Stylus Monkey Design

Born in Singapore, Darren moved to Adelaide, Australia at the tender age of 5 where he spent most of his life nursing his dark desire to become a Tyrannosaurus Rex. However, due to a lack of commercial opportunity, he instead studied degrees in Computer Science and Operational Management at the University of South Australia graduating in early 2003 much to his own chagrin.

In late 2004, after popping his employment cherry in some rather unstimulating industries he stumbled upon the fantastical world of concept art. Due to a complete lack of logical deliberation, he decided to learn the skills needed to become a commercial artist with the help of books, DVDs, antisocial amounts of practice and something new and mysterious called the Internet.

Five years worth of exhilarating (…yep, there was gratuitous amount of whooping and crying along the way) creative experience later, he now runs his own design studio, Stylus Monkey Design specialising in art direction, concept art, user interface design and commercial illustration.

He is based out of his home studio in Melbourne where he can often be found having no social life, listening to Jimi Hendrix and working on commissioned artwork.

Darren’s work and writing has appeared in The Official Corel Painter Magazine, Advanced Photoshop Magazine, Digital Artist Magazine, 2D Artist Magazine, Catalyst Game Lab publications and Mortal Remains for WildFire LLC. He also teaches digital illustration at RMIT University in Melbourne, has held master classes at QANTM digital media educator and tutors private students who also wish to learn the mysterious and powerful ways of the Sith.

When not working, Darren enjoys working on his biceps and pecs at the gym, writing in 3rd person for no apparent reason, shouting at the wall randomly and pretending to be a Tyrannosaurus Rex.

Seriously though…I freaking love the fact that I draw stuff for a living, I get to work with amazing people and I get to make a difference in other people’s lives through my teaching. I consider myself such a fortunate person to be able to do these things every day. =)

Some Nice Things People Have Said About Darren

I had Darren Yeow as a lecturer/tutor for my Digital Painting, Lighting, and Printing subject at RMIT. Darren was an exceptional lecturer/tutor. I am currently in my second year of my current degree, and have also completed a three year Bachelor of Visual Arts; and in my experience of tertiary education, Darren has been by far the best teacher.

He immediately commanded the respect of me and my peers, not through an assumption of authority, but through his obvious skill and pragmatic attitude. Classes were always a pleasure to attend – they were both interesting, and effective in terms of teaching students relevant skills. Due to this, Darren’s classes had by far the lowest rate of absenteeism I’ve ever observed, despite the fact that attendance was not compulsory. His affable sense of humour and approachability encouraged students to engage with the lesson material and ask questions where appropriate.

Darren was a terrific teaching resource because he really does have an exceptionally detailed knowledge base of the technical intricacies concerned – such as the features of the software we were working with (in this case, Adobe Photoshop CS4), on drawing theory, on anatomical proportions… on just about anything we could possibly ask him about with regard to the technical production of concept art; but this combined with his (contagious) enthusiasm for the field of digital art and illustration in general is what really made him exemplary.

- LISA DYBALL, Former Student, RMIT

The two major issues that hold back educators at university are lack of practical experience and lack of interest in the development of the students in their charge. This is why I have such respect for Darren; to be under the tutelage of someone with industry experience is one thing, but to have him take to teaching with such gusto? Well, that’s something else entirely.

Not only was Darren more than qualified to tutor us based on his excellent illustrative abilities, his patient and down-to-earth approach to communication meant that the artists within our course had their skills rapidly and dramatically improved. In a mere six months, many artists within the course had achieved an increase in ability which was far beyond what any of us thought was possible.

Although his experience and enthusiasm are exceptional, there is a third factor in his success which I believe defines Darren Yeow best: Integrity. His commitment to the best and the highest in all areas of his life is not merely impressive; it is inspiring.

I cannot recommend the man highly enough.

-NED KIRNER, Former Student, RMIT

I have been fortunate enough to study Digital Painting under Darren during my studies at RMIT. Being a mature age student I am very critical of the program and feel it is important to have good lecturers who can impart not only knowledge, but a sense of competency and the confidence to achieve. As a student of Darren’s, I have felt inspired, motivated and awakened . Being in the design stream, I was not confident in my artistic skills, but within the first two lessons I was surprised by the results I was achieving. My high expectations of what a lecturer should deliver through their course have been not only met, but exceeded by Darren’s excellence in his role as a lecturer.

