b i o g r a p h y

Jennifer McKnew is an emerging San Francisco artist.  Born and raised in Marin County, she ventured south to UCLA where she received a Bachelor's Degree in Design in 1990.  Motivated by the need for creative expression, she became immersed in the visual effects industry (television and feature films).

Jennifer's career began by creating 3D computer graphics for television programs such as the Emmy Awards and the American Music Awards.  Her career soon evolved to include visual effects work for shows such as The X-Files and Unsolved Mysteries. She has voted for the Emmy Awards as a member of The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

In 1996, Jennifer was recruited by Lucasfilm's visual effects subsidiary (Industrial Light & Magic) and worked there without interruption throughout the next decade as a technical director. While at Industrial Light & Magic, her artistic penumbra expanded to include digital matte painting, digital compositing, and 3D texture painting.  Joining Sony Pictures Imageworks in January of 2007 as a 3D texture painter, she has also lent a hand with digital matte painting.  Her official credits include a wide variety of groundbreaking visual effects films such as Saving Private Ryan, Harry Potter 2 & 3, Star Wars-Episode I, II, & III, Men in Black, War of the Worlds, and I Am Legend.

As her film career continues to flourish, Jennifer has returned to traditional fine arts and the tangible expression of paint upon canvas.  She finds tremendous joy in applying traditional painting principles to her visual effects work and in striving for technical accuracy in her painting.

In 2007, Jennifer began studying traditional European realism under the instruction of esteemed oil painter, Reiner.  Since being drawn more deeply into the genre of realism, Jennifer has become intrigued with capturing the intricate detail of everyday objects.  She finds exquisite beauty in aged subjects that are characterized by marked imperfections and pronounced weathering.  Imagining the many lives through which each object has passed, she strives to reveal a story with every brush stroke.