On my personal scale video game art and the impressiveness of its implementation are easily rated. I’ll tell you now that it is a personal scale—not anything based in numbers or calculations and yet I believe it is relevant. The scale is not based on intrinsic artistic value because I do not believe my own evaluation to be the ultimate assessment of artistic worth. I’m pretty simple: the artistic value of a game is better judged by how many people I show the game to because I think that they will be impressed by it. This goes for double points when I start to share games with people who don’t care about video games one iota.
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In a departure from anything art and class specific comes a story of horror. Well, really it’s horror borne out of a mistake that oddly enough encouraged me to write a small bit. Inspiration comes from odd places and I promise if you stick with me then we’ll make it to a point that involves art, video game and film.

I usually keep my promises. Okay, I try to keep my promises.

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First off: I wish the title of this blog actually indicated that I had some excursion in South America replete with harrowing tales and wonderful discoveries… but this is about software. Yes, of course I am talking about the Behemoth software that is Maya 8.5 and learning to effectively and efficiently model.  I have absolutely no experience with Maya whatsoever but I have to admit that my lessons have been straightforward and sensible to implement. I won’t lie to you: I was worried at first. Online class, complicated program and a bunch of assignments to complete… but everything been straightforward and makes sense.  You just have to learn how to function all over again in a new software environment.
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Hello, I’m Amy Jones. I’m an artist, have a lifelong love of video games and was lucky enough to win the NoGD 2008 ‘Aspiring Women Artists Competition’. I am a product of an endlessly twisting road of unexpected, intricate and confusing attempts of trying to mesh my hobbies and career. Finally, I have an unusual light at the end of my twisted vocational journey: I’ve been granted the means to become an artist in the video game industry. To someone who doesn’t know me this may seem like a sudden and unexpected scholarship but the story behind winning it has been a lifetime in the making… er, my lifetime that is.

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