Freelance Digital Artist, Animator & Writer
Leeds, United Kingdom
- Current
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- Freelance Digital Artist, Animator & Writer at Antony Ward - Digital Artist & Animator
- Past
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- Senior Artist at Sumo Digital
- Associate Character Animator at Electronic Arts
- Lead Artist at Infogrames
- Digital Artist & Animator at Krisalis Software
- Digital Artist at Freestyle Software
- Education
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- Norton College Sheffield
- City School Sheffield
- Woodhouse West
- Recommended
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6 people have recommended Antony - Connections
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136
connections
- Industry
- Computer Games
- Websites
Antony Ward’s Summary
I have 15 years experience within the computer games development industry, working for some of the biggest companies at a senior level. During this time, I have grown as both an artist/animator as well as a manager. My senior positions within the art departments have enabled me to develop my skills in not only managing my own time and workload but also that of a team. I have proven myself adaptable, tough under pressure and a good team player. My understanding of the industry, having worked from the bottom up to leading on a big budget project, has allowed me to be confident in my own abilities. I have been able to pass on the skills I have learnt effectively through both my in-house roles and my books.
I am the author of two successful technical manuals, Game Character Development in Maya (published in 2004) and Game Character Development (published in 2008). These have been popular and have been translated into many different languages including Chinese. I am also currently in discussion with another publisher about writing my third title.
In my spare time, I like to develop my artistic skills further by working on personal projects. I have recently had one of my images selected for publication in 'Exotique 4'. This is one of a series of books produced by Ballistic Publishing, widely thought of as the benchmark for computer generated art. Entrants from 45 countries worldwide submit their work for consideration, therefore I was honored to be one of the few chosen.
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I am currently considering emigrating to Australia, or possibly Vancouver. If you are interested in connecting to discuss this then please add me to your network (ant@ant-online.co.uk).
Thanks!
Antony Ward’s Specialties:
I specialize in the use of Autodesk Maya, including MEL scripting. I also use Silo, Mudbox, Adobe Photoshop, ZBrush and Alienbrain. I am fully capable of generating both real time artwork and high end models as well as rigging and animation.
Antony Ward’s Experience
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Freelance Digital Artist, Animator & Writer
Antony Ward - Digital Artist & Animator
(Computer Games industry)
September 2007 — Present (1 year 11 months)
In September 2007 I decided to leave the comfort of a studio position and go it alone. Becoming freelance was both challenging and rewarding, allowing me to develop my skills further in game development while also branching into other media.
Since then I have worked for many companies including Sumo Digital where I created artwork for Sega Superstar Tennis. Other companies I have had the pleasure to work with have been Finger Industries on the Lloyds TSB advertising campaign (amongst others), Data Design Interactive (track building), Ladyluck Digital, Marti Animation (character modeling), Simthetiq (vehicle modeling) and Six by Nine on their Wizardology project which was contracted through GameOps. -
Senior Artist
Sumo Digital
(Privately Held; Computer Games industry)
October 2004 — September 2007 (3 years)
After leaving EA I moved into a senior position at Sumo Digital. Here I worked on a number of titles one of which was OutRun 2006: Coast
to Coast, on which I was Lead Artist. This was my first time managing a cross platform title and saw me overseeing the art assets, and scheduling needed for Xbox, PS2 and PSP. -
Associate Character Animator
Electronic Arts
(Public Company; ERTS; Computer Games industry)
May 2003 — October 2004 (1 year 6 months)
In May 2003 I began working for Electronic Arts. Here my role was Associate Character Animator but my tasks also included creating concept artwork, modelling characters and writing animation-based tools in Maya. During my time there I had access to EA's worldwide community allowing me the opportunity to expand my knowledge of Maya, character creation and rigging.
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Lead Artist
Infogrames
(Public Company; 1001-5000 employees; Computer Games industry)
June 1999 — April 2003 (3 years 11 months)
The summer of 1999 saw me moving to Infogrames Sheffield House, formerly Gremlin Interactive, and get my first taste of working on, then, next generation consoles. As well as changing employment, I also changed art packages, making the transition from 3D Studio Max to Maya. With the help of Maya and MEL I tailored my skills towards characters before further educating myself in the process of generating both low and high-resolution creatures. Developing my skills in the rigging and animation process meant I was able to create a superior rig that is to this day, easy to animate with and fully automated in its setup.
During my last year I was able to further diversify my role at Infogrames. In recognition of my character skills, I was appointed Head of the Character Department, managing six other artists and animators. Our role within the company was to cover all aspects of creature/character development i.e. modeling, texturing, rigging, animating and rendering. -
Digital Artist & Animator
Krisalis Software
(Computer Games industry)
February 1998 — June 1999 (1 year 5 months)
After five years at Freestyle I decided to move on and went to work for for Krisalis Software, based in Rotherham. Here I worked on a 3D strategy/adventure game aimed at a very young market meaning we had to work within very strict guidelines. The game, for instance, had to be educational as well as fun. It also had to be non-violent. These parameters could, at times, be quite challenging, although they provided me with valuable experience into making games for younger gamers.
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Digital Artist
Freestyle Software
(Computer Games industry)
February 1993 — January 1998 (5 years)
My first position within a development studio involved working in-house for a software company in Sheffield creating games for Gremlin Interactive. The last two years I spent there were as lead artist where I undertook various tasks, such as delegating work to the other artists in the team and preparing schedules in order to meet deadlines. Here I gained exceptional experience in the field of computer software, learning the demands and high standards that were needed to succeed in this highly competitive industry.
Antony Ward’s Education
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Norton College Sheffield
Art & Design 1992 — 1993
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City School Sheffield
1983 — 1992
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Woodhouse West
1984 — 1988
Antony Ward’s Contact Settings
Interested In:
- career opportunities
- consulting offers
- new ventures
- job inquiries
- expertise requests
- business deals
- reference requests
- getting back in touch
