Cadmium Dread

Josh Harris, the resilient artist who owes his hardworking, problem solving attitude to The Marines. Find inspiration in his journey of figuring out his passion and forging his path as an artist. https://www.artstation.com/jharris

Don Nguyen, esteemed knife maker who was struck by inspiration and built everything from the ground up with his curiosity, passion, and drive. Check out his jaw dropping work, and his recently launched youtube channel!  https://www.donnguyenknives.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/DonNguyenKnives/about https://www.instagram.com/donnguyenknives/?hl=en

Beau Brokop, an incredibly ranged artist with a passion for filmmaking. Listen to his amazing tales of collaborating with clients like Porter Robinson, and Phil Hale. http://www.beaubrokop.com/  https://www.instagram.com/robrokop/?hl=en

I’m happy, what’s wrong with me! That’s the theme of this week’s episode. We all recap and talk about that dreaded struggle of finding your first job, gaining more experience, freelancing, and finally finding some stability. Each of us had our own unique struggle and moved at our own pace, but it all led us to this moment in time where we are happy about where we are, but our artist brains remind us that we are always seeking to improve our craft and further our journey. And with that, we wanted to let you know that we are wrapping up SEASON 1 of CADMIUM DREAD! Give this episode a listen if you need a reminder that as rough as the job market is, you’ll get through it! The struggle, the pain, the anxiety, the imposter syndrome, it’s all something every artist has probably gone through, the feelings don’t get easier, but just know that you will prevail, like you have, and like you will again! THANKS FOR LISTENING AND SEE YOU LATER FOR SEASON 2! <3

This week we chat with Daniel Heard! UI artist extraordinaire, whose got big moves on the horizon. He takes us through his time at the Academy Of Art in San Francisco, comic book illustration and the comic scene in SF in the early two thousands, and the evolution of Machine Zone, from a studio of about 40, to 1000. We talk about movies, bad movies, the inevitable JoJo reference, and we talk about NetherRealm, where Daniel is headed to next!

This week we sit down with the mysterious powerhouse (although he doesn’t consider himself as such) artist, Andre Mina! He is the perfect example of how someone with so much experience and skill reveals that they go through the same struggles of self doubt and periods of unemployment. Andre proves that if art is your thing, you will always find a way to learn it, improve on it, and keep finding work for it. He is quite the storyteller and he gets really real about his experiences with school, looking for work, and all the various studios and titles that he has worked on, including his insights on Supergiant’s Bastion. This one is really vivid so buckle up! Andre’s artstation  

We are taking you back to school this week with our guests Alex Turner and Chris Lam who are graduates of SJSU’s Animation/Illustration program, and animators at Double Fine Productions. This week’s focus is on their school experience, what they learned, what they did, and the shenanigans they got into. We talk about what the program was like BEFORE you needed a 3.85 GPA to get in. We talk about the strange parallels between Alex and Chris’s school lives. We also discuss one of Chris’s notorious animation projects, “Couch And Potatoes”. Tune in and let us take you back to school! Check out their Vimeos! Alex Turner: https://vimeo.com/alexpturner Chris Lam: https://vimeo.com/user8411127    

This week’s guest is self proclaimed animation nerd, lover of video games, knower of many interesting fun facts, Michael Tucker! Tucker is a producer at Double Fine. He takes us through his journey of how his love for animation led to his current role of managing people and projects. We talk about animation/illustration at SJSU, Ninja Turtles, Ninja Gaiden, the day to day of being a producer, Cuphead, and much more!

On this week’s episode we invite some very special guests over, we have some drinks, and we answer some fun questions from a hat! Software engineers, Arjay and Kevin join us along with Cadmium Dread’s good friends, Kyle Sewnarain and Geng Li! It’s a party and we want you to join in with us Get to know us better as we answer some wacky questions. We talk about smells, who we would love to collaborate with, what fictional characters we identify with, what fictional character crushes we have had, what brings a tear to our eyes, and much much more. Sit back, relax, and join in on the fun!

This week’s guest is Phuc Bui! A lover cars, 3D modeling, 3D modeling cars, and much more. We have fun times discussing Phuc’s artist journey, comparing ourselves to other artists, cars, getting laid off, and plenty more. Kick back and enjoy our voices if you hate the sound of fireworks. Happy 4th of July holidays, everyone!

