Can you sum up your career in a few words?
I graduated with my BFA in illustration from the milwaukee institute of art and design in 2000. Got a job as a designer at a design studio I was interning at right after graduation. I also started working with a rep right after college who found me because I was interning with one of his illustrators. I worked at the design job for a year and a half while slowly building freelance illustration jobs and then got laid off shortly after 9/11 (most of us did) and that started my freelance career as an illustrator. been doing it full time ever since. I went back to school for an MFA at the School of Visual Arts in NYC and graduated in 2013.
Do you sell prints?
I currently only sell prints through my shop at Society6. As of now I'm not set up to sell individually signed prints.
How did you interested in the field of illustration?
I learned what “illustration” was when I got to art school. When I had to choose what major to pick I liked that illustration wasn’t limited to any one medium.
Do you take interns?
No, sorry I don't have a need for interns.
How were your beginnings in this environment?
My career was a slow start. I was working with a rep who worked at getting me my first jobs, but I think the first year I was out of school I probably only got 5 editorial jobs. Luckily I had a full time job as a graphic designer at the time. I was full time freelance after two years of graduating with my BFA.
Where do you live now? What do you like about the city?
I live in Bellingham Washington now. It’s amazing. It’s a very small town, but still has a lot of progressive aspects about it. We’ve got a great indie theater here, many restaurants that serve local organic ingredients and yet there’s always parking available, and there’s never any traffic. We have beautiful views of the sound and mountains and tons of great hiking. Oh, and the air here smells amazing. We were rated #1 cleanest air of any US city.
You lived in Brooklyn for a while. Does the fact of living in New York was beneficial for your creativity and to make artistic encounters?
Absolutely. I think every artist needs to experience living in NYC at least once. The illustration community there is just astounding, there’s always something going on in the scene and everyone there is supportive and energized. It’s a great vibe to feed off of. You’re also in the epicenter for publishers so you meet so many great people connected to the industry and it’s much easier to establish relationships with clients. It’s not necessary to live in NYC to be successful by any means, but for illustration it’s the center of the universe.
Why do your illustrations often refer to delicate matters (such as social hardship,suicide, murder)?
Are they your constant worries?
I use my personal work as a way to help digest the issues I deal with. Anxiety, disillusion, guilt and the human condition in general. I also find tragedy very inspiring. Horrible pain that could've been avoided, it tugs and pulls at me in a way that's more motivating than anything else. And based on that work I get hired by magazines who have assignments that fit that kind of emotionally driven subject matter.
Where do you get your inspiration to make your creations?
I'm very inspired by tragedy, and I look at a lot of medieval and Byzantine art, folk art, abstract expressionist painters. I also draw inspiration from music as well. I listen to a lot of big sweeping instrumental post rock.
How do you work on new techniques?
Do you try them while you are working or do you conduct personal experiments?
A large part of my process when working on client work is experimentation. There's an element of spontaneity that takes place that I need in order to get excited about what I'm doing. In order for me to like what I'm working on I need to surprise myself, -do something I wasn't expecting. It's not until that happens do I feel a piece begins to "click". Because of that my process is constantly evolving from day to day. I don't hold myself to any one medium or technique, but I create a lot of pieces and parts I make by hand, scan and reassemble them in the computer. When i'm creating something, I don't worry about whether an art director will like something or not. I do what feels right in the moment, regardless if it looks like something I've done before or not.
In your opinion which is the biggest challenge for an artist?
I think every artist has their own unique set of challenges. For me it's always been to trust myself. Trust myself to do the work I believe in instead of trying to please other people. Putting your heart and soul into something and then to have it turn out different from what your peers consider "good" can be scary. It's extremely scary to put it out into the world and stand behind it where anyone could knock it down, or worse ignore it.
What do you think the future holds for artists generally?
I don’t think there has ever been more opportunity for illustrators than there is right now and I see that only growing. Publications everywhere are expanding their online content to dwarf what they publish in their physical editions and they’re hiring illustration for it. Illustration for apps are just going to get bigger and bigger, video games, backgrounds for animations, not to mention self made content is now easier to get out into the world than ever. So many artists are no longer sitting by the phone waiting for an art director to call them and are self publishing their own work. Patterns, textiles, toys, books, galleries it’s a very exciting time to be an illustrator.