Artist Bio
Rob McNaughton is a Southern California native bent on playing games for a living. That works out since he has been employed at Blizzard Entertainment for many years. Rob has worked as Lead Technical Artist, Lead Animator, Lead Artist, and Principal Technical Artist for Blizzard on the following games:
- World of Warcraft: Midnight (2026)
- World of Warcraft: The War Within (2024)
- World of Warcraft: Dragonflight (2022)
- World of Warcraft: Shadowlands (2020)
- StarCraft II: Nova Covert Ops (2016)
- StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void (2015)
- Heroes of the Storm (2015)
- StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm (2013)
- StarCraft II (2010)
- World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade (2007)
- World of Warcraft (2004)
- WarCraft III: The Frozen Throne (2003)
- Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos (2002)
- StarCraft (1998)
- StarCraft: Brood War (1998)
- Diablo (1996)
As an independent artist Rob has worked on two movies and a trailer for a third: Convict 762 (1997), Cake (2004), and Baby (2007).
Before becoming a professional artist Rob has had a myriad of strange and menial jobs including an AV tech at the advertising giant Bozell World Wide and a machine shop manager of a cable manufacturing company, Acme Swaging and Cable Products. The work ethic was first forged working for his father at the small retail shop Dad's Marine Supply.
Rob is primarily a 3D Animator and Digital Effects artist but has done his time at many art tasks including pencil sketching and digital painting. Digital speed painting has become a favorite new medium, spurred on with help from conceptart.org.
Outside of the daily work routine Rob gets much of his inspiration from his very supportive wife, Tracey, and baby girl, Maeve. Rob and Tracey are avid paper and pencil role-playing game players and won't pass an opportunity to invite friends over for a bit of dice rolling madness.
Anime and movies are also a favorite distraction - Trigun and True Lies sitting near the top of the list.
Music
Robert McNaughton crafts classic rock power with modern AI-driven production. He first began playing bass in his high school jazz band, building a strong musical foundation before expanding into electric guitar, songwriting, and production. Today, Robert writes the lyrics and creative direction for Liberty Forge, working with Suno AI to craft a distinctive sound that fuses the energy of 1980s metal, the grit of Southern rock, and a modern edge. The result is bold, hook-driven music with big riffs, melodic attitude, and a rebellious spirit. Based in Costa Mesa, Robert continues pushing new ways to create music by combining traditional songwriting instincts with emerging technology.
Discography
Liberty Forge
| Album | Release | |
|---|---|---|
| Red Pilled Rocker | August 2024 | |
| Dreams of Machines | September 2024 | |
| Sleepwalk Thunder | August 2025 | |
| Modern Audience | December 2025 |
NeonWave Syndicate - October 2024 (13 tracks)