From cowboys cheating at poker to Star Wars spaceships and characters to the rock group KISS, I've been drawing stuff for as long as I can remember. Art and drawing classes in school were always my favorite. If I wasn't drawing for a grade, I was doodling on my notebooks.
It wasn't until the early 1990's that I really saw my potential as an artist and the potential to sell my work. I thought to myself, "These drawings make great gifts, but would people really want to buy them?"
Wayne Gretzky not only helped establish ice hockey in the sunbelt, he and my love for hockey also helped inspire me to draw. In 1993, with a pencil in hand and the Los Angeles Kings on T.V., my first four drawings were of "The Great One" and each rendering was better than the one before.
My brother helped advertise for me and found a friend who bought several pieces for himself and for gifts. My subject matter expanded from hockey to football, baseball, and basketball. I had all four of the major sports covered. Presently, my portfolio runs the gamet. I've got rock stars, movie stars, more athletes, family members, and automobiles.
After a brief hiatus when my daughter Lexi was born, I was back at it. I was happy to find that I didn't lose anything during my time off. Sporadically, I'd work on a drawing or two until very recently. Now, it's full speed ahead. I'm splitting time between drawing and marketing, along with my day job and family duties, but I'm producing some nice work and have some promising pieces in the hopper.
Now that I've learned how to mat and frame my work, I can provide all the services customers expect when buying original artwork and save them money at the same time. It also gives me control over the presentation of my drawings.