Daniel De León

Xencelabs Welcomes Daniel De León as Artist Spotlight for May

Daniel is an Oscar-nominated artist (Spider-Man: No Way Home), and a passionate, multi-disciplinary 3D Artist, Designer, and Advanced 3D Printing expert with over a decade of experience in film VFX. He also brings expertise in high-quality real-time/Unreal Engine projects for the aerospace industry, along with many years in physical product design.

His work spans monumental statues, film props, collectibles, and immersive experiences for top-tier clients including Disney, Marvel, Lucasfilm, Netflix, Apple, HBO, Dropbox, and more. Daniel is also a ZBrush livestreamer and instructor, and his fabrication work has been featured at MIT’s Media Lab.

Before transitioning to CGI and stage set design, Daniel served as clinical trauma staff in one of the Top 50 U.S. hospitals, working in the ER from age 18 to 20—before shifting fully into visual storytelling and digital creation.

Throughout his career, Daniel has collaborated with Digital Domain and MPC, where he helped redesign the entire "Mufasa in the clouds" sequence for The Lion King (2019)—a visually rich piece that, unfortunately, didn’t make the final cut due to time constraints. He also crafted highly detailed digital doubles of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Pierce Brosnan, Aldis Hodge, and Quintessa Swindell for Black Adam, and contributed to major live productions, including Katy Perry’s Vegas residency.

Above all, Daniel is a storyteller—driven to craft breathtaking, meaningful, and emotionally powerful experiences, whether through pixels or physical form.

To learn more about Daniel, please visit:

LinkedIn: @lionarts

Website: lion-arts.com

Instagram: @daniellionarts

Facebook: @DanielLionArts