My name is Sheffield Abella and I am interested in the Illustrator Faculty-In-Residence position at UNLV.
I am currently a Visiting Assistant Professor at UNLV teaching the Illustration and Digital Illustration classes since Fall 2023.
I taught drawing and painting at The Art Institute of Las Vegas, UNLV(Adjunct 2014-2015), and The Art Institute of Pittsburgh(Online Remote Instruction) on and off starting in 2004 up until the start of the pandemic.
Bachelors Fine Art – Art Center College of Design 1994 – Illustration
Masters Fine Art – Academy of Art University 2013 – Animation
I come from a military family which is what brought me here to Las Vegas.
What follows below is a mix of images from my freelance assignments and the classes that I have taught as well as examples from my past students.
Click on the “+” to expand each section.
My primary philosophical goal behind teaching is to motivate students to discover their own unique visual voices, and to support them in amplifying who they already are as visual artists. Beyond teaching fundamental principles and techniques of visual development, I want to assist students to solve technical and conceptual problems in elegant and efficient ways. Facilitating my students’ development of confidence in their work is a priority for me. Honing their ability to negotiate the standard professional aspects of their careers, from properly valuing their worth and their time to recognizing when they need to navigate sensitive subjects, as they service their clients and art directors is vital.
I look forward to continuing to work with our students from diverse backgrounds. I share UNLV’s goal to provide a dynamic academic environment, celebrating the uniqueness of our students, faculty and staff, all while pushing forward the core values of open-mindedness, equity and inclusion while maintaining the highest level of respect for one another. I will do my best to ensure that all my students, regardless of age, ethnicity, gender, physical abilities, or race, thrive in my classroom.
Examples of my illustration work.
Below are Design Examples, logos, packaging, and branding.
The ideal candidate for Illustration Faculty should be able to draw, both from life and from the imagination.
Examples go here.
Sheffield Abella
Artist | Designer
Objective
Remote Instructor
Education
Academy of Art University, San Francisco, CA.
2013 Masters Fine Art in Animation, Visual Development Emphasis.
Art Center College of Design. Pasadena, California.
1994 Bachelors in Fine Art Visual Communication with an Emphasis in Illustration.
Experience
University of Nevada Las Vegas 4505 S. Maryland Pkwy. Las Vegas, NV 89154
Aug 2023 – Present. Visiting Assistant Professor | Jan 2014- Dec 2014. Adjunct Professor.
Classes Taught: Illustration, Digital Illustration, Digital Rendering, Ideation & Process, Graphic Design II
Business Sector: Post Secondary Education.
The Art Institute of Las Vegas 2350 Corporate Circle Henderson, NV 89074-7737
2019 – 2020 | 2004 – 2010. Instructor.
Classes Taught: Life Drawing, Advanced Life Drawing, Character Design, Character Ideation, Color Theory, Illustration/Advanced Illustration, Observational Drawing and Digital Painting, Digital Imaging, Advanced Digital Imaging, Web Scripting, Drawing & Perspective, Digital/Web Portfolio.
Business Sector: Post Secondary Education.
The Art Institute of Pittsburgh Online 1400 Penn Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15222
2016 – 2019. Instructor.
Classes Taught: Life Drawing, Advanced Life Drawing, Character Design, Advanced Illustration for Production
Business Sector: Post Secondary Education.
Kizzang LLC Las Vegas, NV
Oct 2014 – Mar 2017. Illustrator/Designer
Main Responsibilities: Illustration, Design, Identity/Branding. Produce graphics and illustration for various game symbols in a slot machine platform for using original assets or client supplied artwork.
Business Sector: Freelance Illustration and Design.
Pixel Colada LLC Las Vegas, NV 89193
1996 – Present. Owner/Illustrator/Designer
Main Responsibilities: Illustration, Design, Identity/Branding, Web Design, Consulting. Partial List of Freelance Clients upon request.
Business Sector: Freelance Illustration and Design.
helloNetwork.com, Inc. 3035 East Patrick Lane Suite 1. Las Vegas, Nevada 89120
1998 – 1999. Art Director/Lead Visual Development.
Main Responsibilities: Illustration, Design, Identity/Branding, Web Design, Consulting.
Business Sector: Video Streaming.
Adrienne Weiss Corp. 737 N Michigan Avenue # 1580, Chicago, IL, 60611-5406
1995 – 1996. Art Director/Lead Visual Development.
Main Responsibilities: Worked on identity projects for Bank One Stadium, Country Star Restaurants, Warner Bros. Stores, and MCI/Washington Bullets Stadium. Illustration, logo design, taglines and various other identity concept work.
Business Sector: Design Firm.
Cloud 9 Interactive. Santa Monica, CA
1995. Production Artist.
Main Responsibilities: Created scratch art and final art for “How to Draw the Marvel Way” as well as integrated assets. Designed actuators for “Wanna-Be a Dino Finder”.
Business Sector: Design Firm.
Digital Skills
Software
Expert: Adobe Photoshop, Corel Painter, openCanvas, ArtRage, Xara Designer Pro+,
Intermediate: Flash, Illustrator, Premier, Silo, WordPress, Joomla, Microsoft Design Expression, Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Dreamweaver, Homesite, RapidPHP.
Working Knowledge: Maya, 3dStudio Max, Silo, Lightwave, After Effects, Particle Illusion, Zbrush, Sound Forge,
Platform/OS: Windows/Mac. Cintiq/Wacom/Huion Tablets
Traditional Skills
Analog
Tradition mediums: Oil, Acrylic, Watercolor, Gouache, Colored Pencil, Graphite, Charcoal.
Other skills: I am comfortable as a public speaker having taught illustration, design, and software applications to students for over seven years. I have the ability to demonstrate digital techniques or techniques in traditional mediums while answering questions.
Refererences
References are available on request.
Sheffield Abella
702.604.8800 Mobile
sheffield.abella@unlv.edu