Russell "Devlin Jones" Sabin was born in
Provo, Utah, but considers himself a San Diego native since his family
relocated to San Diego when he was just two years old. He grew up with a
great interest and affinity for art thanks in part to his father who is an
accomplished illustrator, and Russ has been drawing since he can remember.
His first foray into professional art production came in his preteen years when
he began cutting frisket for print for his father and spent his summers in
Seattle working in his uncle’s silkscreen and printing business. In his
mid-teens he taught himself how to program, generate art for video
games and compose music on an Amiga computer. The Amiga computer was
also his introduction into creating 3D rendered images. In his late teens
he built his first 3D workstation and taught himself the first version of Autodesk 3D
Studio and one of the earliest versions of Adobe Photoshop. His first big
illustration and 3D freelance job came at age 17 where he designed packaging,
illustrated a comic book, and did 3D promotional animation for a toy line as
marketing material for a trade show. At age 18 he and a friend made their
first from start to finish video game, a shooter game called "Mecha
Hunters" using the Amiga and a PC workstation and got it playable on a
Sega Genesis.
His art and media freelance career continued through his late teens working for
a variety of creative agencies around San Diego doing both traditional
illustration and 3D rendered artwork. After high school he attended
Palomar College with a focus on music intending to be a song composer and opera
singer. However, to pay for his future schooling he took a break from
college to join Software Sorcery as a concept and 3D artist developing video
games. This would become his career for the next eleven years working for
development studios such as 989 Studios, SCEA, and SOE. He also started
two game studios during that time, Havok Ware and Monkey Studios. While
starting Monkey Studios he also worked as an Art Director on two television pilots
which involved extensive 3D elements and heavy use of green screen rendered sets
with Enteraktion and Live Entertainment.
Through his game career he has worked as a concept artist, 3D
modeler/animator, art lead, art director, and studio head.
He left the game industry to start a freelance art career, engage in
musical endeavors, and work as an audio engineer for live events. This would lead
to nearly a decade of freelance work traveling the world doing live shows and
creating promotional materials, mainly in the medical and pharma fields, for various clients. This included
marketing materials such as illustration, graphic design, Email
Blasts, Audio recordings, video recordings, photography, Power Point Deck
creation/editing, and website design. He also worked at the events as an
audio engineer, camera operator, live stream operator, graphics operator and
eventually became a technical director, live show director, and production
manager. During this time, he also developed skills in surgical
videography filming mostly in the operating rooms of ophthalmologists for
clients such as BMC, Alcon, and Bosch and Lomb.
In 2017 he then semi-retired from live events to get off the road and spend more time
with his family. He moved to Sandpoint, Idaho where he and his wife
purchased a small bar. He continued with his freelance career while
concentrating on building up the bar business. The bar became a
massive success under his leadership and mentoring of staff. While building the bar business Russ developed the skills for another passion of his, and started a career in architectural drafting and home design. He has designed several homes built in north Idaho as well as many remodels, interior designs,
and additions. He also operates and occasionally still works in the corporate events field.
Russ is always looking for new and exciting opportunities in the creative and
marketing worlds. He enjoys creating art as well as mentoring and
managing the next generation of artists.
He is a largely self-taught highly motivated individual who truly enjoys
using the entire breadth of his skill set to accomplish any and all tasks.
MAJOR CLIENTS AND EMPLOYERS: Software Sorcery + Havok Ware + Monkey Studio + 989 Studios + SCEA + Verant + SOE + American Greetings + Intel + Alcon + Abbott Medical Optics + Bryn Mawr Communications + Bosch and Lomb + AV Concepts + Enteraktion + Live Entertinment + Tevan Tavern + Highfalutin
SOFTWARE USED: Adobe Creative Suite + Chief Architect + Microsoft Office + Autodesk 3D studio + Autodesk Maya + Autodesk Mudbox + Adobe Substance + Autodesk Revit + Avid Pro Tools + Apple Final Cut + Apple Logic + UA Luna + Slack + Alienbrain + Figma + Nicepage + Wix + Wordpress + Autodesk Sketch + Clip Studio + Various art and sound plug-ins
ASSOCIATIONS: United States Bartenders Guild + North Idaho Songwriters Association + North Idaho FARE + Sandpoint Fiction Writing Club + BMWMOA
HOBBIES: Drawing + Painting + Design + Product Design + Construction + Motorcycling + Motorcycle Camping + Canoeing + Backpacking + Playing in bands + Surfing + Cooking + Bartending + Video Games + Creative Writing + Travel
