As a young teen I was most inspired by comic book artists Hal Foster, Frank Frazetta and Jim Steranko. By the age of 16 I was reading a lot of science fiction and had decided that I wanted to make a career painting paperback covers. Awarded a full scholarship at The Art Center in Pasadena, my parents could not afford the first year's tuition, so I instead took my first job as a graphic artist at a newspaper in Chula Vista, California. Over the following years I spent any free time I had creating cover concepts but, further inspired by artists like Roger Dean, Ron Cobb, Syd Mead, John Berkey and Ralph McQuarrie, I have come to realize that my true strength as an artist lies in design.