Video Game Design

Video game design is the focus of new courses for middle school, high school, college, and adult students throughout the country. The entertainment industry generates billions of dollars through video games. Artists and gamers of all ages seek out information about concept art, character/creature design, level design, weapons/vehicles, environments, etc. My 3D Computer Animation students have been lucky enough to partner with Game-U in Flemington, NJ to learn the basics of Unity and have used that information to complete independent projects incorporating Autodesk Maya and Adobe Photoshop. Students have created side-scroller games incorporating traditional 2D animation (pictured above), racing games with 3D cars modeled in Maya, and concept art in Zbrush. Video game design courses online are easily accessible and free versions of gaming software makes making games a reality at any age.

3D Computer Animation Careers and Classes

Learn about the careers available to you in the 3D Computer Animation industry and the Polytech class preparing you for those careers.

Amazing Alumni

So, I have been teaching here at Hunterdon County Polytech for 14 years. I have some pretty amazing alumni that work as professional artists and designers throughout the country. I was fortunate to have many contribute to our art exhibit this past Wednesday night. Keeping in touch with my past students is extremely rewarding. It makes me happy to see them follow their dreams and make art for  a living. They have gone on to schools such as School of Visual Arts, Columbus College of Art and Design, Savannah College of Art and Design, Pratt, Parsons, Maryland Institute College of Art, and University of the Arts. They are graphic designers, cartoonists, animators, 3D digital sculptors, interactive designers, visual development artists, illustrators, and fine artists. Above is Bryan Wiszniewski with his most recent painting of Beyonce. Check out our Facebook photo album of the event.
facebook.com/Polytech.Art.Department

CTE Advisory Committee

As a Career and Technical Education school, Hunterdon County Polytech strives to stay current in our fields of study. Each class maintains an advisory committee made up of professional members, students, parents, post secondary educators, counselors, and alumni. The art department advisory committee is essential to keeping us current with software, industry trends, and connections to the field. Our committee boasts 3D animators, illustrators, business owners, video game designers, graphic designers, photographers, and marketing professionals. It's through this committee that curriculum changes, field trips, guest speakers, and equipment purchases are discussed. For more information on becoming a member or to view our current list of members, click here.

National Art Honor Society

Polytech art students who complete a semester of either Commercial Arts/Advertising Design or 3D Computer Animation may be nominated to join our chapter of the National Art Honor Society. This organization focuses on art scholar, character, and service. Students complete community service projects, attend field trips, participate in art projects, and are eligible for scholarships. Anna-Lisa Eriksson, received a $4,000 scholarship from Columbus College of Art & Design for her membership in NAHS.

College Tuesdays: Full Sail University, MECA, Ai and more

For the entire 1st semester Polytech art students have "College Tuesdays". They research college options, search for scholarships, apply for financial aid, write a college essay, prepare their portfolio, attend National Portfolio Day, and welcome college representatives to make presentations. The following are links to some schools that have visited so far this year:
Full Sail University
Maine College of Art
Art Institute of Philadelphia

College Portfolio Preparation

Polytech students work towards creating a successful portfolio for both college and employment. Because the vast majority of students here go on to major in art in college they must develop strong life observational skills. Here a student works on a self portrait from life including personal objects to express her interests. She is working in colored pencils. Click here for more information on colleges that Polytech art students have attended and alumni updates.

Hunterdon County Library Outdoor Art Show

Hunterdon County Polytech Commercial Arts/Advertising Design and 3D Computer Animation students exhibited their artwork at the 2nd annual Outdoor Art Show sponsored by the Hunterdon County Library. 5 students won awards including Krystina Galvez, who received 1st Place for her acrylic still life completed from life observation.

Polytech Alumna Creates Animated Short!

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After taking an Intro to Animation class at Polytech, Kristine Marsh went on to study Cartooning at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. She began her career as freelance artist and became the owner of her own business, Knightingale Studio. She currently heads the company that creates characters, illustrations, 2D animation and graphics for children’s media including books, apps, and advertising.

