When I was a kid I was never into sports and school and junk-all I ever really did was draw and watch monster movies every Saturday morning at my parents' house. My folks are both artistically inclined, but never took the extra step to make a career out of their talents, so they were always pretty supportive of me drawing.

As I got older I attended art school for five years and eventually fell into a groove of confidence and discipline which allowed me to move from drawing to painting. Though I did receive a diploma in illustration, the subject matter of my work wasn't always welcomed by my teachers (its tough being obsessed with women, monsters, cars, etc., when your instructor is a Birkenstock wearing, granola eating feminist). When I left school I continued to paint a lot and loved the freedom of being able to do whatever I wanted. I began doing a lot of rock posters, and am still in love with the whole process of making them.

As far as being a professional illustrator-I was becoming more and more sure that wasn't the way I wanted to go. Since a lot of my stuff was influenced by tattoos in general, it eventually seemed like the most sensible direction for me to go. I could see myself doing this until I'm old-and still paint on a regular basis. Hallelujah