Welcome to Jeff McNurlin's online portfolio and resume.

I'm Jeff McNurlin, and I've been an artist in the video game industry for 11 years.

Computer Origins:

Even though I was surrounded by computers as a kid (can you believe I even had a Trash 80?), I never used them for art because I initially
felt that wasn't "true art" (naturally, I eventually came around on that one).

In my final year at UCLA, I finagled my way into a graduate course in creating a CD-ROM, in hopes to learn computer skills I could use in the workplace. When I had to choose my project's subject matter, Star Wars was the first thing that popped in my head; so I chose to create an interactive encyclopedia of all the characters.

I learned a lot about the computer, production, and Star Wars all at the same time. First, since there were over 160 characters to cover, if I did something once, I had to do it several hundred times. Because of this, I always look for ways to avoid having to re-do the same work, and I have focused on efficient workflows to my projects ever since. Also, learning so much trivia about Star Wars apparently elevated me to 'geek' status (which, in this career, gives me a good rapport with my fellow co-workers). My completed project even earned me a job, since my teacher (who also worked at a video game company) was very impressed with my work, and thought I was a perfect fit to join his team.

I find it fitting that the first ever video game -Pong- was invented the year I was born. As a kid I wore out countless Atari 2600 joysticks, heard Pac Man Fever playing on the radio, and even owned a Fairchild game system. It seems I have always been destined to work in the games industry. Though I tried my hand in the website world for a few years, making video games has been the only thing that has felt "right". My traditional art section suggests I like to draw characters, what I really love is modeling environments in the computer. I'm excited about the possibilities of continually improving game systems, since artistically it feels like I'm in the middle of a renaissance.

Interests:

I'm a huge fan of the UFC (since 2001), try to play Poker at least once a week, a high end Audio/Videophile, a big time film geek (and I own probably 300 movie scores). I used to collect comic books when I was in middle school through high school, because of all the films and video games, I've gotten back into them, I excercise 4-5 times a week, and I enjoy playing: Bowling, Softball, and Volleyball.

Feel free to browse my collection, and enjoy your tour.

jeffmcnurlin@adelphia.net