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Saturday, January 16, 2016

Gorgeous painting from Art Director and traditional fine art painter Sergio Lobato.  Sergio was one of my first art directors in Marin County.  Back in my early thirties he was head of a fantasy role playing game called Stronghold which was an EA title.  It was my first commercial art job and it was a time when computer games were being birthed, startup game companies literally multiplied overnight, and  energy exploded onto the never before seen digital realm; employing many artists in an otherwise dead industry.  It was so much fun.  We'd have these hilarious art parties at Sergio and Sarah's place in Marin, dancing and some drinking (I can't drink but I loved to dance!), hang out in the city to connect with some of the Art Academy crowd, have meals in North Beach.  No kids, no mortgages, many of us on the cusp of committed relationships and hanging out to draw the figure and explore museums.  It was the first time I felt I belonged anywhere and had finally found my tribe.  I saw many changes in the four years I was there.  We quickly went from low rez to high rez games in a matter of months.  First person shooter game in which people could play against each other was a break out low rez game called Doom.  The programmers rigged it up so that we could play against each other.  This game revolutionized the gaming industry and was the model for the quick actioned first person perspective~soon after that, the Star Wars game came out.  The breath taking game Myst was being played all over the office.  Lara Croft, Tomb Raider made her first appearance.  I had never seen a female for a lead character in a game before.  One of my first games at Stormfront Studios was Eagle Eye Detectives, art directed by Sergio, which was a terrific educational game and too bad it is no longer available; as it was fun to play and well written (by Sarah Stocker, who married Serge, and co written with Ken Eklund).  Sergio was, and still is, one of my favorite people to work with.  He has no ego.  He can effortlessly lead a team and encourage the best out of the artists and has one of the greatest senses of humor of anyone I've known.  Stormfront Studios hired some of the best talent in the Bay Area at the time; and I just got off the phone with Serge and we laughed about the nuts that we worked with.  Great artists, wacky people; it goes hand in hand.  Here is his link:  http://thebadgersholt.blogspot.com/

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