Welcome to the Art – Bot Central blog. With the first post, I wanted to introduce myself as well as the other artists at Robot Entertainment. As time goes on, content on this page will showcase artwork from someone on the art staff, which will include images from different subject matters, or genres, as well as created in different kinds of software. There will be little in the form of organization or an overall theme (we are artists, what do you expect); instead, the blog will act as a hub to showcase the various works and ramblings from the artists here at Robot. The artist group at Robot is made up of myself and 13 other amazing artists. We have all had the chance to work together at a previous company (at least one company, some artists go back up to 14 years together), which has only added to the effectiveness and consistency of the group.

(Click the image for a larger version)

From left to right.

Bryan Hehmann - Environment Artist, Nathan Stefan - Concept Artist, Gene Kohler (bottom) - Character Artist, Dion Hopkins - Visual Effects Artist, David Kubalak- Art Director, Charles Tinney (bottom) - Animator, Rob Walden - Hard Surface Modeler, Juan Martinez Technical Artist and Animator, Brad Crow (bottom) - Art Director, Paul Slusser - Environment Artist, Duane Santos - Hard Surface Modeler, Won Choi (bottom) - Concept Artist, Chris Moffitt - Character Artist, and Bart Tiongson - Concept Artist.

So a little about myself; my name is David Kubalak and ever since I can remember, I have always enjoyed creating art. I went on to school for Graphic Design at the Pittsburgh Technical Institute and soon realized that Graphic Design wasn’t really for me. I was lucky enough to find a job right out of school with-in the game industry and in over 14 years, I have never looked back. I originally did 2d artwork and animations, which eventually evolved into 3d modeling and texturing, which then got replaced by spreadsheets and schedules. But I can’t complain because I get to work with 13 incredibly talented and incredibly inspiring artists. I still enjoy doing art when I can find the time, and will post (somewhat infrequently) on the CGHub forums, as well as my personal blog at http://www.davidkubalak.blogspot.com/.

I always enjoyed when artists introduce themselves, and they show their work areas. I think it says so much more about the artist and their personality. Here are a couple pictures from my office at home.

My available time to work on artwork doesn’t come as often as I would like, but when it does, I try to make the most of it. I have strived to make my home office as creative and inspiring as possible since it’s where I get to do all of my work these days. I’ve collected some original artwork from artists that I have admired over the years and I have had an addiction to collecting ‘art of’ books for what seems like forever now. I still remember getting the first Spectrum book some 15 years ago. It was the first time I saw so much inspiring work from different artists in one place. Now looking at how much artwork is out on various forums and gallery sites, it’s incredible how much the visibility of individual artists has evolved in a short period of time. I’ve crammed as many pictures and books as I could in such a small space, as well as some statues and some souvenirs from my hometown back in Pittsburgh. No artists’ workspace would be complete without some Wacom technology these days. I recently got a cintiq for home, and love it. I think my daughter loves using it just as much as I do, she thinks it’s one of the best inventions ever, and I can’t disagree with her. It makes everything so much easier. Now if I can only get my artwork to look as good as hers. :)

In the future of this blog, I plan on putting my workspace to some good use. The artists and I will try and post a wide variety of things as time goes on. We may have some more introductions, pick themes, speed paints/ modeling, or even some group projects. So stay tuned to this blog to see some art as well as commentary on a variety of subjects from the group.

Until next time,

-kube-