Michael, please introduce yourself to E-junkies.

I'm an illustrator living and working on the west side of Manhattan.


Your illustrations look great! Tell us more about your artwork.

Thanks. You could say that I work in mixed media - generally a mixture of ink drawings with acrylic or watercolor and then digitally manipulated in Photoshop.

What do you love to illustrate the most? What are your preferred subjects to work on?

I love to draw people from dynamic angles. A couple of years ago I realized that everything I was illustrating was from a straight-on perspective, so I made a conscious effort to change that. However, as someone who shoots self-reference this has proved a bit of a pain. Subjectwise, I really enjoy embellishing the reality of common life. I think on a certain level we all consider ourselves the central characters in our own little movie about the minutiae of everyday life and I enjoy creating a kind of movie-poster representation of my movie's climax.

Which is your favorite illustration created by you so far?

It's really hard to pick one. As soon as I finish a piece of art I'm immediately sick of it. I tend to look at a finished piece and only see areas for improvement. But as time goes on, I'm starting to become comfortable with my own voice and appreciate the work I've done.

What do you dream to illustrate? Is there any dream project of yours?

Actually, a dream project would be the New York Mets hiring me for a full season to create a kind of reportage illustration for the organization. Just to be able to sit in the dugout or go to batting practice and sketch away. Robert Weaver got to do it for the Yankees in '62. So why not?

Your client list so many big names! That's very cool! How do you feel about it?

I look at building a client list one name at a time. It's a slow process but very rewarding every time you get to add that elusive client to your list. Success is when I get to modify the list to "Selected Clients" - because I'm so busy I wouldn't have time to type all of them out.

Share the best compliment you have ever received so far for your work.

The illustration business is competitive but extremely tight-knit and friendly. It really is a wonderful network. Generally, every artist no matter how big of a name is accessible and thoughtful. Nothing is better than receiving well-wishes from my contemporaries. The compliments from clients and enthusiasts are wonderful but it is definitely the respect of my peers that keeps me chugging away.

Many other artists would draw inspiration from you. Do you have any message for them?

Man, oh man. I spend so much time joking with buddies of mine about this business and how strange and challenging it is, yet there is no way for me to walk away from it. Illustrators and designers are different from artists in that they approach creation from a more practical perspective. How will my voice fit into the rest of this world and if it does will there be some financial remuneration? It's something that I think about every night as I lie in bed. But ultimately you can't become too preoccupied with the thought because then the work will suffer. So I guess the best advice is to create what comes naturally to you and then try to find the outlets where your voice fits. Do not worry too much about style. In the end, style is the end result of your nervous system, so there is only so much that you can do to modify it. Obviously, our inclination is for our style to lean in the direction of our artistic inspiration. But be mindful not to lean too close to your inspiration - the end result will lack that spark.

Michael, you're a great artist and it's really hard to ignore your creations! :)Thanks for this wonderful interview. We wish you all the very best!

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