I am freelance Illustrator, specializing in Science Fiction and Fantasy. I work primarily in oils, and paint in a realistic manner. The majority of my work is for book covers, but I also do work related to video games, and trading card games.

I started off in this business doing anything I could get my hands on... advertising, gallery work, prints, portraiture, and illustration. Eventually the illustration work became more abundant. As it did, I ceased doing the other stuff I didn't enjoy as much. Now I just do illustration.

Currently, I am scheduled for a bunch of book covers, a magazine tutorial, a comic cover, and an instructional DVD.

I work about 11 hours a day, 7 days a week. If I'm not painting, I'm eating, sleeping, or spending what time I can with my family.

Of those 11 hours, about 2 are spent doing business related stuff. Speaking to clients, replying to emails, shipping out paintings, etc. Like any other job, illustration is a business, and it takes a surprising amount of time to keep that business running smoothly.

When you have a child, pretty much all YOUR personal time is THEIR time. So instead of leaving those paintings I want to do sitting around forever, I now schedule them into my work calendar so that I HAVE to do it. This is important, not just for my personal well-being, but for my career as well. If you have particular goals in mind for your career, you need to take the time necessary to push your work in that direction... whether someone is paying you to do it or not.

I read comics, watch movies, play video games. More important than the inspiration is taking the time to rest. It's easy to get burnt out in this business, and it's really important to get away from it now and then.

I honestly haven't figured that one out yet.

I really make an effort to stay up on the competition. There are a lot of great, young artists out there with fresh ideas, as well as ton of veterans whose skills continue to amaze me. There are far too many to name them all, but I am particularly inspired by William Bouguereau, Jean Gerome, Moebius, Katsuhiro Otomo, Michael Whelan, Todd Lockwood, and Donato Giancola.

Machinist. I worked in a Machine shop, making mundane parts by the thousands. It was incredibly repetitious. Eventually, I came to the bleak conclusion that I was simply trading a day of my life for money. Nothing more. There was no pride in the work I was doing, nor any meaningfulness. That, combined with an accident that nearly removed my thumb, prompted me to quit that job.

Geez, just about everything outside of art that interests me is STILL art. Comics, Video Games, Film. I also really enjoy Carpentry and Cooking. It may sound ridiculous, but I am never more at peace than I am when I am cooking. Not to imply I am a good cook, far from it, it's just something about the process of it that really calms me.

Pretty much the only books I get to read are the manuscripts I am doing the covers for. Well, that and comic books.

I'm really not a big music guy. I enjoy silence, and don't usually listen to anything while I work. But when I am in the mood for it, I like Down-Tempo, Soul, Funk, and Classic Rock.

No one has yet to gain an accurate measurement... but I do know they're heavy enough to break your jaw.

Surely, you jest.

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