I’ve had a long career as an illustrator, almost 40 years. For the great majority of that time I’ve been freelance. It’s been fun to have a variety of projects and clients (book publishers, magazines, ad agencies…) but also been stressful. There was either not enough work, or too much, and I was always afraid to turn down any assignment, because I was afraid it might be my last. I was lucky to have illustrated a few chapter books series, which provided steady work, (a rare thing in freelance illustration). I think it’s important to have a variety of skills in the arts, so you can adapt as the market evolves. During the past 40 years I’ve worked as a caricature artist, a plush toy designer, and as a school presenter to supplement my illustration work. I’ve enjoyed the perks of a freelance lifestyle (like being able to spend time with my kids after school) but I was often envious of folks who had regular jobs (and regular paychecks). For the past 5 years I’ve been teaching at Kutztown University. Its been wonderful to work with students, and It’s allowed me enough free time to write and illustrate my own series of graphic novels, Fuzzy Baseball.

I studied illustration at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn NY in the early 1980’s. My primary focus was creating illustrations that feature humorous animals in human situations. During the summers I drew caricatures on the boardwalk in Atlantic City, NJ. When I was a Junior at Pratt I won a national illustration contest to design a poster for Molson’s Golden Ale. The illustration ran as an ad in Rolling Stone magazine, which lead to some of my first illustration work. During that time I illustrated a picture book written by William F Buckley, Jr., a version of The Night Before Christmas, science fiction book covers, game illustrations (like Guess Who) and editorial spot illustrations for magazines. I also worked as a caricature artist throughout the NYC area. In the middle part of my career, I illustrated over 120 chapter books, including The Bailey School Kids and The A to Z Mysteries. In the late 90’s my wife and I moved from Brooklyn to Vermont to raise our kids. In the early 2000’s I wrote and illustrated my first picture book, Dinosaur Train. Because Dinosaur Train and the chapter books were in almost every school library in the country, I was invited to schools in 33 states and 6 countries to share presentations about my work as an author and illustrator. During this latest phase of my career I wanted to pursue teaching so I obtained an MFA in Illustration from The University of Hartford. I’ve been teaching illustration, drawing and design at Kutztown University in PA. Lately I’ve been writing and illustrating my own series of graphic novels, Fuzzy Baseball. There are five so far, and they all feature humorous animals in human situations.

I think you have to be versatile, and get really really good. If you are debating between different things you want to pursue, the answer is “all of the above”. You always need to strike a balance between jobs that pay your rent, and jobs that feed your soul. When those two things overlap its fantastic, but don’t expect things to always be that way and, what makes sense for one specific moment in time may not always apply. The situation is always in flux, and you will need to adapt to the different situations.