About & Contact

Lion-Arts.com is Daniel Enrique De León  

Personal Profile

Of Spanish lineage, I’m the first generation of my family to be born in America. From the beginning I was blessed to have a loving and intelligent home, where my family surrounded me with quality art and storytelling, from wonderfully illustrated books and fantastic films, to being classically educated in three musical instruments and music theory for over a decade. Nature, Animals, Science, and Biology have always fascinated me, and with a strong desire to help people, I was eventually compelled to pursue a degree in medicine via an undergraduate major of Biology/Pre-Med at a state university in Pennsylvania. Yet after working in the E.R. of one of our nation’s top 50 hospitals for two years during college (where I saw and did everything, except administer meds), I came to the realization that, while I deeply care for people, medicine just wasn’t my passion -it didn’t set my soul on fire like the escape from the hard sciences did. I was impassioned by smart films -the kind that touched you and made you think and talk long after leaving the theater, intelligent video games with mature stories and thrilling adventures that let you embody complex, well-written and well-designed characters. Powerful visual storytelling, that’s what lit my mind and heart up. So after double majoring in Fine Art (with a focus in graphic design and visual communication) and Pre-Med for my last year and a half of college, I dropped medicine just before the MCATS, and began pursuing art and storytelling full-time as a freelance digital artist and budding novelist.

 

I’ve had a wide range of clients from soup kitchens to the DoD, worked and traveled for an international Japanese design firm, and am currently digitally illustrating a children’s book, developing a film pitch for an older, untouched yet beautiful and mind-blowing video game IP, and still working on my novels, which are modern-day adventure-thrillers, I’m confident people will love.

 

While freelancing has its perks, I’m currently seeking a full-time gig where I can gleefully unleash my wild imagination. I’m happily willing to relocate within the U.S. and always looking forward to meeting new people and making new friends. Achieving one’s dreams is great, but they’re nothing without loved ones.

Skills

Software: Photoshop CS5 Extended, and Zbrush 4r2, are my primary tools but I’m also versed in: After Effects CS5, Final Cut Pro X, Illustrator CS5, InDesign CS5, Premiere Pro CS5, Soundbooth CS5, Sound Studio, Dreamweaver CS5, very basic HTML and CSS coding/editing (I loath web coding), and of course, Microsoft Word, and a little Excel. I will be learning Maya 2012 soon. Fluidity in both Mac & PC OSs, though I prefer, and use Mac daily along with a Wacom Cintiq 12WX (have used a Wacom Intuos 3 and 4 Tablet extensively as well)

Digital: Concept Sculpting, Low & High Poly modeling -both Organic & Hard-Surface, as well as Environmental elements for Character/Creature, Vehicle, Weapon and Object design suitable for Film Animation or Game Implementation. Digital Matte Painting, Photo-manipulation/Retouching, Compositing, and Texture creation/editing. Digital Photography of live subjects -human/wildlife, etc, Still Life, and any combination of those for texture generation.

Traditional: Drawing: From life, photo reference, & Imagination Realistic & Stylized -Graphite on Bristol/Moleskine, Concept designs & Storyboarding. Creative Writing -Overall stories, Overarching/Interweaving themes, Character Backstories, High-Impact: Intimate/Emotional moments, Action Sequences/Set Pieces, etc. Strong research skills in the real world via interviewing & shadowing experts, and of course, utilizing the internet. 

Additional Skills

Tested to have 100% perfect color vision/distinction, Classically trained in three musical instruments: Piano, Violin, and Classical/Flamenco Guitar, Have perfect intonation, also trained in classic techniques for Voice -speaking and singing,  A strong knowledge base and sense of excellent musical composition, and an understanding of how to musically convey desired emotional responses, and a strong understanding of good sound design, Trained in the handling and usage of a range of Firearms: Handguns both Revolvers and Semi-Automatics, 9mm, &  .40 to .50 Caliber, Assault Rifles using ammunition as powerful as .30-06 / 7.62x51mm NATO, and Shotguns as powerful as the Mossberg 12 gauge. Motion Capture/Acting skills, Professionally trained three years in the Korean Martial Art of Tae Kwon Do, and I can run like the wind. haha. I’m a cross-disciplinary thinker who loves people and likes to make them laugh, I’m gifted with good PR skills, and the presence of celebrity/beauty/fame/power do not phase me as I’ve met and worked with each of them. Thanks for reading!

 

Hey! Let’s talk…

Contact me at Daniel@lion-arts.com or use the convenient contact form below!