rsb

My name is Matt Raithel.

I live in St. Louis, Missouri, USA with my wife and two daughters.

I am an artist. For as long as I can remember I have loved the creative side of life. I began early; by time I was 13 I had my first illustration published in a small east coast gaming periodical. I studied computer science before moving to Springfield in 2000 to pursue a degree in electronic art. I graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Electronic Arts from Missouri State University in 2004 and immediately began work as the Media Manager and concept art instructor for the Missouri Fine Arts Academy.

I work as an artist. After working at the academy I took a job as an artist with a local video game venture, Black Lantern Studios. I made the 8th employee and the 4th artist for the company that now employs over 50 people between 3 studios. Working hard as an artist I produced assets for several games including a lead artist role on Board Game Classics. In November of 2005 I expanded my responsibility by taking the role of Art Director at the Studio. In this role I produced work for and shipped seven titles in 12 months on the GBA and DS platforms. In 2006, the art and design departments of the studio merged and I sat as the Director of Art and Design, for a little over a year. After serving as the VP of Operations and President of the Springfield Studio I took the reins of our third expansion project to St. Louis, MO where we launched our first product on the 360 platform - Ben 10 Alien Force: The Rise of Hex.

I do a little artwork on the side too. I began my freelance work in the summer of 2003 by producing a media CD for TRIO Student Services of Missouri State University. I now consult and produce work for over 40 national clients in areas such as web design, broadcast animation, print graphics, editing, and 3D animation. In the spring of 2007 I continued my passion for instruction as I joined my alma matter as per course faculty in the Department of Art + Design, and currently sit as an advisor for the Earth City campus of ITT.

I hope you find something here that you would not have found otherwise. Maybe a great sprite artist that needs to be found, or a rare tutorial that will help you make Internet Explorer display things the way you want.

Either way, thanks for coming by, stay as long as you like. . .

- Matt