Darrell Abney has over 17 years of experience as a professional 3D artist, specializing in character modeling, sculpting, and texturing for the film industry. Darrell has a passion for translating 2D character designs into appealing 3D characters as well as creating his own designs. He also has experience as an online art instructor. Currently he works in the Visual Effects Department at Laika Studios where he focuses on modeling and texturing characters for Laika’s feature films. Darrell has also worked at Industrial Light and Magic as a Senior Creature Modeler and texture artist where he had the opportunity to work on films such as Star Wars: The Last Jedi (modeling the Porgs, the BB-8 AT-ST, and Captain Phasma), Aquaman (sculpting the Tylosaur), Kong: Skull Island, and Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets. Other notable projects include Paranorman, American Horror Story, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 1 and 2, Star Trek Into Darkness, Hotel Transylvania 2, Suicide Squad, and Narnia 3. Born in Nashville and raised in Kentucky – he grew up drawing, sculpting, and a huge fan of monster movies. He attended the Art Institute of Pittsburgh where he studied a mixture of Industrial Design and Special Makeup FX which led him to getting his start working on animatronics before later switching over to CG. He has lived and worked in London, Vancouver, Los Angeles, Orlando, San Diego, and currently he lives in Portland, Oregon.