Darren is extremely knowledgeable and competent in his field and demonstrates this through both his career and in class instruction. His industry experience is invaluable to students and their understanding of the subject. All of Darren’s classes are well prepared and follow his constructed curriculum to deliver competency in the subject as well as the skills, techniques and

critical thinking required for his students to progress beyond the completion of the course. Darren is well spoken and communicates clearly and effectively in the classroom, and has the ability to hold the attention of all students in the class. Darren also provides succinct and practical information during consults at an individual level, with the understanding of each students abilities and the appropriate feedback and instruction according to their level of development.

In summary, Darren Yeow is a highly skilled and motivated facilitator, who has a genuine passion for teaching and sharing his knowledge, skills, wisdom and passion with his students. Darren is not only highly competent as an industry professional and lecturer, but is also an inspiration and positive role model for those who have the opportunity to attend his classes. This can be witnessed through observing numerous fellow students who have studied under Darren, and continue to develop not only their technical skills and the quality of their work, but also their attitude and approach to developing themselves both professionally and personally in positive and constructive ways.

- ROBERT PATON SHEA, Former Student, RMIT

I have seen Darren in play now for close to nine months. In that time I have been fortunate enough to witness some of the highest standards of professionalism and talent of any industry I have been a part of. He brings to the table an open minded thought process rounded off by good decisive action when needed. Although these qualities are hard to find as it is, what sets Darren apart is his rare combination of having a high level of expertise, talent and skill in his trade, reinforced by solid managerial knowledge and natural leadership ability. This has allowed me to relinquish my need to oversee and micromanage projects and leave it in Darren’s more than capable hands. He is without a question a highly sort after asset, to any project, venture or team.

- AARON PAUL, CEO, White Wall Concepts

Darren has provided concept art master classes to Qantm students on the Melbourne campus. The students greatly benefited from Darren’s expertise.

- PHIL WILKINSON, Academic Co-ordinator, QANTM College

Darren is a passionate game maker and that is reflected in the services he has delivered to Trickstar Games. I have no hesitation to recommend Darren and his company should you wish to engage his services.

- MIKE FEGAN, Director, Trickstar Games

I have known Darren for a short period of time but I have come to appreciate his passion for the work he produces and for respect he has for those around him. His preparation for a task is second to none and this is reflective in the quality of the work he produces. Darren immerses himself in the task and makes sure he gets the very most out the time allocated. I haven’t had the pleasure of utilizing Darren’s concept art skills yet – the majority of the work I have done with him has been of a graphic design nature. I wouldn’t hesitate getting Darren involved in the concepting stage of any project as he’d be a positive influence, a driving force behind the look n’ feel and you could rest assured that the standard of the work would be first class.

- MARK HOUAREAU, Lead Artist, Transmission Games

Darren is an exceptionally talented artist and a driven leader. As Art Director he brings a passion, confidence and deep understanding of artistic theory to the project, being able to manage multiple tasks and groups of people very effectively. His unshakeable self-belief is infectious, and I will always consider it an honour to be able to learn from him, work alongside him, and call him my friend.

- TIM COLWILL, Designer, Interzone Games

Darren is simply amazing. I’ve hired him for several projects now ranging from t-shirt designs to CD covers and all of his work has been A+. Every product he’s delivered for me has exceeded my expectations and each product that he’s worked on has been a huge commercial hit. Anytime I need any kind of artwork done, Darren’s immediately the first person that comes to mind. I work with big name clients and I could choose virtually any artist to work with but I stick with Darren for a reason. He’s professional, on time, explains things clearly and easily, has my best interest at heart, does his best to save me money when possible, and stays within or under his budget. I truly can’t say enough good things about him. He is to me the best artist in the world and is a true pleasure to deal with.

- TONY NAEMI, Author and Entreprenuer

I first dealt with Darren as an Art Director at Spinfast Games during the early start up phase, locating Art staff for his team. Darren astutely recognised talented individuals and acted both quickly & decisively to hire them. This is something I rarely see in the recruitment hiring process & one of the aspects of dealing with Darren as an Art Director I greatly appreciated. The others were his pleasant demeanour, precise feedback & knowledge of how to build a versatile & productive Games Art team. I more recently had the easy task of finding Darren a new position. With such a stunning portfolio, which is one of the best I have seen, his new employer was lucky to gain such a talented Concept Artist to work on their Games.

- BRONWYNN LUSTED, Director, Conkerberry Pty Ltd

Darren is a hard working and reliable. Whilst working with him in his role as Art Director, I found him to be a focussed leader with a strong sense of direction for his team. His passion for creating great art was readily apparent. I would be very happy to work with Darren again.

