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Rob Nitsch Biography
Rob grew up in the small rural town of Kinnelon in northern New Jersey,
he was
exposed to the art world at a young age through the help of Manhattan’s
great museums.
Prior to graduating high school he had created two thriving art based
businesses, a real estate
illustration company and a t-shirt screen printing operation. Following
High school he studied
painting at Fairleigh Dickenson University. This is where he met the
prominent painter Arie
Galles, who hired him as a studio assistant. Arie taught him not only
fundamental art skills but
also how to thrive as a professional artist.
Eventually Rob was drawn to the quaint New England countryside,
specifically Vermont
where he completed his painting degree at Castleton State College. While
living in Vermont
he fell in love with black and white photography. “It wasn't that I
didn’t like color photography, I only had access to a black and white
darkroom”, says Rob. Upon receiving his undergraduate degree he left
Vermont and that small darkroom behind.
In the mid-90’s, Hollywood literally had a computer graphics explosion.
So after
some “normal” non-art related work Rob headed out west, to California to
break into the
computer graphics and entertainment industries. While obtaining his MFA
in Visual Effects and Computer Animation, Rob was awarded the most
prestigious internship in the industry at ILM. Over 800 students apply
for a position at George Lucas’ Industrial Light and Magic, and only 18
were accepted. While at ILM he started his feature film Career by
working on the prequel to the films that defined the special effects
industry, Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace. Upon completing his
MFA Rob went back to work for Mr. Lucas but, this time at his video game
company Lucas Arts, he was now an artist designing video games for the
award winning director. Soon after a new film had turned Hollywood
upside down with unbelievable visuals, The Matrix, Rob was approached to
come on board as an effects artist to help bring its sequels to the
screen.
Upon The Matrix sequels completion Rob went on to work developing
stunning effects
for the film Hellboy. Sony Pictures then recruited him to bring The
Polar Express to the big
screen, so he and soon to be wife Sarah jumped at the opportunity,
relocating to Los Angeles.
While living in LA Rob also worked on Joss Whedon’s directorial film
debut Serenity.
During his adventures in Hollywood, Robs love for still photography had
never faded and
at this time DSLR’s and ink jet printing were becoming a formidable
force in the photography
world. He realized that his home computer could replace that small
darkroom he left behind in
Vermont, and now he could work with color too. When not working on
feature films he spends his time translating his cinematic style into
still photography.
Next Rob headed to DreamWorks Animation. This is where he brought to
life the lovable
characters from such films as Kung Fu Panda, Shrek goes Forth, Kung Fu
Panda 2 and Puss
In Boots. While at DreamWorks, Rob was given the great honor of having s
solo photography show in the Cloud Nine Gallery which is the studio’s on
campus Gallery. Rob’s show consisted of land and sea scapes he had
captured right here on Cape Cod aptly titled; Cape Scapes. The show was
a huge success
Rob’s favorite subject matter is New England landscapes. “I guess I have
come full circle
from my original love of the New England countryside. Luckily my wife
Sarah’s family is still
located here on Cape Cod, which has made it easy for us to relocate
here”.
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