Eric Foos

[ Download a PDF of my resume here ]

Accomplished Art Director, Art Lead and Senior Artist with achievements developing environments for games, virtual reality and simulation. Driven to promote and cultivate productive bonds with professionals at all levels and disciplines in-house and off-site. Resolve differences through collaboration, effectively exchange and embrace constructive criticism through strong communication and interpersonal skills. Direct and multitask effectively under pressure, balancing the production of high quality art with speed of delivery. Proven ability to adapt and succeed in a dynamic environment, accept and promote change to improve quality, productivity and performance.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:

Naughty Dog – Santa Monica, CA
Established in 1984, Naughty Dog is one of the most successful and prolific game development studios in the world and a flagship first-party studio within PlayStation Studios.

Environment Artist: March 2021 – Present

• Collaborate with Material Artists, Lighters, Tech Artists, Engineers, Designers, Audio and Animation to create breathtaking worlds for PlayStation 5 and PC games. The Last of Us Part 1 was released on 09/02/2022.

• Continuing work as an Environment Artist on unannounced projects.

Agora Studio – Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Agora is a global network of professional artists providing high-quality freelancing services to studios across the world.

Senior Technical Artist: Feb - March 2021

• Tech-art & optimizations for an unannounced project.

WEVR, Inc – Venice, CA
WEVR is creating globally shared immersive stories in VR that are inspiring and remarkable.

Senior Artist: Jan - Feb 2021

• Look-dev for an unannounced Virtual Reality experience.

Lead Artist: July 2017 – Dec 2020

• Lead all environment, prop, character and vfx artists; in-house, remote and outsource for Gnomes & Goblins a room scale VR experience created by Jon Favreau and Jake Rowell. Published 09.23.2020

• Look-dev and creation of environment models and materials, establish visual standards for the art team.

• Collaborate with Designers on world building and layout, final set dress of all game levels in UE4.

• Work with Production to determine schedules and delegate assignments.

• Identify, recruit and interview candidates across all art disciplines: environment, character, vfx, lighting.

Senior Artist: Oct 2016 – June 2017

• Look-dev and asset creation ramping up for the full production of Gnomes & Goblins, expanding on the art created for the Preview.

Senior Artist: Sept 2015 – April 2016

• Design, model and texture environment art for Gnomes & Goblins Preview. A room scale VR experience created by Jon Favreau. Published 09.08.2016

aboutGolf - Maumee, OH
aboutGolf is the world leader in indoor simulator technology, producing games for entertainment and instruction including: aG Games, PGA TOUR Simulators and aboutGolf Simulators.

Art Director:  Jan 2011 - June 2017

• Formulate the concepts, designs, specifications and production schedule of all art assets including environments, props, characters and GUI; provide direction, critique and training to all art team members; consistently deliver visually cohesive products on schedule.

• Identify creative bottlenecks and determine tools and processes to reduce game environment production costs by over 50%.

• Evaluate and determine the use of Unity to make our entertainment initiative possible, leading to the release of five new titles within twelve months without engaging the development team.

• Continually head-up R&D efforts to improve our graphics features within our proprietary pipeline.

• Lead marketing initiatives with the concept and design of all promotional materials ensuring a high quality, consistent identity for our global market.

Art Department Manager:  Aug 2003 - Dec 2010

• Major contributor to the integration of the Emotion FX animation system into our pipeline, collaborating with in-house developers and the software authors, Mystic Game Development.

• Lead look-dev and collaborate with the development team to implement new rendering features including normal and specular mapping, HDR lighting, tone mapping, light bloom and glare.

• Manager and Art Lead for all environments, props, characters, animation, GUI and marketing materials for our first real time 3D PC game The Infamous 18.

Friendly Software - Maumee, OH
Producers of numerous PC games including: Microsoft Golf, Greg Norman Ultimate Challenge and World Tours, which is the world's most widely distributed PC golf game.

Lead Artist: Sept 2001 - July 2003

• Establish the look of environments, characters, animation, GUI and marketing for the PC game ToonGolf.

• Collaborate with the engineering team to help determine the spec, establish the art to engine pipeline and build our proprietary real time 3D engine from the ground up.

2D / 3D Artist: Sept 1999 - Aug 2001

• Spearhead the migration of our studio from a pre-rendered 2D game engine to real time 3D.

PUBLISHED TITLES (with aboutGolf & Friendly Software):

• PGA TOUR Simulator 1200 Series – New courses, ranges, game modes, club fitting and improved tracking.

• FliTM – Content and device management for multiple platforms.

• aG PortalTM – Smart Simulator content delivery & management system.

• Skeeball – Arcade style golf skill game for use in simulators.

• Mystery ReefTM, Galactic GreensTM, Lost LagoonTM – Creative spin on classic mini golf, with beautiful interactive environments and addictive gameplay.

• PGA TOUR Simulator 1100 Series – Performance optimizations, improved lighting & reflections, time-of-day.

• PGA TOUR Simulator 1000 Series – Focus on entertainment and competition; production value improvements including particle FX, motion trails, dynamic cameras, in game advertising and GUI enhancements.

• ARCHIVE OF PREVIOUS PUBLISHED TITLES: (details available upon request)

PGA TOUR Simulator 900 Series

PGA TOUR Simulator 820 Series

PGA TOUR Simulator 790 Series

PGA TOUR SIMULATOR 700 Series

PGA TOUR Simulator 618 Series

AGL Simulator 518 Series

AGL Simulator 400 Series

AGL Simulator 300 Series

aboutGolf: The Continental Collection

Center for Teaching, Learning & Technology - BGSU, Bowling Green, OH
University center dedicated to supporting faculty, staff, and graduate student instructors who strive to achieve excellence in teaching through innovation, collaboration and creative solutions.

2D / 3D Artist: Mar 1998 - Sept 1999

• Create 3D models and animation for various university promotions and corporate projects, helping to secure funding for new software and hardware technology.

• Train faculty and students in many areas, including 2D and 3D graphics.

EDUCATION:

Bowling Green State University, Ohio

• Bachelors Degree of Fine Arts - 1999

• major: Computer Art, focus on 3D Modeling and Animation | minor: 2D Studies, focus on Illustration

TECHNICAL PROFICIANCY:

Maya, Unreal, Unity, Marmoset, ZBrush, xNormal, Handplane, Crazy Bump, Substance, Quixel, Mari, Speedtree, Adobe Creative Suite, Perforce, and more.

References available upon request

[ Download a PDF of my resume here ]