Professional Summary
It is without wonder that Craig Elliott is known as a modern day renaissance man. He has over eight years experience in animation as a development artist for both film and television along with major Animation Studios, Dreamworks and Disney Feature Animation.
Craig worked as a free-lance illustrator for seven years. He also worked as a free-lance graphic designer for ten years, a web site designer for five years, and has twelve years experience as a landscape designer and contractor.
He teaches, creates sculptures, metal-smithing and furniture design and owns his own small business of Aristata Publishing. Craig is a jack of all trades and master of all.
Film Credits:
DREAMWORKS FEATURE ANIMATION:
Puss in Boots
Bee Movie
Shark Tale
Flushed Away
Rex Havoc
DISNEY FEATURE ANIMATION:
Sweating Bullets
Treasure Planet
The Emperor's New Groove
Mulan
Hercules
TV/Video Credits:
DREAMWORKS
Father of the Pride
Craig’s Own Publishing Company:
ARISTATA PUBLISHING, Santa Clarita, CA
Craig Elliott Sketchbook 1
Aphrodisia – Art of the Female Form
Aphrodisia II
Books Published:
Dark Horse Comics
Spectrum 10 11 12
Realms of Fantasy Magazine
Affiliations:
Member of The Animation Guild (TAG)
Member of The Creative Talent Network (CTN)
Special Achievements:
Society of Illustrators - Bronze medal for Visual Development 2005
Positions Held:
Visual Development Artist
Layout
CG Artist
Graphic Designer
Website Designer
Landscape Designer
Skills:
Sculpture, Diorama and Stop Motion Animation Set Design, Jewelry Design, Architectural Design, Metal-smithing, Furniture Design
Computer Software:
Maya, Photoshop, Painter, Illustrator, Golive, Quark Express, Adobe Premiere, Shake, After Effects, Microsoft Word, MacIntosh, Windows, Unix
Craig Elliott has been interested in the artistic for as long as he can remember. Born in a farm and air force town in California in 1971, Craig’s family moved to what is now Silicon Valley California where he grew up. Back then, most of the valley was fruit orchards and open space.
As a child, the experience of walking home from school through a shower of blossoms or playing in the creek, fostered Craig’s love of nature. Dioramas with sculpted and painted figures which often depicted the nature that surrounded him, along with drawing, were Craig’s first art forms.
After attending Art Center College in Pasadena, California, he began illustrating for various clients and started working full time in the animation industry. Throughout his career, he worked primarily for Disney and Dreamworks, designing their animated films such as Hercules, Mulan, The Emperor's New Groove, Treasure Planet, Shark Tale, and Father of the Pride as well as other upcoming features.
Craig has also done fully painted comic book and cover artwork for Dark Horse Comics, and has done various Illustration work for many different companies. His work can currently be seen in the books "Treasure Planet a Voyage of Discovery" and "Spectrum 10 & 11 the Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art".
Craig has also been creating a body of personal work for many years. Craig's personal works are inspired by his own experiences and philosophies. Craig finds endless beauty in nature and tries to focus that beauty and feeling through his art so the viewer can't help but have reverence for something so beautiful.
There is often much more than just visual beauty in Craig's paintings and drawings. Themes of body image, environmental preservation, and social and psychological repression are some of the main themes behind Craig's work.
Contrary to many artist's approach, he tries to relay his message in a positive way by illustrating benefits and beauty of oneness with nature, seeing ones body as beautiful, or the true exhilaration and growth one experiences when free of psychological bindings.