- PAUL TURBETT, Owner/Head Programmer, Black Lab Games

I have worked with Darren at two separate companies and he has proven to be a professional artist in every way, mixing creativity, focus and practicality. He works well in a team, takes feedback on board and has a great grasp of how a piece needs to fit into a production environment. If you’ve seen his portfolio you know about the talent. Pieces range from craggy environments, to cartoony character designs and hyper-real pencil renders. If you haven’t seen it, well, I suggested I could write a story and he could illustrate it, and then we could enter it in one of the literary contests floating around the country. He said he’d just submit it to Dark Horse Comics. That’s not arrogance … if I could put ideas down on paper like he can, I’d be submitting straight to a major comic book publisher too. I’d work with Darren on projects — personal or professional — without a moment’s hesitation.

- TIM BEST, Game Designer, Spinfast Games

Darren is a very talented hard working artist who will always inspire you with his positive out look, reliability and excellent art. I have been working with him since the end of 2009 and it really has been a pleasure each and every time. I look forward to being able to continue to work with him in the future.

- JESSE MCCABE, Freelance Concept Designer

Darren is fantastically passionate and professional worker. He attacks every project with relish – whilst at the same time displaying a cool and collected head for the business concerns involved. Any company that wants the job done right and on time can rely on Darren to deliver.

- MITCHEL BAILEY, University of Ballarat

Not only does Darren deliver consistent high quality illustration work but he delivers on time and communicates with you throughout the process. This is a trait that is lacking in the market and I greatly value in freelance illustrators. I would highly recommend Darren for any illustration position in the games industry. He takes direction well and is easy to work with.

- MIKE VAILLANCOURT Art Director, WildFire LLC

I can highly recommend Darren. As a Senior Concept Artist working with me at Transmission games, his enthusiastic, motivated approach, coupled with his talent, made it a pleasure to work with him on any project. Although versatile and experienced, his constant desire to develop his skill set, and improve every aspect of his work, ensured he was always capable of producing concepts of the highest standard. Always on time, he also managed to add value by asking the right questions, never assuming he knew everything at the start. His love of the job, his willingness to listen, to encourage and mentor others when needed, makes him a very valuable senior member of any team. It will be a pleasure to work with him again at any opportunity.

- NICK MARTINELLI Studio Art Director, Transmission Games

I’ve known Darren for just a few months now, but he has been a great asset to 2DArtist magazine, providing more than one tutorial (currently working on others for us right now!) well within deadline for our recent issues. He is very accommodating when we ask for additions or changes, and always wants the best out of himself and the work that he hands over. You can tell when reading his tutorials that he has thoroughly enjoyed the creation process, as well as the writing up stages, which makes it all the more pleasant to read, and a real hit with our audiences! We wish Darren all the very best with his freelance work, and look forward to working with him into the future.

- LYNETTE CLEE Editor, 2D Artist / 3D Total Magazine

I thoroughly enjoyed working with Darren. He has an incredible talent for art/design and i can say that his work wow’d me on a number of occasions. I found Darren really easy to approach when I needed design feedback and he was always open to my own design ideas. I’d love to work with Darren again in the future and wish him the best of luck with his bright career.

- LUKE GILL, Graphic Designer, Blue Cube Ineractive

I worked with Darren on concept art for an unannounced title in development at Transmission. He was a joy to work with – his communication skills were fantastic. I felt completely at home discussing my ideas for characters and story with him, knowing that he understood where I was coming from – his suggestions not only fit with the style we were going for, but enhanced it. His knowledge of and passion for military life and was also invaluable, as was his eagerness to share this knowledge with the team for the betterment of the project. Darren is that rare mix of someone who is professional, imaginative and an excellent communicator – but with no ego. He understands that as teams we work together to create something which is greater than our individual roles. I have no hesitation in recommending him for whichever role he applies for.

- HEATH SMITH Lead Designer, Trickstar Games

From the time I have known and worked with Darren, he has continually stepped well beyond the requirements for the positions he has held. He bares a considerable level of expertise and capacity as an artist and team manager, and maintains a perceptive and analytical view of all initiatives he undertakes. Darren takes a non hierarchal approach to the management of his team, and this method works well. It makes him open, approachable, reliable, and I highly recommend Darren.

- DAN STREATFIELD, Freelance Designer