JASON T KRUSE

ILLUSTRATOR, CHARACTER DESIGNER, STORYBOARD ARTIST

Experienced illustrator and animator with over 20 years in the television, film and video game industries.

WORK HISTORY

LAKE REGION COMMUNITY COLLEGE 2023—Present

Instructor, “Foundation of Design”

Currently teaching a once-per-week "Foundations of Design" class
Teaching the basics of things such as line, shapes, and values and how they apply to design work such as logos, icons, and illustrations

EPIC DROPS 2023—Present

Product Illustrator

Illustrating designs for various cartoon and video products such as key chains
Working heavily in both Clip Studio and Adobe Illustrator

THE MARKETING STORE 2023—2023

Freelance Illustrator

Illustrated high-fidelity storyboards for an unannounced live-action film
Illustrated high-fidelity storyboards for the Happy Meal app as a tie-in with Pixar's film, “Elemental”
Worked heavily in both Clip Studio and Adobe Illustrator

HOUSE OF COOL 2022—2022

Storyboard Artist

Worked as a storyboard artist on “The Freak Brothers” season 2 for House of Cool, airing on Tubi
Worked heavily in ToonBoom's, “Storyboard Pro”

SKETCHY, LLC 2021—2022

Illustrator/Designer

Worked with Sketchy as an illustrator to design simple concept artwork to aid medical students in their educational pursuits

PURE IMAGINATION STUDIOS 2021—2021

Character Designer/Concept Artist

Worked briefly creating designs for an upcoming, unannounced "Lego" television program
Created concepts, turnarounds, as well as full-color illustrations of characters

ANIMASIA ANIMATION 2021—2021

Storyboard Artist

Worked as a storyboard artist on an unannounced Preschool cartoon with Animasia Animation in conjunction with Age of Learning
Worked heavily in ToonBoom's, “Storyboard Pro"

PRINCESS PICTURES, Australia 2021—2021

Storyboard Artist

Worked as a storyboard artist on the “Smiling Friends” cartoon with Princess Pictures
Worked heavily in ToonBoom's, “Storyboard Pro”

TITMOUSE ANIMATION, Burbank, CA 2020—2020

Storyboard Revisionist

Revised storyboards, created new storyboards, and put characters on-model with Titmouse Animation for “Chicago Party Aunt” airs on Netflix
Also worked briefly for their “Special Projects” division on an internal pitch utilizing Adobe Animate/Flash
Worked heavily in ToonBoom's, “Storyboard Pro”

CBS, Manhattan, NY 2020--2020

Character Designer

Created character designs for the CBS show, “Tooning Out The News”
Worked heavily in Photoshop while also breaking up the designs for animation

ODDBOT ANIMATION, Glendale, Ca 2019—2019

Storyboard Revisionist

Revised and created storyboards at Oddbot Animation for “Muppet Babies” short-term
Worked exclusively in Storyboard Pro creating rough boards

BENTO BOX ENTERTAINMENT, North Hollywood, Ca 2019—2019

Storyboard Artist

Created storyboards at Bento Box Entertainment for Amy Poehler's animated series, “Duncanville”
Worked exclusively in Storyboard Pro creating rough and clean-up boards

AGE OF LEARNING, INC., Glendale, Ca 2018—2019

Senior Artist

Created various mini-game, educational assets utilizing Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator

WILDWORKS, Salt Lake City, UT 2015--2017

Marketing Illustrator

Illustrated characters, crafts and activities for kids at Wildworks for the online game "Animal Jam" and the mobile game, "Play Wild"
Responsible for creating many of the game's advertising campaigns including seasonal as well as holiday banners, spot illustrations, and "Look of the Week" characters based on children's in-game avatars

PLAYNEXT GAMES (formerly Aeria Games), Santa Clara, Ca 2013—2015

Senior Animator and Game Artist

Animated and altered existing animation for use in the 3d/2d animated mobile game, "Assassin's Creed: Memories" utilizing 3d Studio Max, Adobe Flash
Created storyboards for "Assassin's Creed: Memories"
Created character designs as well as visual effects for "Nova Smash"

GREE INTERNATIONAL, San Francisco, Ca 2012—2013

Animator

Animated for various mobile games such as “Monster Quest”, “Dragonia” and “Crime City 2” utilizing a number of different programs including Adobe Flash, Photoshop, Autodesk Maya and After Effects

APPANT STUDIOS, San Carlos, Ca 2012—2012

Animator/2d/3d Artist

Animated all humanoid characters as well as some dinosaurs using Photoshop for the mobile game, “Dino Life” for AppAnt Studios, published by Gree Internationa
Developed various character designs for various untitled projects. Modeled, rigged and animated characters for the unpublished title, “Dino Life 2”
Created concept & vector artwork of characters and environments for the unpublished sequel

YEN PRESS AND COOKIE JAR PRODUCTIONS , Various Locations 2003—2009

Graphic Novel & Animated Program Creator, Creative Consultant & Screenwriter

I created the television show "World of Quest" which is based on my graphic novel of the same name, published by Yen Press. It aired for one season in the United States and a second season in over 87 different countries
Wrote, penciled and inked "The World of Quest" graphic novels, volumes 1 and 2, published by Yen Press

EDUCATION

California Institute of the Arts – Candidate, Bachelor of Fine Arts, Character Animation

Ohio University, Bachelor of Science in Communications

AWARDS AND NOMINATIONS

▪ Eisner Award Nominee, 2010—Best Children’s Publication: “Scratch9”, written by Rob M Worley, illustrated by Jason T Kruse, published by Ape Entertainment

▪ Comics Buyers Guide Awards Nominee, 2010—Best Cover Artist, “Scratch9”

▪ Harvey Award Nominee, 2008—Best Artist, Best Graphic Album, “The World of Quest: Volume 2”, published by Yen Press

EXPERTISE

Illustration

Storyboards

Character Design

Layout

Screenwriting

3D Animation

Classical Animation

FILM CREDITS

Fast 5

The Barnyard

Cats and Dogs

TV CREDITS

World of Quest—Creator and

Screenwriter

Duncanville

Muppet Babies

The Smiling Friends

Chicago Party Aunt

The Freak Brothers

Tooning Out the News

Unannounced Lego Show

SOFTWARE

Storyboard Pro

Adobe Illustrator

Adobe Photoshop

Adobe Flash

Adobe Premiere

3-D Studio Max

SHIPPED TITLES

Animal Jam

Dragonia

Monster Quest

Kingdom Age

Book of Ashes

Animal Jam

Dino Life

Ratatouille

Ratatouille: Food Frenzy

Master of Orion 3

Cashflow 101

Cashflow 202

AMF Extreme Bowling

Star Trek: Tactical Assault

Deadliest Catch: Sea of Chaos