While at Polytech, Kristine learned the basics of Adobe Illustrator and created a chinchilla character that she named “Fuji”. Through the years, she further developed this character transforming it into the main character in her new project, Samurai Chinchilla! “You never know where that doodle in your high school sketchbook will lead”, says Kristine.

Kristine recently held a promotional event sponsored by Women in Animation in New York City on May 6^th. Videos, concept artwork, notes by the creator, and more can be found at the following link.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/knightingaleart/samurai-chinchilla-the-animated-short

Kristine has been a wonderful supporter of the art programs here at Polytech. She sits on the Advisory Committee, holds workshops for current students on portfolio preparation and serves as a speaker for community presentations.

“I took every art class my high school had to offer, all the way up to G & T Honors programs, but nothing prepared me quite like Polytech. Getting an early jump on using design software and learning about the process of animation before college really gave me an edge going forward.”

We wish her much luck and success with her future endeavors.

SkillsUSA winners

Hunterdon County Polytech students Krystina Galvez (left) and Rebecca Smith (right) won 3rd place in the 2013 NJ State SkillsUSA competition for 3D Visualization & Computer Animation. They had 4 hours to create an animation sequence in Maya including modeling, lighting, texturing, rigging, animating, and rendering. Congratulations to our team!

Bridging the Gap

Commercial Arts and Advertising students completed their Bridging the Gap proposals and projects culminating with an awards breakfast this morning hosted by local Rotary clubs. Students participated in workshops on resume writing, interviewing, and portfolio presentations. They worked with Rotary mentors to develop marketing plans starting their own freelance businesses for illustration and graphic design. They designed and printed personal logos, business cards, and resumes. Next Polytech held a job fair with local businesses. Each student worked with a client to complete paying jobs. Today, students presented their final projects. Two students were awarded $250 scholarships for their performance. Above is winner Sara DiVito's bulletin board design for ProCare Rehabilitation. Below is winner Steven Jaskula's booklet design for the Hunterdon County teacher of the year luncheon.

Animation Careers

Being an animator is just one job to have in an animation studio. You could be a concept artist, character development artist, storyboard artist, layout artist, animator, inbetweener, background artist, inker, or painter. In the 3D world you could also be a texture artist, rigger, modeler, special effects artist, or lighter, just to name a few. The above image is a character design painted in Adobe Photoshop by student Ellen Strub.

3D Computer Animation

Of course everyone knows that 3D Computer Animation is used for movies and video games, but jobs are available beyond the entertainment industry. 3D artists work for architects, industrial designers, interior designers, and advertising designers. Virtual tours of buildings not yet constructed, animated samples of inventions not yet produced, light/color/furniture choices presented to clients, and television commercials, the evening news, intros to sporting events enhanced with 3D. The above sample is a character design by student Efosa Amegor modeled in Maya.

Careers in Art

Why not get paid to do what you love? People don't realize how many different places and different ways you could be employed as an artist. Everything you see in life starts with a pencil on paper. From the clothes you wear, to the car you drive, from the video game you play, to the food you buy in the store...you involved  the careers of fashion designer, fashion illustrator, textile designer, seamstress, industrial designer, video game designer, concept artist, 3D modeler, character development artist, animator, package designer, graphic designer-just to name a few. Above is a t-shirt design by student Bryan Wiszniewski.

Commercial Arts & Advertising Design

Commercial Arts is any artwork made to be sold in an intended market. Everything you see in life starts with an artist's sketch or a designer's concept. Artists work in a variety of traditional and digital media. In class, students work with charcoal, colored pencils, oil pastels, watercolor, acrylic, etc. to create portfolio pieces. They also learn Adobe InDesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop to incorporate type, graphics, and images into their work. They complete freelance jobs for clients and research options for art schools. The above poster design was created by student Taylor Carhart.