|
Site Index
ASFA Home
» ASFA Forums
» The Chesley Awards
Gallery/Portfolios
» Index of Artists
» Gallery Guidelines
» New Additions
» Recent Updates
About ASFA
» Overview of ASFA
» Officers & Directors
» Supporting ASFA
» Become a member
Resources & Reference
» Articles & FAQ(s)
» Events & Conventions
» Websites of Interest
» Recent Updates
» Quarterly Advertising
|
|
lasasart@ptd.net
Tel: (570) 559 - 7875
Born on a dairy farm in upstate N.Y. and raised in E.N.Y. Brooklyn, I spent most summers and school breaks, until age of 15, on my grandfather's farm. My mother would send me there to keep me out of trouble. More than anything else it gave me an intimate understanding of these two socially opposite extremes.
At 17 I left Brooklyn for Paris Island, S.C., and spent the next three years in the Marine Corps where I trained and served as a jet mechanic. I was elevated within two and a half years to the rank of Sgt., which was funny because when I left the marines it would be another six months before I was old enough to drink or to vote back then.
I spent four and a half years as a corrections officer at Rikers Island. I decided that I wanted to be an illustrator, because drawing and painting have always seemed most natural for me. It was just something that I had always done, but had never really thought about doing it for a living. I guess working at Rikers made all the difference.
I knew it would probably take several years to break into the art field, but I was really lucky because it happened almost right away. Some of those early assignments included "The Nebula Award Winners Series," numbers 13 through 18, for Len Leone and Laura Glazer of Bantam Books; two very innovative art directors, who as I remember, seemed to know what each other was thinking.
Some other jobs given to me by Mr. Leone and Ms. Glazer were "The Stainless Steel Rat for President" and "The Stainless Steel Rat Wants You," "Re-Entry" and "The Gates of Heaven" by Paul Preuss, "Cinnabar" by Edward Bryant, "The Windhover Tapes, Planet of Flowers" by Warren Norwood, and many other really great sci-fi novels.
My very first paperback cover assignment, "Off World" by Max Daniels, was given to me by Milton Charles of Pocket Books. A very serious and "no nonsense" kind of guy, who was a little intimidating, but was willing to take a chance on something and someone new if he thought it was breaking "new ground" and could attract your attention on the book shelf.
Most of all, for me, was Debra Daly from St. Martin's Press, who besides being a respected illustrator in her own rite, was a most creative art director. She would let you experiment but would not hesitate to send you back to the drawing board with changes to obtain exactly what she wanted for each cover. She made me a much better and more professional illustrator.
In 1983 I started getting into custom cars and large sculptures, 3d art, for themed environments, hotel resorts, and retail chains, which I've been doing ever since, along with my sci-fi work which has become part of who I am.
|