Recommendations:
January 10, 2010
I have been lucky to participate in 4 drawing workshops with Dawood Marion at the Sharon Art Studio in the past 2 years. They were about building confidence in drawing and drawing people. When I met with Dawood the first time, he came at the live model session I was participating in one evening. The rest of us were quietly seating on their chairs or in front of their easel, but Dawood put his stuff on the floor right between me and the model, and started to draw/paint with impressive talent and an amazing energy that became rapidly contagious. Shortly after, I registered for his workshops and they turned out to be exactly what I was looking for: long day sessions of hard working, concentrating, learning, and being inspired by an amazingly enthusiastic and talented instructor. I liked particularly that Dawood share his sketchbooks with us, giving us an opportunity to see art in progress and “de-dramatize” the creative process, rendering it concrete and possible. He also carried a huge suitcase full of books and encouraged us to read books, and get “filled with nice things” to then find/mature our own style. He clearly encouraged me/us to go out of our comfort zone when drawing, and it helped me a great deal in my creative process, where I felt kind of stuck. I was so impressed I took my 11-year old daughter for a workshop with him and she liked it as much as I did. I think Dawood is an extremely inspiring instructor, and on top of it a very fun and nice person (who knows how to draw with his feet and make the demonstration on site?!). So it is my great pleasure to highly recommend him as an instructor, for all ages and all levels.
Dorothee Chabas
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August 31, 2010
To whom this may concern:
This is a letter of reference on behalf of Dawood Marion. Mr. Marion worked with Science for Youth (SCI-FY) this summer as an instructor in which he provided daily lessons for middle school students between the 6th and 8th grade. He taught a class in the Computer Science Building at UC Berkeley that focused on concept art, storyboarding and kitbashing (conceptual model making). Mr. Marion was able to inspire students to understand the connection between the visual arts, digital arts and technology. The students produced projects and artifacts, and they also further developed their communication and teamwork skills.
Mr. Marion displayed commitment and a regard for the well-being of the students. He was flexible and able to interact on a professional level with parents, staff and other members of the SCI-FY community. I believe Dawood Marion has a lot to offer students in terms of his experience, ability to connect with students and his creativity in the way he facilitates learning experiences for students.
Regards,
Dr. Chris Harrison
SCI-FY Program Coordinator
www.bfoit.org
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August 22, 2010
“Dawood taught concept development to middle school students during a two-week computing outreach summer institute called BFOIT. He had them come up with a story for a short animation, make storyboards, and do kitbashing, where they take unused household items and glue them together to make a set, spaceship, robot, etc. He did such an outstanding job with our students, I immediately asked him to be a guest speaker in my Advanced Digital Animation class at UC Berkeley!”
Dan Garcia
Lecturer SOE (tenured) at UC Berkeley
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June 17, 2010
Details of the Recommendation: "The expertise in Dawood's portfolio of artwork stood out uniquely among hundreds of applications - to storyboard the short film for animation "Hcrenall".
His execution of the storyboards for the film was not only extraordinarily imaginative, his approach to conceptualizing this very challenging piece of animation was original; yet, his drawings were unfailingly 'to the point'.
He pleasantly presented the storyboards on time and within the budget. Working with him, scriptwriter -to - artist, was a very gratifying, painless experience. Dawood's artwork technically enhanced the storytelling at a glance. He is a master craftsman."
Penelope Hart
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May 6, 2010
To whom it may concern:
Dawood Marion has taught my son, Gull Schneider, drawing techniques for the last five months.
My son, Gull, has great talent in drawing and painting, but lacks knowledge of the techniques. He also suffers from learning disabilities. In the encounters between Dawood and my son, Dawood has shown a tremendous amount of patience and given much positive reinforcement that has helped Gull develop both his artistic skills and his confidence in those skills. Though Gull is still developing his skills, Dawood's tutelage has helped him show great improvement.
Blessings,
Meir Schneider PhD, LMT
School for Self Healing
2218 48th Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94116
www.self-healing.org
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May 2009
To Whom it May Concern,
For over a year, Dawood Marion has been offering drawing and mixed‐media classes and workshops at the Sharon Art Studio to great success and anticipation. As a large community art center, it is important to us that our teachers both inspire and are accessible to a broad audience of art students. He has shown his teaching versatility by having catered to both youth and adults, in long‐term class format as well as one‐day workshops. Dawood’s artwork is extremely accomplished, yet approachable. His
energy in class is contagious. We require that all students of contractual instructors fill out class evaluations end of session, and Dawood’s have held constant praise for his ability and teaching style. It is partially due to this affirmative response that we keep inviting Dawood back to continue his teaching at the Sharon Art Studio. His adult Reportage Drawing workshop has been particularly successful for us, and it quickly meets its maximum enrollment.
