Early Years

Hextall-Art_1988[Web]

1989

I suppose you can say it’s in my blood. Both my grandmother and grandfather were extremely artistic as was my mother who was not only artistically talented but also a gifted poet. As a result I found myself consumed with drawing and painting at a very young age. I did not excel academically as a student but drawing was one thing I was good at so I did it constantly… often when I was not supposed to.

I grew up in southern NJ which is just a short distance from Philadelphia’s sports arenas. Throughout the 1970’s and 80’s, Philadelphia had some great teams and I was certainly influenced by many of the athletes who played there. I have added a new portfolio archive section to my site containing some work from my childhood where you can see how this influence was present from an early age.

In 1989 I sold my very first painting which was a portrait of the Flyers’ goalie Ron Hextall. It was commissioned by one of my high school guidance counselors who purchased it for her son after seeing another painting of Hextall I had done on display (pictured right). I believe I sold it for $50 but more importantly I came to the realization that “I can get paid for this?”

I entered “The Hussian School of Art” of Philadelphia in the fall of 1990 where I quickly became an Honor Roll student as regular on both the Dean’s & Presidents’ lists. In my four years at Hussian, I was the winner of many academic awards in both graphic design and illustration including the 1992 Honor’s Project. My senior year I was the recipient of the prestigious Mae Katherine Gerhard Memorial Scholarship, The Hussian Illustration award as well as the Hussian Academic Achievement award. In 1994 I graduated among the top of my class as a member of the Alpha Beta Kappa National Honor Society.

The one thing I am very grateful to Hussian for was their tough love approach. For the first two years of my education, we were not allowed to even pick a single elective. It did not matter what we thought we wanted to do, they force fed us all aspects of commercial art and design whether we liked it or not. Although I cannot say I was happy about it at the time, it was the absolute best thing for me. As someone who is often closed minded to trying new things, there is no way I would have seen myself as a designer. Nor would I have chosen typography or design classes on my own. As a result I was also forced to try all kinds of new things I would have never considered before. In the end I credit Hussian for the creative versatility that has enabled me to be both a successful illustrator and graphic designer.

On My Way

NFL Films Road-To-SuperBowl

1995

As is often the case for young artists fresh out of school, my road to a career as an illustrator was not what you would call a “direct” one. Upon graduation I was fortunate to land a job as a Graphic Designer with a small advertising & design agency in South Jersey. While working primarily as a designer, it was here that I found opportunities to produce my first professional illustration work. This included my initial foray into the professional sports world when I worked closely with NFL Films’ Steve Sabol to illustrate the cover to their 1995 “Road To The Super Bowl” video.

In 1996 I accepted a position with Mattel, Inc. (formerly TYCO Toys) where once again my creative versatility enabled me to work in a variety of areas from both product & package design to brand identity and illustration. While with Mattel I would continue my award winning work as I would go on to receive multiple company wide awards including Mattel’s “Standing Ovation” for my innovative work on the Matchbox “Street Chess” line. In 1999 I achieved my first world wide exposure as a sports artist when Mattel released the NBA collection, a series of Matchbox vehicles featuring my artwork.

Although I loved the work I did at Mattel and was very happy there, I grew increasingly frustrated creatively. In 2004 the corporation decided to relocate our facility in New Jersey out to the company headquarters in ElSegundo CA. Not wanting to move my young family across the country, I saw this as a golden opportunity for me to branch out on my own. I declined the companies’ offer to stay with the company and began working as a full time freelance artist.

In the years since, I managed to build a diverse client list that includes some of the biggest names in the toy, entertainment, motion picture and sports industries. I have had the pleasure to meet and work with a number of professional athletes and celebrities. Even more gratifying than any of that however is knowing my talent has helped to raise thousands of dollars for a variety of charities and good causes through donations of limited edition works.

Career Highlights

• Drawing Flies [2001]: Worked with filmmaker Kevin “Silent Bob” Smith on the cover of the film “Drawing Flies” which he produced.

• Vanessa Williams’ Silver and Gold [2004]: I produced the “Silver & Gold” music video for Vanessa Williams’s 2004 Silver & Gold concerts at Broadway’s Palace Theatre.

• The Man From Earth [2007]: Perhaps the most iconic and widely known images I have ever created was the key art for the theatrical one sheet for the film Jerome Bixby’s The Man From Earth.

• Ron Hextall [2008]: One of the most memorable moments of my career came in February 2008 when I was invited as a honored guest of the Philadelphia Flyers to present one of my original works of art to my childhood idol, goaltender Ron Hextall on the night of his induction into the Flyers Hall Of Fame.

• Jon Cryer [2008]: I had the pleasure to work with actor Jon Cryer (TV’s Two and a Half Men) on the cover for his script “Cosmodrome”. This was actually the second time I had the opportunity to work with Jon. The first was on the home video cover for the film “Went to Coney Island on a Mission From God, Be Back by Five” back in 2003.

• Hasbro Movie Posters [2008]: In 2008 I worked with Hasbro, Inc. to create theatrical one sheet concepts based on a variety of their classic toy brands. These movie poster concepts were instrumental in inking their six year, multi-million dollar movie deal with Universal Pictures.

• Featured on CBS-3 [2010]: In December 2010 for my continued work and creative contributions in toy industry. The video can be seen here.

• Vanessa Williams Mary Pickford Award Video [2010]: Produced Vanessa Williams’ career highlight video which was premiered during the International Press Academy’s 2010 Satellite Awards. The video can be seen here.

• Brian Propp [2009]: I was honored to have been commissioned by Flyers & NHL great Brian Propp to produce the portrait of his 1987 Stanley Cup Finals game 6 goal. Read all about it in my blog post.

• Brian Dawkins [2012]: Worked closely with The Philadelphia Eagles’ upper management and ownership to produce the painting / portrait of Brian Dawkins which was presented to him during his number retirement ceremony on September 30, 2012. Read all about it in my blog post.

• KISS [2012]: In September 2012 I lived out a childhood dream to meet KISS as I presented each of the current band members with a portrait. Read all about it in my blog post.

• Howe Exciting [2012]: On the eve of Mark Howe’s Philadelphia Flyers’ number retirement, I was invited to his home where I not only had the distinct pleasure to sit and speak to both Mark Howe and his father NHL legend “Mr. Hockey” Gordie Howe but was honored to present them both with individual portraits. Read all about it in my blog post.

DW-Photo

Photo courtesy of the Courier Post

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