Well I thought I would post some info on myself and my art. I have been coming to this site for years and many have claimed I work as a viral marketer or an employee of SOE. I have been called a lot of other stuff to. What I really am is an artist and an educator at a small college in NC. I would love to get involved in mmo development. So if anyone out there has read my threads and needs a mature employee drop me a line. I wonder if my age would be a barrier to starting a new career in mmos or in the game reporting industry. I have been a mmo player since 1996 with Meridian 59. EQ2 is my favorite mmo at the moment but pre-nge SWG is my favorite mmo of all time. You name an mmo I have probably played it. I have a long history of managing people and making art. I think that is why I love SWG so much. It allowed me creativity and a large social aspect that came with being a mayor of a large player city.

I have been making art seriously for about 26 years. I mostly paint. My work uses actual 3 dimensions and my paintings are cut out of wood. At shows many have said my work reminds them of popup books. Even though I am 49 I am a youthful spirit. Might be because I never got married so never really had to growup. I am posting some of my work and would like to know what other mmo folks think.

www.absolutearts.com/portfolios/e/eaton/

www.facebook.com/home.php#/profile.php

I'm no professional when it comes to art, but I must say you pack quite a bit of detail in these paintings, and I love your style it's very indie and is just made with a sense of "life."

The dimensions are excellent, i've never been good 3 dimensional drawings (or drawing in general but I try :P)

Beautiful paintings bro :)

That picture with the bee and the city sky-line is seriously awesome.

How much?

Thanks for the kind words about the paintings. My paintings go from around 500 to about 4,000 bucks. Some can get pretty large. Something like the "City Bee" painting would go for around 1200 bucks. I hope this puts to rest by connections with SOE, not that I would not mind working on something like Free Realms. I really love that game, not for the challenge but for the experience of entertainment art. I view these game at their best as more then games but true works of art.

So does anyone think it is crazy for me to think I could work on a mmo development project at my age with no practical development experience? If I was answering this question I would probably say "yes it is crazy".

Originally posted by Vendayn

Arr you be doin' good paintings

 

but if thats you in that pic...you be last person I think that be an artist! Arrr, could easily fool a pirate.

LMAO! Yup that is me in the picture. I hate having my picture taken but I was in the studio taking picture of a painting so I figured I would just jump in and take a picture. Your not the first person to make that artist comment. I also get asked about drug use a lot.

 Nice work Ecco, even your jeans are a work of art, should frame em 

Hey Ecco

ya I know you from the everquest 2 forums.  I never thought you were a viral employee or any nonsense like that, just someone who genuinely love the game.

your art seems really unique.  I wish I could see it in person, the images dont do it enough justice.  You dont see cut out impressions like this, at least I dont, from your generic artists.  Looks like you display most of your work in NC?  You should travel with some of it, especially down in the keys something like this would really be appreciated.

anyway, I dont know much about landing a job in the MMO industry.  What I do know, as we all do, is that developers hire  the majority of their employees during its initial development phase only to be let go after the game goes live.  I recently  listened to  a developer discussion at GDC where this was in fact one of their round table discussions, the development cycle and employee retainment.  I think this is one of the reasons you find so many MMO developers located in a central location (Like San Antonio) is because of employee turn around.  So if you dont mind constant transition and change, Id just suggest starting small.  Like most jobs you'll probably have to work across some stepping stones before you land something more permanent.

I wanted to say thanks for putting yourself out here, showing us who you are (and man you look a lot like your EQ2 toon.  I gotta admit I always wondered if you modeled it after your own likeness).  Not too many people like to expose themselves this way in the meta

Originally posted by Rayx0r

Hey Ecco

ya I know you from the everquest 2 forums.  I never thought you were a viral employee or any nonsense like that, just someone who genuinely love the game.

your art seems really unique.  I wish I could see it in person, the images dont do it enough justice.  You dont see cut out impressions like this, at least I dont, from your generic artists.  Looks like you display most of your work in NC?  You should travel with some of it, especially down in the keys something like this would really be appreciated.

anyway, I dont know much about landing a job in the MMO industry.  What I do know, as we all do, is that developers hire  the majority of their employees during its initial development phase only to be let go after the game goes live.  I recently  listened to  a developer discussion at GDC where this was in fact one of their round table discussions, the development cycle and employee retainment.  I think this is one of the reasons you find so many MMO developers located in a central location (Like San Antonio) is because of employee turn around.  So if you dont mind constant transition and change, Id just suggest starting small.  Like most jobs you'll probably have to work across some stepping stones before you land something more permanent.

I wanted to say thanks for putting yourself out here, showing us who you are (and man you look a lot like your EQ2 toon.  I gotta admit I always wondered if you modeled it after your own likeness).  Not too many people like to expose themselves this way in the meta

As an artist I have been showing for a lot of years, so you get use to being somewhat public. I hope you were refering the my toon Ecco in EQ2 and not Bimby, although Bimby is a stud.

 
Bimby

Those are beautiful. I absolutely adore the Peacock in the third photo.

although my personal taste i'm not a fan of the paintings (or since they are 3d, should i call them something else?), they do look very well done, i'm just not a fan of so many bright colors. If i were you, i would drop a thread in: http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/forum/501/Help-Wanted.html

just for the hell of it. Anyways i wish you the best, you seem to have a good talent for art.

P.S. you look like your avatar..... you just need to paint your face and wear a bear skin for a hat. I kinda chuckled when i first noticed that xD

Originally posted by star

Those are beautiful. I absolutely adore the Peacock in the third photo.

Thanks, that is an odd painting. Do you remember the game Candyland? If that place existed I live there. I often put social comments in my cartoony world. This is the "Great American Doodle Bug" and "A Pleasant Day for a Trinity". Someone at my last show said my paintings remind them of video game art.  One thing I never try to do is bring people down with ny art, even if I am saying something negative like "The Great American Doodle Bug" This painting was my anti war painting.

Originally posted by tvalentine

although my personal taste i'm not a fan of the paintings (or since they are 3d, should i call them something else?), they do look very well done, i'm just not a fan of so many bright colors. If i were you, i would drop a thread in: http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/forum/501/Help-Wanted.html

just for the hell of it. Anyways i wish you the best, you seem to have a good talent for art.

 

P.S. you look like your avatar..... you just need to paint your face and wear a bear skin for a hat. I kinda chuckled when i first noticed that xD

Who says I don't wear a bear skin hat?

My painting reflect my interest in toys and action figures and of course are not for everyone. I think the over the top use of so many colors is why I get the "Do you do drugs comments". I try to be more subtle at time but it is hard for me.

I enjoyed examining your work. It's great. The one with the bee and skyscrapers is nice too. I love to trw, but painting is not my cup of tea. I can whip up some good abstract though. I've been working on my poetry and song writing more than my drawing lately. Yours is fantasic. You sell your work?

Thanks for all the positive responses to my art. I been video gaming since 1972 with the Magnovox Odyssey 2000 and video game art is certainly an influence on my paintings.