Waking Oni

Contemporary artist with African American & Japanese cultural influences.

 

 

derrick@wakingoni.com

2D and 3D Contemporary Artist with over 10 years of illustrative and design experience. Recognized talents in creating alluring, commentative works. Maintains a strong reputation for well executed ideas, dedication, humor, and the ability to stick to deadlines.

Education

Kent State University [2012]: Bachelor’s of Science in Animation and Game Design, Associate of Arts in Studio Art

Software Proficiency

Maya · Zbrush · 3DCoat · Unity · Photoshop · Illustrator · Animate

Professional Experience

WakingOni – Director, Designer, Lead Artist - Onsen Master
[2014 – present]
Onsen Master is an indie game project, on its 4th year of development. I am the lead designer, 2D and 3D artist, and director.

  • Created low-poly 3D character assets. This includes efficiently laying uv’s, hand-painted texturing, and rigging for animation.

  • Generated 3D environment assets utilizing the same skills for use in Unity 3D. This was followed up by importing all the assets and building the primary level and environment.

  • Manage development pipeline and quality assurance testing, providing critical feedback to the programmer.

  • Responsible for all developer blogs, audience building, and social media interaction.

 

Arda Wigs - Project Manager, Wholesale Liaison
[2012 - present]
Assisted in building a strong foundation for one of the leading cosplay wig companies in the US. Quickly adapted to roles as the company took from a home office, to its two locations in Chicago.

  • Created project management templates and guides, using the preferred applications of the company.

  • Organizing team members and milestones, maintaining positive encouragement and problem solving.

  • Manage and conduct sales for domestic and international B2B clients via email and sales management software.

  • Actively volunteering for new roles that need fulfillment and quickly learning new tasks, systems, and software.

 

Josh Tsui - 2D Artist - Insert Coin Documentary
[2018] (Freelance)
I designed 2D logos for Josh Tsui’s upcoming documentary, covering Midway Games. Under a short deadline, I made swift turnaround on logos, parodying Mortal Kombat and NBA Jam in a 16-bit style.

  • Created 16-bit style logos, parodying Mortal Kombat 1 and NBA Jam and executed a retro look and feel.

  • Maintained swift and active communications as a remote artist, ensuring that the quality of work was met.

 

William Chyr LLC - 3D Artist, Animator - Manifold Garden
[2017] (Freelance)
I worked closely with William Chyr on his upcoming indie title Manifold Garden. I was responsible for 3D modeling and animating architecturally inspired assets for his game.

  • Rendered intricate and puzzle-like polygonal shapes animating them to change state in a linear inorganic style.

  • Imported each asset into Unity 3D for quality assurance and troubleshooting.

 

Cards Against Humanity - Comic Artist
[2017] (Freelance)
For San Diego Comic Con, Cards Against Humanity produced a one-shot comic book, featuring interpretations of their popular card game.

 

SWD Tech Games - Concept Artist
[2016] (Freelance)
At SWD Tech, I provided pixel concepts for their upcoming indie title, Pixel Noir.

  • Generated 2D sprites of creature-like enemies and environmental art, matching the Lead Artists direction and style.

  • Swiftly learned pixel art and worked under short deadlines to assist the team in meeting their production deadlines.

 

Jetstreame - Game Design, Lead Artist
[2012 - 2014]
I created my own title, Crush Hour- a mobile game where players must crash like color vehicles in different city settings.

  • Designed the entire game, including mock-ups and character designs for proof of concept.

  • Created 2D top-down cityscapes inspired by Chicago, Tokyo, Rio De Janeiro, and London.

  • Created 2D top-down car assets to match the look and feel of each city.

  • Rendered short crash animation and explosion, to be seen when each car collided.