The illustrator reveals his journey through the world of art

Publisher HarperCollins

Where did you grow up and how has this inf luenced your art? I grew up in Danbury, Connecticut, which is a relatively mundane suburb about 90 minutes from New York City. The big inf luence from growing up there was a great cartooning teacher with whom I took weekly lessons, starting in second grade through the end of high school.

It was more my parents hoping to find something I was interested in since it definitely wasn’t sports or anything active. I was a pale and very indoorsy child. I’m still pale, but I go outside a bit more. Having a great teacher expose me to good comics, show me great illustrators, and keep me engaged in wanting to make fun pictures was a blessing that I didn’t really appreciate until years later.

What, outside of art, has most inf luenced your work through the years?

Probably just all the media I’ve consumed. Books, comics, movies; anything that required a bit of attention and inspired me to doodle with new ideas and images in mind.