When I was little (probably 5 or 6) my parents went on a trip to England, leaving my brother and I at home in Germany. I thought this was incredibly unfair, as Robin Hood lived in England. The entire time they were gone I sulked, stomping around as I imagined all the fun my parents were having in Sherwood Forest, eating roast boar from a spit and swinging on ropes from trees. All was forgiven when they came back, though, because they brought me a book. I had never seen anything like it. I fell in love with the art, the stories, everything about it. I became obsessed with King Arthur and the illustrator Victor Ambrus. This was the book that made me want to become an artist. I own multiple copies of it (the original given a special place of pride of course, with my name childishly scrawled on the inside, and the faint, erased pencil markings on one of the illustrations where my brother drew poop coming out of the naked Elaine as she kneels before Lancelot - how dare he!) and often give it as a gift to others. This book planted the seed that continues to grow within me. Over the past year and a half I've worked mostly as an editorial illustrator, but in the last few months I've realized that my true passion is in fantasy and science-fiction, and have started working towards creating a portfolio and getting work in that field, and I have never been happier making work - perhaps because I have become that little kid again, dreaming that I can accomplish what seems impossible, that I might be the one who can draw the sword from the stone.
And I eventually got to Sherwood Forest, and it was AWESOME.
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