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1. Give us a little background on yourself,
where did you come from and when
did you decide to become an artist?
I was born in 1956 in Taylor, Mi. I went to the Art Institute of Pittsburgh
and moved to California to get into animation.
I decided to become an artist after seeing a special on T.V. about
cartoonists. I think realizing that comic books where drawn by real people
and not by magic made me want to create my own worlds.
2. What inspires your creations?
Situations in my own life. Painting, art in general is my way of dealing
with
life. It's my medium to the world. It's my release valve. Inspiration for me
comes
in a variety of persons, places and things. Cartoons, toys, magazines,
movies anything that has to do with monsters. Artists would include,
illustrators from
the early part of the 20th century like J. C. Leyendecker, Normon Rockwell,
Gil
Elvgren. Haddon Sundblom, the artist that did the paintings of Santa Claus
for the
Coca Cola company and Andrew Loomis who was a great teacher and artist.
Comic artists that have influenced me such as Jack Kirby, Frank Frazetta,
Richard Corbin, Gahan Wilson, Jack Davis, Berni Wrightson, Mike Ploog and
Vaughn Bode. Absolute main influences for the monster paintings would be
Reynold Brown who was an illustrator that painted movie poster art for most
of the popular monster movies of the fifties and sixties. Also James Bama
who painted the box art for the aurora monster model kits.
3. Do you prefer one medium over another?
I paint primarily in oil but I have worked in acrylic and marker as well as
water color. Oil just happens to be what I started with and just seems to be
the most fulfilling for what I'm trying to achieve.
4. I understand that you were hired to work as
an animator for Ralph Bakshi's
"Lord of the Rings". Sounds like a very cool project, could you give us a
few
details about your work.
Working for Ralph Bakshi was very interesting. I was fresh out of art school
and was new to Hollywood. It was an exciting time. Mike Ploog, one of my
heroes was working a couple of cubicles down from me. That was a thrill. The
project itself was shot first live action with actors on sound stages. Each
frame of the film was then blown up so it could be used as reference. Using
an animation light table we would put a piece of paper over the blown up
frame of film then draw the animation character design over the photo of the
actor. The process is called rotoscoping and it is used as an aid in
getting realistic movement.
5. Do you have advice for up-and-coming
artists?
If you have it in you, don't give up. Go into it like you have a battle
ahead
of you and just keep going. When you do start to achieve success it will
give you
fuel to keep going even further. The main thing is to never stop. It's
like that line in the song "Dream on" by Aerosmith "dream on until the dream
comes true."
6. I was able to see some of your recent
Monster artwork at the San Diego
Comic-Con, totally cool! Tell us about your current and/ or future
projects.
One that is in the works is called "Deep into the Deep". It's a pretty
large
piece 24"x 36". It's an underwater scene somewhere deep, deep down
thousands of fathoms below the surface of the water. An over-technologized
bathysphere lowers into the depths. You can see a pilot working controls
inside the vehicle using spotlights to illuminate the bottom where a horde
of weird
creatures are running away. To me this symbolizes the character's decent
into his own sub conscious. Searching out the monsters that dwell there.
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"The Monster's Mementoes"
"Torn Apart By Demons"
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"To Live Forever Watching Cartoons"
"Death Breath" published in SPECTRUM
FIVE
"Shock Showdown" featured in
JUXTAPOZ May/June 2003 issue #44
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7. What has been your favorite project to date?
Probably "To live forever watching cartoons" which shows a disembodied head
being kept alive for the sole purpose of watching cartoons. That one is
probably the most me. All of my paintings are self portraits, but that one
is the
most me.
8. When all is said and done, what 3 things
would you like for people to
remember about you?
1. That I followed my heart and didn't cave to what I thought I should be
doing.
2. That I brought something into the world that entertained people.
3. That I inspired others to do what was in there hearts.
9. Here's the part where we give you a word or
phase and you tell us the
first thought that pops into your head, cool?
1. Hollywood
Home
2. Your biggest regret
Not believing in myself sooner
3. Favorite artist
Frazetta, his covers for "Creepy" and "Eerie"
4. Favorite color
Black, which technically is the absence of all color and where demons
dwell.
5. Biggest break-through moment for you
Discovering I could create worlds by picking up a pencil.
6. Biggest influences
Creepy and Eerie magazines
Aurora monster box art
monster cards and stickers from the sixties
monster movies
7. Toxic Shock TV, (shameless plug)
Must see T.V.
8. You can only watch 3 movies for the rest of your life. Which 3-
1. The Wizard of Oz
2. Frankenstein
3. The Great Escape
9. You can only listen to 3 music cd's the rest of your life. Which 3-
1. The first "Sparks" album
2. Electric Warrior by T-Rex
3. Sgt. Pepper's by the Beatles
10. Pisses you off
Inconsiderate people
11. Makes you happy
Working on my own stuff, getting what's inside, out
We appreciate you taking time to answer our
questions, thanks Mike.
My pleasure. |