I look forward to holding more of Dawood’s workshops and classes at the Sharon Art Studio in the future, and feel confident his student following will only increase. If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact me.
Sincerely,
Lani Rovzar
Executive Director
Sharon Art Studio
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August 1, 2008
"Dawood is an incredibly talented Illustrator and artist. We worked together on a number of projects related to consumer electronics product design and new client proposals. His work on the product and packaging concept illustrations were incredible and really captured the essence of the product and the intended marketing direction. I recommend Dawood without reservation and encourage any business client or agency to consider his work on your most important and high profile projects. You will be amazed by the strength of his creative input, ideas and results."
Service Category: Illustrator
Year first hired: 2007
Top Qualities: Great Results, Expert, Creative
Robert Cullinan
Magnadyne Automotive Electronics
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April 21, 2008
Dear Hiring Manager:
Dawood was hired for a four-month contract Artist position in January, 2008. During that time, he worked with both an internal and external team of artists for a Sherlock Holmes-based video game that we were developing. Dawood was asked to create and modify a variety of art assets for the game. During Dawood’s time here at Legacy, I was consistently impressed with his artistic skills, creativity and work ethic.
Many of the art assets that Dawood modified and touched up were photo-realistic 3D renderings. Files had a very specific naming convention that had to be adhered to, and Dawood was able to follow the guidelines well. Dawood also beautifully illustrated many “flashback” scenes for each of the 16 cases in the game. Dawood was very proficient at incorporating feedback into his work in a timely manner.
As is often the case in the video games business, extra time is required from the development team during "crunch" mode. Dawood diligently put in extra time as necessary to help meet our deadlines. He worked well with all the other team members, and I find him very personable.
To conclude, I would like to restate my strong recommendation for Dawood Marion. If I can be of any further assistance, or provide you with any further information, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Sincerely,
Craig Brannon, Ph.D.
Director of Development
Legacy Interactive
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May 5, 2008
Production Artist
Legacy Interactive
"Dawood is a very talented 2D artist. He works quickly and produces high quality graphics. He is very dedicated to his art and I believe he will continue to reach higher levels through his hard work."
Lindsay Mathers
Production Artist
Legacy Interactive
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June 26, 2008
Freelance Conceptual Illustrator
Parero Design Group
"Dawood is always a pleasure to work with. His illustrative ability, both traditional and digital, is excellent. While working on behalf of Parero Design Group, Dawood has been able to capture the conceptual vision of the projects he has worked on with minimal supervision. His timliness, attention to detail and the unique touches he offers in each illustration, make him a valuable asset to any agency's team."
Top Qualities: Great Results, Good Value, High Integrity
Dominic Parero
CEO
Parero Design Group
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July 3, 2008
“Hired Dawood for conceptual drawings. He's a true artist -- talented, creative, and resourceful. Looking forward to an opportunity to work with him again.”
Top qualities: Great Results, Personable, Creative
Nathalene Parero
Co - Founder
Parero Design Group
Year first hired: 2007 (hired more than once)
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January 9, 2008
“I’d like to recommend Dawood Marion with my highest regard. He has shown his advanced skills and enthusiasm in the my Gnomon Production Design Class. His work has become personal and he has a fantastic work ethic. As a teacher, you hope for students with excitement and curiosity... and Dawood had all of that and a lot more. I felt because of his unique background and his intelligence that he could become a major contributor to the entertainment industry. Throughout out this past year, Dawood has consistently surprised me with the concept art he has been coming up with. His artistic growth has been staggering. I'm sure any studio would benefit from having Dawood on there team. I picture Dawood heading his own studio some day... with his unique stamp on every frame of film that is produced. I think he has great potential to do anything he chooses.”
John Mahoney
Production Design Professor
Gnomon School of Visual Effects
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July 24, 2008
To whom it may concern:
My name is Crescent McGlone and I am the Creative Performing Arts Advocate at Culture and Language Academy of Success (CLAS). I hire artists to work in our in-school arts program called ENRICHMENT. I hired Dawood to teach art and he was a dynamic teacher! His work ethics are outstanding. I could always count on him to be on time and ready to teach before the students actually came into the classroom. He works very well with students, listening to them, talking with them, inspiring them and guiding them through learning from his love of artistic skills and expression. I plan to re-hire him as often as possible.
Thank you,
Crescent McGlone
Culture and Language Academy of Success
www.cultureandlanguage.org
