About & Contact

Lion-Arts.com is Daniel Enrique De León  

Personal Profile

Of Spanish lineage, I’m first generation American. From my childhood I was blessed with a loving & intelligent home, where my family surrounded me with quality art & storytelling, from wonderfully illustrated books & fantastic films, to being classically educated in 3 musical instruments & music theory for over a decade. Nature, Animals, Science, & Technology always fascinated me, & with a strong desire to help people, I eventually pursued a degree in medicine via an undergrad in Biology/Pre-Med at a state university in PA, USA. After working in the E.R. of one of our nation’s top 50 hospitals for two years during college (where I saw & did everything, except administer meds), I came to the conclusion: while I deeply care for people, medicine just wasn’t ‘my purpose’ -it didn’t set my soul on fire the way art & storytelling did. I was impassioned by Creating; Powerful Visuals with Deep Meaning. I’m enthralled with intelligent novels, video games, & films! The full, rich kind that hit on many different emotions & are compellingly realistic, rare games with mature, evocative stories, & thrilling adventures that enabled one to embody complex, well-written/designed characters, & powerful films that touch you & make you think & talk long after leaving the theater. -Powerful visual storytelling ignites me! So after a double major in Fine Art & Pre-Med I dropped medicine just before the MCATS, & pursued art & storytelling full-time as a freelance digital artist & budding novelist.

I’m currently a Project Manager with The Stan Winston School of Character Arts | A Freelance 3D Sculptor/Modeler/Texture Artist & Digital Matte Painter for Film or Games, Digitally illustrating a children’s book, Developing a film pitch for an older, beautiful video game IP, & still working on my novels, -Modern Supernatural-thrillers, I’m confident people will love. Some of my biggest creative influences are: Michael Crichton, Dean Koontz, Robert Ludlum, Alexandre Dumas, C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Maurice Sendak, Steven Spielberg, Peter Jackson, Stan Winston, Phil Tippet, Dennis Muren, Ed Annunziata, Mark ‘Crash’ McCreery, Ted Backman, Greg Broadmore, John Gurche, and of course classics like Antonio Canova, Michelangelo, and Leonardo da Vinci, among many others, and far too many musicians/composers to list here.

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

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Skills

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Software: Zbrush 4R5, and Photoshop CS5 Extended, are my primary tools but I’m also versed in basic modeling and topology editing in Maya 2012. Final Cut Pro X, Illustrator CS5, Premiere Pro CS5, After Effects CS5, Soundbooth CS5, Sound Studio, InDesign CS5, very basic HTML and CSS coding/editing (I loath web coding) Dreamweaver CS5, and of course, Microsoft Word, and a little Excel. I’m currently learning e-on’s Vue 10 xStream, and Luxion’s Keyshot 2. 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)

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Digital: Concept and Extremely Detailed Sculpting, Low & High Poly modeling -both Organic & Hard-Surface for Character/Creature, Vehicle, Weapon and Object design, as well as Environmental elements all 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 stand-alone art, texture generation, &/or reference material.

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

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Additional Skills

Tested to have 100% perfect color vision/distinction, Classically trained in three musical instruments: Piano, Violin, and Classical/Flamenco Guitar, possess 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, practiced drama throughout high school, and during college I was professionally trained for three years in the Korean Martial Art of Tae Kwon Do, and I can run like the wind. haha. I’m a very passionate, cross-disciplinary thinker who loves people and likes to make them laugh, I’m gifted with good PR skills, and when in the presence of celebrity, beauty, fame, or power, none 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! I also use Skype -Please e-mail me to connect via Skype.