I'm starting to add "Case Studies" to the Artwork section of my website. These entries will describe some of the artwork and processes on particular project. Below is the first Case Study, about my relationship with Games for Windows Magazine. Enjoy.

I was lucky enough to work with Games For Windows Magazine (fomerly Computer Gaming World) on more than a dozen double-page spreads with accompanying spot illustrations. Every issue was a different challenge to communicate something visually to an audience that's been oversaturated with visual stimulus for years. They were really open to different ideas and styles. Below are some of the projects that we worked on together.

Galagato, 2006
This was the first spread that I did for CGW. The article was about the swarm of online PC games freely available on the internet. The direction was to depict some sort of swarm. I had just returned from Portland, OR where I spent a lot of time at Ground Kontrol Retro Arcade. The place is loaded with fully retored game cabinets from the 80's and I was pumped to make some vintage arcade inspired art. The art director graciously tolerated my insistance for this style and we went with it.

Invaders, 2007
This illustration was about the onslaught of in-game advertising in PC games. I was still interested in exploring imagery from the roots of video games, so this piece features space invaders. It was important to the article that we include as much branding as possible in the spread. Unfortunately, the final,printed image was cropped and obscures the Funyuns bag.

Midnight in the Garden, 2007
One of most interesting articles during my run with GFW was a feature on "The Hidden World of Christian PC Games". Apparently, Christian bookstores often carry exclusive video games specific to the Christian Faith. The function on the article was to be impartial and just unearth this subset of games to a wider audience. I decided to illustrate the idea by showing a scene in the Garden of Eden at night time.

Eagle with Baby Dragons, 2007
This spread was for an editorial about American games companies moving operations to China and nurturing those new jobs.The art direction called for some kind of chinese dragon and maybe an eagle. I chose to depict a mother eagle tending to her surrogate dragon chicks.

Stormcheaters, 2007
This was a spread for an article about cheaters in massively-multiplayer games. Some people will go to great lengths to gain power in a game, even if it means taking advantages of flaws in the system, or preying on newbies. The original direction of the art was to use fantasy-based characters cheating on a test, but it evolved into something more universally familiar and was a lot more fun in the end because of it.

More of my artwork for Games for Windows Magazine can be seen by visiting my Artwork by Client collection on Flickr.