Summary
I am a 24 year veteran professional illustrator and concept artist. I have done illustrations and concept work for Disney, Universal Studios, Coke, Hard rock International, Pixar, Lucasfilm, Warner Brothers, Nintendo, DNC, NASA, Discovery channel, and the U.S. Army just to name a few. My specialty is in consumer products. I also have a vast love for character art and concept work with a focus on story telling.
Skills
Reel
Experience
- Professor of illustration and Photography at Young Harris CollegeYoung Harris, Ga., United StatesAugust 2019 - December 2019
I was the illustration and photography professor at Young Harris for 6 months.
- Art teacher K-12 at Apopka Christian academyApopka, United States of AmericaAugust 2014 - Present
I am currently the art teacher for Apopka christian academy grades K-12. This facility is a private institution and has a focus on visual and performing arts while holding a high standard for character and academics. I create curriculum for grades K-12.
- Creative director, founder, artist at Michael Clarida Illustration/AKA Amplified imagewerks LLCOrlando, United States of AmericaMay 1997 - Present
1997-CurrentCreation of quality illustration and graphic design for corporate and private companies. My experience includes but is not limited to apparel and headwear design and creation,product development, creation of production art for over seas creation, character art and design. Clients have included: Pixar, Lucasfilm, Cartoon Network, U.S. Army, Discovery Channel, Buell Motorcycles, Walt Disney Consumer product division, Universal Studios, Society of Cable Operators, Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville, as well as numerous private commissions for portraits, book illustration, and murals. I have also established two apparel companies called Runnertude LLC and Aquatopia Apparel LLC.
- Illustrator, designer, product development at Foot Locker Inc.Bradenton, United States of AmericaNovember 2000 - May 2002
Apparel Graphic design artist for in house graphics department. Clients included: Foot Locker, Champs, Nike, Puma, Everlast, Oakley, Reebok, Walt Disney’s Wide World of Sports, Bolliterri Tennis Academy, all collegiate schools. Duties included apparel design, headwear design, screen-print separation, garment mock up, embroidery art creation, file preparation,concept art, character creation, garment creation.
- Lead artist, illustrator, designer, product development, creative lead at EOIOrlando, United States of AmericaOctober 2003 - June 2014
Create and manage all aspects of apparel design and creation for the promotion of established branded apparel. Clients have included: Walt Disney Inc., Hard Rock Cafe, Sea World, Busch Gardens, Delaware North Corporation, Universal Studios, Ron Jon Surf Shops, Cabela’s, Bass Pro Shops, Hang Ten, NASA,Coke, M&M’s, Grand Ole Opry, Hooters, Marvel entertainment. Duties included and not limited to apparel design, headwear design, garment mock up, embroidery art creation, apparel spec., trend research, and production file prep,art direction, product development, hard and soft line product creation, collectable product development.
- Illustrator, designer, character artist, concept artist, toy designer at Walt Disney consumer productsLake Buena vista, United States of AmericaMay 2014 - Present
Create and manage all aspects art asset creation for the promotion of established Disney brands. Duties include but not limited to: character creation, art turn arounds, promotional illustration, product design and creation, concept idea generation and execution, art conversion, file preparation, production spec and prep, toy concept art and creation, character style generation and creation, manipulation of existing style guide art for design. Specific properties worked on were all the Disney Parks, Pixar, branded characters, Lucasfilm, legacy characters, Marvel. This is a freelance in house contract position.