I was born and raised in sunny Los Angeles, widely considered to be the armpit of the universe... which is why I spent most of my time in my jungle-esque front yard. I like to think of this front yard as the beginning of my artistic career; it was such an incredible place, where danger lurked around every corner and you never knew what magnificent treasures were to be found. That yard was the spark which ignited my imagination.

I continued on, much as regular kids would, with one very great difference, from that point on my imagination would reign.

At the age of ten I discovered Japanese Anime through some promotional video tape (you may remember video tapes...?) that somehow ended up in my mail box. The tape was a Pokemon episode that had landed in my hands (before the Pokemon craze shook the nation). That did it... I was hooked, which resulted in all kinds of personal problems (e.g. Pikachu-shaped birthday cakes, and approximately 24,849 hours of life wasted on my gameboy) but it also resulted in a passion for drawing, which, fed by my wonderfully supportive parents, soon became a craze, and subsequently a mania. I recall spending 7 or 8 hours a day 7 days a week drawing on my summer breaks, and about 98.6% of all my class time being consumed with doodles.

My parents, recognizing my mania for what it was, decided that the best way to handle it was to channel it. I was enrolled in art classes, and got how-to books for Christmas and was generally deluged with artistic encouragement. That's when I met Ken Hellenbolt. He worked for Hanna Barbara in the old days and was looking to get some experience giving private art lessons, so he gave them to me for free. Two hours a week, every week, for about Two years. That’s when my drawing ability really skyrocketed. My art insanity reach a new peak when Ken introduced me to the art of Frank Frazetta - Frazetta’s art touched me like none had before and right then I knew that that’s what I wanted to do. And many years of schooling and study later, here I am.