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For as long as I can remember, drawing has always been my favorite thing to do. My head was constantly swarming with ideas for pictures. |
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When I wasn't drawing a UFO, I was drawing from other art I liked. Comic books were the best. I didn't always read them, though. Most often, I just looked at the pictures, and tried to draw the superheroes myself.Once in a while I would take a break from drawing in order to ride my bike. My favorite book growing up was The Sailor Dog, by Margaret Wise Brown, illustrated by Garth Williams. It's a great adventure story. I still have my copy from when I was little. And I still like it a lot. |
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As I got a little older, I moved away from superheroes, and on to barbarians, dragons and ninjas.When I was 12, I started taking lessons with author/illustrator Robert J. Blake. He taught me a whole lot about drawing, design, and color. I learned more about how to draw things that were in front of me. He also taught me how to paint. In his class, we would draw and paint still-lifes, portraits, and sometimes landscapes outside. I also learned about the whole book making process from him, seeing his books come to life over the weeks. I hoped that one day I would get to make my own books. | |
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After high school, I went to The Art Student's League of New York. There I studied life drawing, first with Jack Henderson, and then with Michael Burban. I also studied painting with Harvey Dinnerstein. From these instructors, I learned even more about drawing and painting realistically. |
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A very exciting day for me was the day I found out a story I wrote was going to be turned into a real book. After several re-writes and 32 pages worth of illustrations, I had my first book published: The Dog Who Loved the Good Life. |
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Since then, I have illustrated a whole bunch of other books. When illustrating a book, my favorite part is coming up with what the characters are going to look like. I like to sit out in public and draw people when I have the time. Doing this gives me lots of inspiration for what different people look like and dress like and walk like. Then I can use some of them in my books. |
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| I live in New Jersey with my wife Nikki, and our son Oliver, where we spend most of our time being climbed on by our two cats, Halle and Lorenzo. |
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