Shawn Olson Creative Arts

Art, Poetry, Photography, Writing and 3D

coyote photo
snowy arizona mountain
Fishing Spider

Greetings Earthling. Welcome to my creative portal. My name is Shawn Olson. I'm a creative jack-of-all trades who has years of experience in 3ds Max, game development, web development, journalism, photography, graphics and parenting. You may know me as a technical artist for Black Mesa or as the developer of Wall Worm if you came here as a game developer. I now also work on USD workflows and capabilities in 3ds Max and Maya at Autodesk. All opinions here are my own.

If you need help with any of these things, then I'm your guy:

  • Problem Solving
  • 3D Environments
  • 3D Assets
  • 3ds Max pipelines
  • Game Design
  • Documentation
  • Journalistic Coverage
  • Application Education
  • Web Application Development

If you must know more about me, feel free to read A Short Biography. But more importantly, enjoy the various photos, poems, editorials and scripts across the site.

I always enjoy feedback from visitors. Feel free to send me an email with any comments, ideas, praise, criticism or corrections. Of course you can always interact with me on the Wall Worm forums or other 3D forums where I haunt.

Latest Articles

Infinity, for the Mind and Body

Posted on Feb 6, 2014 | Last Updated Mar 26, 2020

A short discussion on infinities.

Read More

infinite, infinity

A Balogna Syndrome

Posted on Jan 4, 2014 | Last Updated Jan 4, 2014

A cartoon of a bull chronically depressed due to an unfortunate pun in his name.

Read More

bull, onee, balogna, cartoon

Boycott Adobe

It's Time for Artists to Send a Message
Posted on Nov 5, 2013 | Last Updated Mar 31, 2015

Critical discussion on software companies fleecing artists and consumers.

Read More

software, fleecing, boycott, rental, lease, buy

Wall Worm Auto Material

Posted on Aug 27, 2013 | Last Updated Oct 23, 2020

Wall Worm Auto Material is a 3ds Max script that automatically applies materials to newly created objects in 3ds Max.

Read More

3ds max, maxscript, material

PHP Traits for Implementing Interfaces

Posted on Aug 13, 2013 | Last Updated Aug 13, 2013

PHP 5.4 introduced traits. Traits are in many ways like code-assisted copy and paste. They are ways to mix code into a class without inheritance. But what are they good for? When should they be used?

Read More

PHP 5.4, trait, interface, abstract, oop

Colorful Insect Photos

Posted on Jul 30, 2013 | Last Updated Jul 30, 2013

Some colorful insect photos.

Read More

insects

Saying Goodbye to Dad

Newsletter, July 27, 2013
Posted on Jul 27, 2013 | Last Updated Jul 27, 2013

Shawn Olson's Newsletter, July 27, 2013. News about my father's death.

Read More

newsletter, don, olson, death, family

This Art is Alive

Posted on Apr 24, 2013 | Last Updated Apr 24, 2013

Poem about the nature of human interactions. We all want to impose ourselves, visions and beliefs onto others. But it is always a give-and-take adventure.

Read More

communication, interaction, human, relations, relationship, paradigm, control

Stories from North Dakota

Posted on Mar 24, 2013 | Last Updated Mar 24, 2013

Some stories and thoughts related to North Dakota.

Read More

North Dakota, Killdeer

Donald George Olson died at 72

Some memories and thoughts about my Dad
Posted on Mar 24, 2013 | Last Updated Apr 27, 2013
Donald Olson and Brianna SmithDad shows Hayden thumb trick.Dad smiles in HatDon and Donna Olson.don and shawnOlsons in Grove Citydonald and beverly olsonOlson Wedding PhotoDonald and EthanOlson Boys when Don moved outDad and HaroldFaith and Dad on CouchDalmas and DonaldShawn's First Birthday with Mom and DadOlson Brothers in KilldeerOlson Family Portrait.Olsons 1990Shawn, Doug and Donald.

My Dad, Donald George Olson, died on March 18, 2013... just four days shy of his 73rd birthday.

Read More

donald olson, don, eulogy, death, died
Wall Worm plugins and scripts for 3ds Max