From 2008 to 2013, I held the position of Senior Artist and Art Director’s Assistant at Billings Productions, also known as The Dinosaur Company & The Giant Bug Company. My journey with them began as a painter, and over the years, I progressed through various roles, including Painting Lead, Sculptor and Mold-Maker, Exhibition Installation and Maintenance Specialist, and Computer/Animatronic Electronics Researcher and Designer. More about the company and its work can be found at [Billings Productions](http://billingsproductions.com).
During my tenure, I gained extensive experience in every aspect of production. I became proficient in a wide array of processes including animatronics, sculpting, mold making, casting, feather and hair application, welding, airbrushing, production design, exhibit installation, and maintenance. My role required versatility and adaptability, allowing me to take on any task necessary to ensure project completion.
In addition to my in-house responsibilities, I frequently traveled across the U.S. for on-site installation and maintenance work. The volume of work was substantial and demanded a high level of discipline to meet the production expectations. Although I have a personal preference for dedicating more time to each project to achieve a refined aesthetic, my experiences at Billings Productions taught me the value and skill of producing large volumes of work swiftly and efficiently. This ability to balance quality with speed has been a consistently beneficial skill in my professional journey.
Production Art projects at Billings Productions
overview of some of the projects I've worked on as a production artist while employed at Billings Productions in Texas.
This is a video demo of my production work, which was submitted for the 2013 Flight School Fellowship in Pittsburgh, PA
In 2011, we achieved a groundbreaking milestone in animatronics by constructing the world’s first fully feathered dinosaur designed for outdoor exhibitions. This project was a collaborative effort with a paleontologist, ensuring that our representation of the creature was as accurate and realistic as possible, based on its known living conditions and survival traits. This endeavor not only showcased our technical expertise but also our commitment to scientific accuracy and educational value in bringing prehistoric life to the modern world.
Here’s a photo of a T-Rex I had painted in just 2 solid days of work. I would have preferred to have an extra day or two to add more detail, but the fact that this was able to be achieved in such a short amount of time was an accomplishment to me.
This was completed in just 2 days of hard work, with a little help from some friends for certain processes. The more time permissible the better the creature can look, but I'm satisfied with the way this turned out based on how much time was available.
Posing with the freshly completed Citipati. From right to left: Sean Dickson, lead art director. Darcy Neal, lead fabricator and art director assistant. Jeff Matney, lead sculptor.
Display of the citipati project installed at Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa, Florida
Vivid paintjob for a Citipati. Our clients sometimes requested exaggerated features like this so that it was extra appealing to their younger audiences.
In addition to creating life-size dinosaurs, we also created larger than life insects for outdoor exhibitions.
Celebrating the completion of the red-knee tarantula. I was in charge of the fabric/material application and painting. We had less than one week to apply all of the fur and fibers and paint the creature. This photo was taken shortly after midnight when the creature was finally finished. The victory pose was well earned.
Wireframe armature for the giant red-knee tarantula. This part of the process took up an extraordinary amount of time.
Working on the grasshopper sculpt with the sculpture team.
In order to replicate the enlarged compound eye structure, I used jersey mesh and melted a thin layer of heat soluble clay over the surface so that the mesh would leave an impression when it was peeled away from the clay surface.
Devils flower mantis freshly painted
An example of a Devils flower praying mantis in mid-construction.
Goliath beetle next to a car for scale.
Giant scorpion in the painting bay, getting prepped for its paint job.
Mechanical innerworkings of a Ladybug. This was pneumatically controlled with chain gears, to help ensure it could run repeatedly with minimal maintenance.
The finished Madagascan sunset moth. I directed the fabrication, fully painted, and applied all surface treatments.
Closeup of the Madagascan sunset moth completed.
Working on paint and faux fur for the Madagascan sunset moth. Since the final product was 50x larger, I had to look at the wing under magnification to know what surface texture I needed to recreate. After researching wing composition, I located a thick fiberglass weave that represented approximately the same density as the scale size of the wing itself and applied various surface treatments to enhance the 3D metallic effect.
Experimenting with surface finishes to replicate the wing texture of the Madagascan sunset moth.
Close-up detail of a Madagascan sunset moth used as reference for the larger sculpt.