Max Puleo – Computer Animation

Spring 2021  – Expected Graduation May 2022

I remember the first time I touched anything artistically with the intent of making something that pleases myself, and those who look at it rather than just trying to pass a class in middle school. It was my junior year of High School, the first day I walked into the doors of Pike Lincoln Technical Center. PLTC was a very small tech school in the middle of Missouri that Is probably listed on nobody’s map. This was a school that only a few students from 4 of the neighboring high schools could attend. They taught mechanics, welding, nursing, computer networking, and my class – 3D animation. The first day was quite magical, my soon to be best friend and I sat next to one another as the teacher introduced us to the power of 3D. The first thing I ever made was a bridge made of basic shapes and a dozen different colors. I remember it looked awful but it’s what started me along this path that I’m on now.

While attending PLTC I accomplished some pretty impressive tasks. Both years, my classmate and I were fortunate enough to honor our school and represent PLTC at the SkillsUSA Missouri state competition; a competition from every school in the state that teaches 3D artwork. At these competitions I was one of the only students to ever come in second place – because usually the top two teams were always from the same school, who I’m pretty sure cheated but I’m not going to get into that now. Anyways, A couple years later and I’m attending the wonderful University of Tampa. Where I’ve met many incredible artists and even had the pleasure of studying beneath them, such as Marcio Goncalves, Santiago Echeverry and Christopher Christian.

As I’ve had the opportunity to grow and learn many mediums of artwork, including Sculpture, Painting, Ceramics, Graphic Design, I would have to say my strength still lies in the wonderful world of 3D Animation. Unlike most others in my field, I wouldn’t consider myself good at drawing so many of my ideas come straight from my brain into the 3D software. Even though I’ve grown and learned so much over the past 5 years of my life, there’s always more room to improve. I would say some of the biggest weaknesses I still face now, is my lack of ability to draw what I picture in my head, this would help me draw references for characters and scenes that I would like to create one day. I would also say that I’m having a hard time dedicating enough time to the work I would like to create, while trying to balance a full time job and a full time student workload, it’s troublesome to find time to sit back and work on what I want to rather than what I need to. I’m hoping to get past this with the next two semesters having a lighter workload than the previous two years.

After graduation I’m still undecided on what exactly I would like to end up doing for the rest of my life. I bounce back and forth between many ideas. Either becoming a Freelance artist, Getting hired at a entry level 3D artwork company where I can do anything from Game Development to Cinematics or even Commercials. Even though I’m not terribly sure where I’ll end up I know I’ll give it my all and work to create the artwork I’m happy to put my name on.