Getting a character artist job.

How did you get your start doing character artist work, and what career moves did you make to get to your current position?

Do you need a particular educational background?

After my discharge from the Navy in 1977 I went back to art school on the G.I. BILL and graduated in 1979 with an Associates Arts degree. I decided to return to the Petersburg and Richmond VA. area to find work as an artist. I must say, trying to find a job, in 1980, is like trying to find water in a burned out desolate radioactive wasteland!

I got a job working for the government in Richmond. I tryed to get into the art department, but no breakthrough. By the early 80’s I realized that in the world of art you have to create a job for yourself. I would try to get jobs at art companies, but I would also work on canvas paintings, drawing layouts for comic book art work to send off, and draw portraits of freinds and relatives.

As time went by only a handfull of art companies stopped to take notice of my work and signed me on. I worked as Tshirt artist with the Backwoods T-shirt Prod. in Maryland and the Mobile Mdse. Co. in England * I designed T-shirt logo’s for certain government office organizations * Old World Prints Co. I hand colored fine art prints in Richmond, VA. *
Worked as cover artist for writers for an online publishing company, “Keep-It-Coming” *
My present study for the past 10 years is drawing Caricature Portraits, live and from photographs.

In 1998 the government had down-sized me from my job. At my age jobs are vary slim.
By the year 2000, I was in desperate need to learn how to draw on computers. So I dived
head first into a three month graphic arts class advertised in the news paper.