made a small game called Proximity Mime for the GDC Pirate Kart.

That brings us to right now. This month will hopefully consist of working on more art, starting my first game industry job, and getting ready for PAX East and it's preceding Made in MA party. Any personal art I make will be posted on tumblr and PAX East will get recap posts here as usual. I might make a post just about preparing for PAX, too, as I'm planning on doing some hardcore networking this year. It looks like a lot of great people and companies will be there this year and I'm greatly looking forward to it!

So, long story short (or TL;DR), things got better, things are going well, and things are looking up.