(Photo by Greg Preston)
Jake Rowell is an independent artist working in the entertainment industry for over 20 years. He has worked for various studios creating illustrations, visual effects and animation art with the primary focus of pushing the boundaries of visual storytelling and technology.
He began his professional career in video games creating art for Final Fantasy IX. Jake then moved into film working on Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within and the Animatrix where he played a key role in creating some of the first digital humans in film.
Jake’s art would lead to a role working on one of the premier comic icons, creating the digital version of the Man of Steel in Superman Returns. Later, as the Art Director on Tezuka’s Astroboy, he helped bring one of manga’s biggest stars to the movie screen. After a decade in film, he returned to games to help craft the iconic characters and cinematics for the hit franchise, Call of Duty.
Recently he’s been experimenting with virtual reality, directing the award winning series, theBlu. His work in the new medium helped inspire film director Jon Favreau to create his own VR project, Gnomes and Goblins, with Jake as the Creative Director.