This week we sit down with Linda Liu (and her very good boy corgi, Gambit), development manager at MZ. Linda is super personable and gives us tons of insight on what it’s like to interview, hire, and manage a team of artists. We talk about the early beginnings of MZ, Dark Souls, adjusting to changing team dynamics, and much more! Follow Linda! Twitter @oksunshine

On this week’s episode we have a ton of fun with special guests, Lancing Love Chen, and Daniel Wilkes! They are SJSU animation/illustration alumni, room mates, audiophiles, and awesome artists working at Sony Playstation. We talk about our 90’s influences, doujinshi, Star Wars, music, using art as a coping mechanism, and much more! Follow Lancing: Instagram @lancinglove Instagram @littlelanco Follow Daniel: Instagram @bezzalel3d Twitter @bezzalel

On this week’s episode we sit down with Josh’s colleague, Allen Song, a creative director and nurturer of the arts! We talk about managing an art team, art processes, ripped dudes, and more! Check out his work here: https://www.artstation.com/asong0116

Franklin is an incredible traditional and digital artist.. Listen to him tell his journey about how he went from bio-engineer student to artist. From navigating his own creative skills to figure out what he wanted to pursue a career in, to navigating the concept art world to find tools and build a network. We talk about bad freelance work, good freelance work, the power of having art friends, the need for more original content, and much more! Franklin also runs portrait painting sessions, so if you are in the bay area, follow his facebook page to stay updated for events! https://www.facebook.com/franklinleiart/ Also follow his 2 art instagrams! https://www.instagram.com/artoflei/ https://www.instagram.com/franklinlei/

We had the pleasure of sitting down with a couple of our favorite artists on a lazy Sunday. Jasmine and Geng return to Cadmium Dread to talk about going to conventions, portfolio reviews, going back in time to beat someone up, cinema etiquette, and more!

We are joined today by the esteemed Kelly Perry! A wonderful person, and accomplished artist who rolled up her sleeves and took her art career into her own hands. She’s got big ovaries and she gives birth (to art)! We talk about “a million dollars but…”, we discuss whether art school is worth it or not, we dive deep into the time Josh and Kelly worked at Square in Japan, and much more!

We are joined this week with awesome artist and all around art appreciator, Dylan Palmer! Listen to how Dylan found his way from “hippie dippie” school to The Academy Of Art. We gab about the irks and quirks of drawing outdoors, our favorite movies, DnD, Lovecraft and much more. Also, if you want to know what kind of animal Tommy Wiseau would be, then keep listening, because Dylan has the answer from the man himself. Follow Dylan on instagram! @dylanpalmerart Referenced Media:   Some Don Bluth family friendly characters Don Bluth’s Dragon’s Lair art Frank Frazetta art Ralph Bakshi art Thomas Kinkade art James Gurney art  

The intriguing and ever talented Katie Fortune joins us this week! If you are the kind of artist who likes to bust down doors and make your own luck, well this is the episode for you. Fortune tells us tales from her art journey as well as her current endeavors! We talk about the dangers of eating eggy rice, lolita fashion, lay offs, and much more! Most importantly, CARRENCA YOU SUCK! Follow Katie Fortune! Art instagram @kfortuneart https://www.instagram.com/kfortuneart/?hl=en Fashion instagram @misfortuneee https://www.instagram.com/misfortuneee/?hl=en https://www.artstation.com/misfortuneee

We said we would never teach you anything, but we never said our guests wouldn’t! This week we talk to the lovely Jasmine Truong, an alum of SJSU’s animation/illustration program, and a working visual development artist. This episode is great for students or artists just starting out because we delve deep into our insecurities during art school, and what we have learned and how we have grown since graduating. We also talk about flatulence, traveling, getting scammed overseas, brown bears, and more!

BACK UP YOUR FILES Y’ALL. This episode isn’t as full as we had intended it to be due to some damaged audio, but it’s still a really awesome episode! We told you we would bring on people who are more interesting than ourselves, and we did. Today on CADMIUM DREAD we talk with major babes, Kyle Sewnarain, and Geng Li, both of whom Mimi currently works with. We talk about bearcats, getting citizenship, hot sauce, Kanye, and of course, anime. Follow Kyle! instagram@worldofxa Follow Geng! instagram@genglicopter tumblr Get hot sauce! https://perified.com/ Referenced media: King Crimson Album ArtTakashi MurakamiRed LineThunderbolt FantasyTheme music by Russell and Andrew Bennett