This past spring I was hired by ABC News out of New York to do courtroom sketching for a big trial they were covering here in Minneapolis. It’s a fascinating story: In 1980 a young man named Ming Sen Shiue kidnapped his former teacher, Mary Stauffer, and her 8-year-old daughter Beth. A 6-year-old boy, Jason […]

I’ve made my living as a freelance illustrator for thirteen years and counting. I’ve tried just about everything a commercial artist can do—children’s books, storyboards, magazine illustration, toy design, marker comps, comic books, character design, animation, even courtroom sketching. One of the few areas where I haven’t yet dipped my toe in the water is […]

Sorry for the drop off in posts lately. I was on vacation, then I was hit with a swell of client projects, and now I’m getting ready to leave town again. I’ll be in Denver June 5-6 for the 3rd annual Creative Freelancer Conference, then I’m zipping over to Las Vegas June 7-10 for the […]

As a freelancer I spend long hours working in the quiet solitude of my studio. I’m always looking for something new and interesting to listen to in the background while I draw. My iTunes library gets a lot of heavy usage, as does my radio, podcasts, and audiobooks. Recently I discovered a new resource to […]

Dan Haskett is an animation veteran and one of the top character designers in the business. He’s contributed to classic feature films including The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, The Prince of Egypt, Mulan, and Toy Story. Dan helped translate Matt Groening’s early sketches for The Simpsons into the look we know today and […]

As I’ve mentioned before on this blog, I’ve had the privilege of doing a little animation for a new series from the Phil Vischer, the creator of VeggieTales, called What’s In The Bible? Partnering with Tyndale House Publishers, Vischer’s plan is to build a library of DVDs that use puppets, animation, and live-action to take […]