I am a long-time resident of Northern Virginia, U.S. Air Force veteran, front-end developer, digital artist, tech and multimedia specialist, musician and traveler of the world.
I developed an interest in computer graphics in middle school, when I got an old Mac computer with Photoshop on it. During high school, I added a few more programs to my arsenal, including Terragen and Bryce, and took some graphics courses.
I went on to George Mason University where I majored in Art and Visual Technologies. I studied traditional techniques, animation, web and graphic design, and photography. I graduated in 2009 with a B.A. in the field. Since then, I have studied and worked on aviation electrical systems, backend and framework programming, and IT support work.
I have been involved with Renderosity since high school, and Inner Traveler and Deviant Art since college. Other interests of mine also include building computers, security and privacy, programming and development, astronomy, travel, science and science fiction, technology, history, culture, languages, philosophy, and martial-arts.
The name for the site came from a trip I took to Europe in 2004. The final stop on this trip was to a town in Bayern (aka Bavaria) Germany called Rottenburg Ob Der Taube. While I was there, I took a tour of the town with a gentleman in medieval clothing acting as the town's night watchman.
Night watchmen, in those times, performed tasks similar to many among today's law enforcement. They were also tasked with keeping those in the town safe from dæmons and other evil spirits at night. As a "night owl" myself, doing much of my work late into the night, I felt it fitting to keep the nightwatchman mindset going in the digital age, and showing that there's more to what goes "bump in the night."
Depicted in the title banner is Rembrandt's Militia Company of District II under the Command of Captain Frans Banninck Cocq, commonly referred to as The Night Watch.