BIOS
Rick has devoted his life to creating animation and visual effects that not only entertain, but also affect others in a positive way. He expresses a striking sense of artistry in all that he does, whether it is animation, drawing, sculpture, graphic design, photography, print making, website design, or any of his other creative ventures. Self-expression has always come naturally to Rick, and he has been drawing for as long as he can remember.
At age 13, something happened which changed the course of his life: a crack was found in one of the nodules of the supporting vertebrae in his spine. It progressively worsened over the next six months until finally on the week of his 14th birthday he had to have back surgery. The surgery was successful, and the doctor told him that he was lucky – if he had waited much longer, he could have been paralyzed for the rest of his life. Rick was confined to a full body cast for another five months and was very limited by what he was able to do physically, so he picked up a pencil and started drawing. It was then that he realized art was more than just a pastime; if he could do it while in a full body cast, he could do it for the rest of his life. In this way, one of the greatest adversities of his childhood ended up becoming the catalyst for his career.
Education has been an integral facet of Rick’s career path. He earned a BA in Fine Art Drawing from Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio while simultaneously pursuing a minor in secondary education. Rick didn’t discover his love for animation until many years later, when he realized it was a way of adding a new dimension to what he was already doing. He attended Savannah College of Art and Design in Georgia where he earned his MFA in Animation and was also a tutor and teaching assistant.
In 2006, Rick relocated to the greater Los Angeles area and worked as a graphic artist at Vantage Point Productions and later as lead animation and graphic artist at Cosgrove-Meurer Productions, responsible for creating all of the graphics on 175 episodes of Unsolved Mysteries. In 2009, he branched off and decided to start his own business. During this time, he worked as a freelance artist on a variety of projects, generating visual effects, titles, graphics, illustration, and matte paintings for projects including the X-Files hi-def conversion, two seasons of Life After People on the History Channel, Vanished with Beth Holloway on Lifetime, and five years of Art Mann Presents on ASXtv/HDNET. He also directed a team of animators for two seasons of The High Fructose Adventures of Annoying Orange on Cartoon Network, and was responsible for the developing visual style and digital cinematography of the show. Rick recently accepted a position as Chair of Digital Media Arts and Computer Science Department at American University Preparatory School.
For Rick, art is anything which goes beyond physical reality to become something new that affects and alters people’s lives, if only for a moment. Animation is his favorite medium for this because it can speak to both adults and children alike and has the power to bridge the gap between generations. In all that he does, he strives to make art that has varying layers of meaning, drawing inspiration from his life and everything around him – most especially his family, nature, and other artists. He hopes that his work will continue to influence and uplift those around him.
Rick Lewis, Owner & Creative Director
Rick has devoted his life to creating animation and visual effects that not only entertain, but also affect others in a positive way. He expresses a striking sense of artistry in all that he does, whether it is animation, drawing, sculpture, graphic design, photography, print making, website design, or any of his other creative ventures. Self-expression has always come naturally to Rick, and he has been drawing for as long as he can remember.
At age 13, something happened which changed the course of his life: a crack was found in one of the nodules of the supporting vertebrae in his spine. It progressively worsened over the next six months until finally on the week of his 14th birthday he had to have back surgery. The surgery was successful, and the doctor told him that he was lucky – if he had waited much longer, he could have been paralyzed for the rest of his life. Rick was confined to a full body cast for another five months and was very limited by what he was able to do physically, so he picked up a pencil and started drawing. It was then that he realized art was more than just a pastime; if he could do it while in a full body cast, he could do it for the rest of his life. In this way, one of the greatest adversities of his childhood ended up becoming the catalyst for his career.
Education has been an integral facet of Rick’s career path. He earned a BA in Fine Art Drawing from Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio while simultaneously pursuing a minor in secondary education. Rick didn’t discover his love for animation until many years later, when he realized it was a way of adding a new dimension to what he was already doing. He attended Savannah College of Art and Design in Georgia where he earned his MFA in Animation and was also a tutor and teaching assistant.
In 2006, Rick relocated to the greater Los Angeles area and worked as a graphic artist at Vantage Point Productions and later as lead animation and graphic artist at Cosgrove-Meurer Productions, responsible for creating all of the graphics on 175 episodes of Unsolved Mysteries. In 2009, he branched off and decided to start his own business. During this time, he worked as a freelance artist on a variety of projects, generating visual effects, titles, graphics, illustration, and matte paintings for projects including the X-Files hi-def conversion, two seasons of Life After People on the History Channel, Vanished with Beth Holloway on Lifetime, and five years of Art Mann Presents on ASXtv/HDNET. He also directed a team of animators for two seasons of The High Fructose Adventures of Annoying Orange on Cartoon Network, and was responsible for the developing visual style and digital cinematography of the show. Rick recently accepted a position as Chair of Digital Media Arts and Computer Science Department at American University Preparatory School.
For Rick, art is anything which goes beyond physical reality to become something new that affects and alters people’s lives, if only for a moment. Animation is his favorite medium for this because it can speak to both adults and children alike and has the power to bridge the gap between generations. In all that he does, he strives to make art that has varying layers of meaning, drawing inspiration from his life and everything around him – most especially his family, nature, and other artists. He hopes that his work will continue to influence and uplift those around him.
