Laura Dubuk
| Laura Dubuk | |
|---|---|
| |
| Biographical information | |
| Born |
1983[1] |
| Place of birth |
Seattle, Washington[1] |
| Title(s) |
|
| Time period |
June 2001 – January 2012[3] |
| Nickname(s) | |
Laura Dubuk is an artist who worked as an independent contractor for Valve from June 2001 to January 2012. Originally living in Seattle, she now resides in Santa Monica, California.[3] She is notable for having given her likeness to Portal 2’s Caroline.
Contents
Biography[edit]
After working as a graphic designer for Tour Graphics from 1999 to 2001, Dubuk graduated from the Henry Cogswell College with a B.A. in 3D Computer Animation in 2003, the Gage Academy of Art in 2011, and attended an online course on Robots and Spaceships of the Pasadena Art Center College of Design in 2011 (from which Yatsze Mark graduated in 1993).[3]
During her schooling, she began her games career working on Half-Life 2 and has since designed, modeled and textured environments for most of the games produced by Valve. Dubuk is also an oil painter and salsa dancer.[4]
Work[edit]
Laura Dubuk designed the magnetic crane,[5] and created various pipes, rocks, and cans,[6] as well as ceiling trusses, corner arches and column lights seen in the City 17 Trainstation,[7] the furniture for the apartments in City 17, the torture chair, the magnifying lamp in Kleiner's Lab, and broken wooden board models. She also created and animated a door knob and did some programming work for her creations.[6]
For Portal 2, she did most of the textures in the game. She did the initial white and black tiles and mostly environment elements such as the environment textures and the real world elements of Test Shaft 09.[6][8] She created models for iterations of the Aperture Science High Energy Pellet catcher and for 1940's office furniture.[9] Along with Richard Lord, she designed the Relaxation Chamber, modeling some of the final props and creating textures for them. She also worked on the final design of Chell.[6][8]
Dubuk also appears "personally" several times in the games:
- As found in the playable Half-Life 2 leak texture files, her likeness was originally to be used for a female Citizen nicknamed "Laura", but it was ultimately scrapped.
- Her name appears as an Easter egg on a sign in the Hospital featured in Episode One.
- For Portal 2, she also gave her likeness to Caroline (made older in Photoshop), while Bill Fletcher gave his to Cave Johnson.
Selected gameography[edit]
- Half-Life: Source (2004)
- Half-Life 2 (2004)
- Half-Life 2: Lost Coast (2005)
- Half-Life 2: Episode One (2006)
- Half-Life 2: Episode Two (2007)
- Portal (2007)
- Portal 2 (2011)
Gallery[edit]
Half-Life 2 and Episodes[edit]
Sketch of the crane.
Laura's Citizen facemap.
City 17 Trainstation models.
The Hospital Easter egg sign.
Portal 2[edit]
Concept art for F-STOP, described Aperture Laboratories Lobby.
Portal 2 laboratory from 1970.
Chell outfit.
Ditto.
Robot printer.
1980s/90s offices.
Ditto.
Environment concept art.
Ditto.
Ditto.
Ditto.
Ditto.
High Energy Pellet catcher concept art.
Ditto.
Office furniture models.
Ditto, along with a catcher model.
Other[edit]
Bill Fletcher and Laura Dubuk impersonating the characters they gave their likeness to at Comic-Con 2012.
Ditto.
Ditto.
Ditto.
Ditto, with Karen Prell and a fan.
Ditto, with fans.
The base picture used for one of the portraits in the game.
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 About Laura Dubuk / Contact on Laura Dubuk's personal website
- ↑ Blogger profile
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2
Laura Dubuk on LinkedIn
- ↑ Laura Dubuk and Tabitha Fisher Animation Artists on the CTN Animation Expo website
- ↑ Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar, page 176
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3
Half a life: Laura Dubuk on her 12 years at Valve on YouTube
- ↑ File:Laura station.jpg
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Portal 2 Collector's Edition Guide
- ↑ 3D Modelling on Laura Dubuk's personal website
