Congratulations to one of our esteemed Digital Photography instructors, Vairdy Andrew, for placing 2nd in the International Image Competition run by the NAPCP (National Association of Professional Child Photographers)! We at VanArts are proud to have professional instructors of Vairdy's caliber mentoring our students.

According to their press release, "The NAPCP Image Competition called for images across a range of category subjects, including maternity, newborn, baby, child, sibling, tween, seniors and family.

Andrew competed against thousands of image entries which were carefully judged by a blue-ribbon panel of experts based on impact, technical merit, composition and creativity. Vairdy specializes in candid lifestyle portraiture for families and says she is committed to working closely with each of her clients on clearly understanding their creative vision and producing original imagery."
 
For a closer look at Vairdy's award-winning photo and more details, visit her blog.

VanArts' Department Head for Visual Effects and Game Art & Design, Bill Dwelly, was interviewed at our SIGGRAPH 2011 booth by Production HUB.

Hear what he has to say about VanArts by clicking on the image below. 

William (Bill) Dwelly’s film credits include multiple Oscar-winning Avatar as Lead Technical Director at Weta Digital; I Robot & King Kong as Senior Animation Technical Director and Oscar-winning animated short Ryan. Bill has worked in the film and entertainment industry since the late 1980’s and is the author of two books; Modeling in Maya and Character Rigging in Maya.

Students in our 2D & 3D Character Animation program received a grand opportunity today to have a Q&A session with legendary animator/director Ken Duncan today via Skype from Vancouver to Los Angeles.

Ken serves on our Advisory Board for Character Animation, and his animation career has included several years at Walt Disney Feature Animation (supervising and animating "Jane" from Tarzan, "Meg" from Hercules, "Belle" from Beauty & the Beast, and "Jafar" from Aladdin), Dreamworks Feature Animation, and now his own production house Duncan Studio.

Our Senior Instructor Mark Pudleiner worked with Ken at many of these studios and they had a great time sharing their own stories & experiences for the students. Our students also got to personally ask Ken questions about animation technique, acting, demo reels and working in the industry.

Thanks Ken for taking the time to speak with us today! 

The Game Art & Design Department at VanArts is proud to welcome Frederick Fowles to our staff of instructors, to teach technical mentoring to our graduating students in Term 4.

Frederick Fowles is a 10-year veteran of the animation and visual effects industry, most recently working at Industrial Light & Magic on Rango, followed by his current position as Creature Department Supervisor at Rainmaker Entertainment.  After starting his career as a freelance effects artist at TV stations in the UK and USA, his further experience involves working as Senior Creature TD at Pinewood Film Studios, producing character effects for Disney's The Wild at Toronto's C.O.R.E. Feature Animation, and visual effects work at Electronic Arts.

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