I wanted to learn how to paint rather than just doing black-and-white work.
I wanted to be complete, because I figured that, visually, there was an avenue to explore with painted stuff.
I want to say 90% of stuff out there is just crap that got made. The main point is that it got produced.
I still love a lot of the guys who just paint.
I didn't want to feel constrained, so I took on the Mutants.
For a while I felt very alone; sort of out there in the world of comics, especially here in the States.
Especially with Elektra, because I'm doing a lot of the covers for the new version of Elektra.
Do the story in the way it really demands to be done, which may mean using several different styles or only one style; but it's still about respecting the story.
Comics are really my life blood in a lot of respects.
But with comics you're reading and assimilating an image simultaneously, instead of just reading or watching the tube.
But there's still an avenue for smaller comics and personal expression.
But if I really want to produce my own work and tell stories, then I will.
But I'm aware of the fact that I'm working in a commercial venue where I'm producing something that I wouldn't normally be approaching the way I'm doing it.
And that, to me, is the main attraction to comics. It's an avenue to say what you want to say.
And I've never viewed comics as assignments for the client.
After that I jumped, especially being in art school, to the illustrators.
