Joe DiCesare

Joe DiCesare

Senior Digital Artist with 20+ years of experience in VFX.

Senior Digital Matte Painter / Senior Texture Artist / 21 yrs

Los Angeles, CA

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Matte Painter

The Ark and the Aardvark (2026)

Matte Painter

Kung Fu Panda 4 (2024)

Matte Painter

Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken (2023)

Matte Painter

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022)

Matte Painter

The Bad Guys (2022)

Matte Painter

The Boss Baby 2 (2021)

Matte Painter

Trolls World Tour (2020)

Matte Painter

Abominable (2019)

Matte Painter

Castle Rock (2018)

Digital Matte Painter

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)

Matte Painter

Underworld: Blood Wars (2017)

Agent X (2015)

Heroes Reborn (2015)

The Ten Commandments (2015)

Digital Matte Painter

The Man in the High Castle (2015)

Matte Painter

How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014)

Arthur Christmas (2011)

Matte Painter

Zookeeper (2011)

Matte Painter

Alice Through the Looking Glass (2010)

Matte Painter

Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore (2010)

Matte Painter

Turbo (2009)

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009)

Matte Painter

Beowulf (2007)

Surf's Up (2007)

Matte Painter / Text

Spider-Man 3 (2007)

Texture Artist

Open Season (2006)

Texture Painter

Bewitched (2005)

Grey's Anatomy (2005)

Texture Painter

The Polar Express (2004)

Matte Painter

Shrek (2001)

Viewpaint Artist

Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)

Joe DiCesare has been actively working as an artist in the feature film and television industry for more than twenty years. A graduate of Pratt Institute, Joe began his art career as a paperback illustrator creating artwork for over 200 book covers in the romance and young adult genres for major publishing houses in New York City. In 1998 he relocated to California to begin his career as a visual effects artist at Industrial Light & Magic working on Star Wars Episode I, and at PDI/DreamWorks working on the original Shrek. He quickly concentrated his work on matte painting and concept art, combining his expertise in 2D/3D computer graphics with his highly developed painting skills to create photo-realistic and unique images.

A member of the Visual Effects Society, Joe has worked on motion pictures as well as television series, video games and advertising for major studios in Los Angeles, New York and internationally. His work has twice received recognition from the Society of Illustrators, New York, NY.
Work History

  • digital matte painter

    DreamWorks Animation

    September 2018 - October 2023
    Glendale, California

  • Senior Matte Painter

    Freelance / Contract

    January 2015 - September 2018
    Greater Los Angeles Area

    Senior Digital Artist skilled in Matte Painting, Concept Art and Texture Painting.
    My work fits seamlessly into projects that require live action photorealism as well as feature animation. I have more than 16 years of experience contributing to major motion pictures.
    Clients include: FuseFX, Riot Games, Framestore LA, Sony Pictures ImageWorks, Ignition Creative, Stargate Studios, Method Studios, BarnstormVFX.
    Projects include: Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016), Man In The High Castle (Season 2 - 2017).

  • Matte Painter

    Undisclosed

    March 2018 - May 2018
    US

  • Matte Painter

    Undisclosed

    August 2017 - March 2018

  • Riot Games

    August 2017 - February 2018

  • Matte Painter

    Undisclosed

    June 2017 - August 2017

  • digital matte painter

    Not disclosed

    March 2017 - March 2017

  • Matte Painter

    Not disclosed

    January 2017 - February 2017

  • Matte Painter

    Undisclosed

    October 2016 - December 2016

  • digital matte painter

    Not disclosed

    May 2016 - June 2016

  • Matte Painter

    Framestore

    March 2016 - April 2016

  • Senior Matte Painter

    Sony Pictures Imageworks

    October 2015 - March 2016

  • Senior Matte Painter

    DreamWorks Animation

    January 2012 - January 2015
    Glendale

    Responsible for creating matte paintings for the computer-animated film How To Train Your Dragon 2 (2014), and also Turbo (2013). Paintings created in Photoshop under the direction of the Art Director and Matte Painting Supervisor. Paintings include large sky and cloud vistas as well as various beauty shots created for each film.. Also responsible for executing pre-visualization images to help develop keys for the look of the skies seen throughout the film.

  • Senior Digital Artist

    Sony Pictures Imageworks

    2002 - November 2011
    Culver City, CA

    Responsible for a variety of complex tasks ranging from creating highly realistic and/or stylized matte paintings for feature films, texture painting for main characters, as well as leading a team of artists on a number of projects. Credits include: The Polar Express,Open Season, SpiderMan 3, Surf's Up, Beowulf, and other feature films.
    Matte Painting Supervisor for: Arthur Christmas
    Texture Lead for: Superman Returns
    Matte Painting Lead for: G-Force

  • Texture Artist

    Treyarch / Activision

    July 2001 - December 2002
    Santa Monica, CA

    Created in-game texture maps for characters and environments for the Video Game, Minority Report (2002), published by Activison. Worked closely with the Art Director to visualize and create the final textures in Photoshop. Also worked within 3D Studio Max and Maya to create and edit UV mapping, as well as edit geometry received from the modelers. Responsibilities also included creating concept art under the direction of the Art Director for various cut scenes.

  • Matte Painter

    DreamWorks Animation

    1999 - 2001

    Created matte paintings for the Academy Award-winning feature film Shrek. Worked closely with the Production Artist and Art Director to visualize and create the final matte paintings used to enhance the film.

  • Viewpaint Artist

    Industrial Light & Magic

    1998 - 1999

    Responsible for creating photorealistic texture maps for the film Star Wars: Episode I. Used proprietary software (Viewpaint) to texture props and environments. Also created character texture maps and environments for the film Frankenstein And The Wolfman (unreleased).

  • Freelance Illustrator

    Self Employed

    June 1984 - July 1998
    New York, NY

    Enjoyed a successful career as a Freelance Illustrator in the mass-market paperback industry. Created over 200 photorealistic paintings for book covers. Paintings were executed with traditional oil paint techniques on canvas or masonite panels. Major clients include Scholastic, Harlequin, and Dell. Covers were created for all genres, especially figurative work for Romance and Young Adult titles.

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Education

  • Pratt Institute

    1980 - 1984