| Michele Matossian | Freelance artist, author, and teacher. | |
| Job Quote: | Concerning the advantages and disadvantages of freelance work:
Advantage: "I'm my own boss. This means I control priorities, projects and production quality. I also have freedom of expression, because I don't report to a boss, or play office politics. Instead, I focus on delivering quality and service." Disadvantage: "Long hours. I maintain the highest artistic standards,
and this can sometimes cause me to become overextended. I'm no stranger
to all-nighters and 100 hour weeks, but at least I am doing what I really
want to do!"
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| Job Description: | Designs websites, 3D models and 3D illustrations for software companies and game developers. Works with doctors, medical schools and 2D medical illustrators to create educational CDs. Gives seminars and lectures on 3D Studio MAX, Photoshop, design, and visual thinking. Trains teachers. She recently wrote a Visual QuickStart book on MAX, and a companion syllabus. | |
| Software Used: | Michelle's tools include: 3D Studio MAX, Photoshop, Premiere, Pagemaker, Painter, Director, QuarkXpress, and Animator Studio. She also enjoys writing HTML, Word Macros, and other scripts. A background in computer programming has been a big help. After teaching herself 3D Studio MAX, Michele figures she can learn anything. | |
| Education: | Undergraduate: Michele pursued a general course of study in
the sciences at Stanford University
before declaring a double major in art and anthropology. After graduation
she studied art and computer science at the University
of Colorado and worked as a computer graphic artist at Precision Visuals,
Inc.
Graduate: The School for the Arts at Boston University. Fulfilled her dream of studying painting with a great master. Won the 1988 Albert S. and Esther B. Kahn career-entry award for painting, a major prize. |
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| Career Path: | From 1988 - 1994 Michele taught art at The Rhode Island School of Design, Bowdoin College, The University of Michigan, Washtenaw Community College, The University of Toledo at the Toledo Museum of Art, Kalamazoo College, and Eastern Michigan University. In 1995 she moved to California and learned Photoshop, Illustrator and QuarkXpress and began working in desktop publishing. At the same time, she fell in love with 3D but couldn't afford the software, so she went into sales and marketing at a 3D Studio reseller. Shortly after, she landed jobs at Red Hill Studios, a multimedia company, and digital phenomena, a computer graphics production company where she jumped feet first into live action compositing, animation, and special effects using the alpha and beta (pre-release) versions of 3D Studio MAX 1.0 and Animator Studio. Her next big project was a medical 3D animation which won critical acclaim at the RSandA (radiology) conference in 1996. Since then, she has done two more CDs with the San Francisco Medical Center Department of Radiology. Other major projects include: advertising graphics for 3D Studio MAX VIZ, website design for Spirit Rock Meditation Center, Project Data Systems, North Bay Network, and others; 3D modeling for Red Hill Studio, 3D dental animation for SCI, and 3D architectural modeling for SimCity 3000. From 1997 - 1999 she taught 3D Studio MAX, Graphic Design, and Photoshop at the College of Marin. Current work includes teaching seminars in the US and Europe, training teachers, writing teaching materials, lecturing at schools and conferences, creating 3D animations for the web, and making art. | |
| Salary and Opportunities: | Michele is a freelancer with many different types of projects.
As a freelancer, she thinks carefully about hourly rates, because
her rate has to cover the overhead: rent, equiptment, supplies, health
insurance, retirement, advertising, and promotion while remaining competitive
in a competitive field. To balance out the "feast or
famine" cycle, and pay some of the overhead, she teaches college,
writes books, and works on consumer products. Her salary depends
on the projects she picks. Here is some information for some
of the different fields she is involved in.
Graphic Artist: Some of the happiest people in this business are the visual developers. The tools and techniques are constantly changing and improving--and though you have to report to the same project or product manager the programmers do, you're often allowed much more leeway and creativity. Customers also understand and pay a lot of attention to the graphics, and if they like yours, you have an enviable career ahead of you. It's not fine art, but most artists would agree it's the most interesting turn commercial design has taken in decades. Salary range: $35,000 to $60,000. Designer or Content Developer: This role has several titles and in the past was often shared by the project manager, senior programmers, and others on the development team. But usually now one person is in charge of the user experience and logic flow--how all the text, graphics, sound, and other information fit together. Like a magazine with a very good art director, well-designed content feels natural, inviting, and easily understandable. Software companies are increasingly willing to spend time and money finding just the right writer/artist/ interface expert with significant technical experience for this slot. Salary range: $55,000 to $80,000.
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| Advice to students: | "Become a good learner -- learn to teach yourself, and be resourceful. Study books, the web, take classes with the best teachers you can find. 3D software is highly complex and constantly changing, so if you don't know how to figure things out, you won't be able to keep up with the field. " | |
| Contact: | 3d@lightweaver.com |
Sample Work:
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This image was developed for a book cover for Barbara Brodsky in Ann Arbor, MI. The crystal was created with 3D Studio MAX. The background photo of mountains in Tibet was taken by Michael Rothbart, who is now working as a photojournalist in Kazakhstan. His e-mail address is RothbartPhoto@nursat.kz . |
More of Michele's work can be seen on her web page at: www.lightweaver.com
last updated 12/02/99