Early Influences
Like any other artists will tell you, I wanted to be an artist as far back as I can remember. Specifically, I wanted to be a syndicated cartoonist. My dream was to be the creator of a successful daily comic strip. So… I began drawing. I would spend endless hours trying to copy the characters from my favorite comic strips.
In high school, my greatest influence was artist Frank Frazetta; the Michelangelo of fantasy art and comics. His work blew my mind. I purchased all of Frazetta’s art books and spent lots of time trying to copy his work. I also began teaching myself to paint. My favorite pastime was attempting to replicate Frazetta paintings. I also tried to copy the work of Norman Rockwell. Here are a couple photos of those painting attempts from those days, done when I was about 16 years old:
(copy of a Frank Frazetta painting)
(beginnings of a Norman Rockwell illustration. Rockwell reference in top left corner)
