Tell us what defines you as a person.

Forward thinking, drawing on the lessons of the past, and having faith.

How did you find out about deviantART and why did you join the community?

I started at Media Miner, another art community, in 2001. When it shut down, DA was going around as an alternative. So I started out a "refugee".

When and how did you discover your passion for art?

In the last weeks before graduating high school, I needed a direction-college, or a day job-as a career. A relative suggested I try making something of the doodles I'd been showing people. After taking a photographic portrait of a 1930's film actress (Greta Garbo) and copying it in pencil, I realized, I could really draw. I never forgot the date, April 19, 1976. So the realization happened in 4 hours of time.


What inspires you the most and when do you think your creativity is at its maximum?

In books, a good engaging story, with a lot of visual imagery, and with fanart, pretty girls with magical powers. The Zodiac Senshi Sailor Moon art is a good example.

What do you think you'd be doing if you hadn't chosen this path?

I'd still be in a laid back life of Southern California, working in Civil Engineering, with a stable job, waiting for the gold watch and comfortable retirement, but I preferred to strike out into the unknown, to New York City, with the roach-infested apartment on 43rd St. Astoria, in Queens. Now, I live where I always wanted (Northern Arizona), debt free, and I don't know where my next job will come from, and that's how it's been for 30 years. That's the way faith works. I have no plans to retire, and I'll continue to have faith I'll get work, God willing, or until I'm stuck blind, or incapacitated in some way.

What do you think it's your most meaningful deviation and what makes it special? Does it have a story behind it?

Since good art is in the "eye of the beholder", I can't say that what is meaningful to me is popular out there. The aforementioned Garbo portrait was technically poor, but surprised me, because I didn't draw faces well. Forge of God done at Art Center College of Design, is the only dA post I can think of. That was the first time I started to realize the Goethe color system and had applied it, though I had to be "led by the hand" by my color instructor Judith Crook.


Do you have any insecurities regarding your art?

Mostly on just certain individual commissions, and starting out the idea. Once, I went on the road, selling prints, and didn't draw for 6 months. When I came back, it took just an hour or two to fall back to my old routine, so that aspect is out. The worst time of any painting, is the start. It's hard to get a "toehold" on an idea, that I can visualize. I have to have that to get started. Usually I gather old images of art I've done, then build on it from there. I liken it to building a house, or a Goony Bird taking off. The bird sometimes face plants in the dirt on takeoff, but once it's off the ground, it's nice to fly, and to look at...

Did art ever helped you to deal with your life problems?

Only in the aforementioned faith issue. I think not knowing the future, yet having to make plans, based on a self-employed freelance art career, has taught me to plan out for the worst case scenario. For example, when I had more money, in the 1980's, I used it to pay off my college and house debt, because I didn't believe prosperous times (for me) would last. And sure enough, by 2000, the paperback book cover market collapsed, and I could do fanart at a reduced price, because of low overhead. I would not have learned this in a 9-5 career in the Civil Engineering I left behind. I would have had to depend on unemployment checks and would most likely not had the incentive to expand my abilities, had I been in a "comfort zone".

What is the one thing you always wanted to do but never got a chance to?

Make a book of my work.


A few words for our fellow artists?

If you are attempting to do this as a living, don't take the art too seriously, I did once, and the result was a severe depression and burnout, in my 3rd trimester of Art Center College. Since then, I "dropped out" of trying to outdo other artists in technical style, time spent on the art, and popularity of the subject, etc. As a result, my GPA went down from 3.95, to 2.95. (3.95 was Portfolio of Great Distinction, to just passing). I met one Art Center graduate (with Honors), years after graduation, who was staving for work, getting one commission "every 2 or 3 months". Because I concentrated on Sci-Fi/Fantasy, I had a specific interest (and was getting 2-3 jobs a month), so a focus of interest is important. I've also learned that the art you don't think is that great, ends up being the most popular and everyone's favorite. I also prefer "mano y mano" criticism to online. People generally act more sincere and friendlier in front of you, than sitting 3000 miles away. So I would encourage art shows and conventions if you are more serious about art. Also, I had a great respect for the teachers, who laid into my mistakes in art, especially at Art Center. I learned how to take tough correction from art directors, editors and private clients in the professional realm. These are the voices that count.