Who the heck do you think you are?

Good question. I keep asking myself that too.

Much like all of us, I started playing games as a child. I remember playing Atari 2600 games and the Moldvay Dungeons & Dragons with my brothers. As a teen, I worked on the weekends at a Games Workshop retail store in Hammersmith, London. Back in the day, there were no university programs for game design, so I got a BA in Art History here in Portland. After college, I worked in the emerging field of multimedia, creating artwork for CD-ROMs. I lucked into a job at a game development field, and started making art for PlayStation 1 and 2 — and it was my first exposure to coding.

I started teaching game development and animation at the Art Institute of Portland in 2008. The faculty at the time were a really great team, and we created a program that rivalled the best game development schools in the US for graduate success. During this time I also completed an MFA in Visual Studies at the Pacific Northwest College of Art, earning the Thesis Award for my year.

In 2016 I was asked to head down to Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand, to be the Programme Lead for a new degree at Massey University. I helped grow a new degree in Creative Media Production, encompassing game development, animation, visual effects, film, and creative technology. I also was a board member on the New Zealand Game Developer Association, working on interfacing with government and industry.

Now I’m back in Portland, and eager to meet the new game makers in the area. Get in touch — let’s make cool stuff!

I would be happy to answer any questions at lucas@powerup.institute. If you like, you can also reach out via LinkedIn.

Testimonials

“Lucas you were awesome to put up with us slackers and you amazed us at every turn with your broad array of skills as we got to know you. Each class you taught was a totally unique adventure.”

“Lucas Was a mentor to me at the Art Institute of Portland. He helped me understand the Game Design field and what best to do to prepare myself for it. He has overseen my work in many game productions and given crucial advice in each one. He’s a wonderful teacher and I know I would not have reached the level of professionalism I have today without his help.”

“His ability and enthusiasm to help students with almost any problem they had, and to do so in his own subtle ways always amazed me. I loved having Lucas as a teacher, and now that I have graduated I look forward to hopefully working with him in the future.”

“He challenges his students to sink or swim on their own, to collaborate and experiment with techniques that define who we are through the struggles we’ve set ourselves up to conquer. His unapologetic honesty and advice has made me a better artist; Even if you don’t like what you hear, you always feel like you’re being treated like an adult, a professional, and that’s what makes you listen more than anything. Lucas knows how to connect to his students and help them to understand the challenges and struggles of a growing industry, and is always encouraging everyone to take the next step forward.”