It's the inevitable decision every artist faces - Fine Art or Commercial Art? Back then, there weren't any graphic design classes offered in high school - it was just Art. And if it didn't involve a pencil and paper - I didn't want anything to do with it.
As a youngster, I didn't know what branding or marketing was – I just knew that I loved everything about those Ninja Turtles. When a friend showed me how to make muscles on Leonardo by adding a curved line below his bicep, SOMETHING IN ME CAME ALIVE!
rappers and emcees were topping the charts - and of course, filling up my sketchbook. An art form that started on the streets of New York had spread to the suburbs of San Antonio. My love of drawing stayed - the "brands" just changed. Now it was capturing rappers and basketball players in perfect detail that made English classes fly by.
By the end of my senior year in high school I had a killer art portfolio, but was conflicted on my next move - Do I stay true to this love of Fine Art or "sell out" and do Commercial Art? After Jeff Davis, a design professor from Texas State University, encouraged me that I could use my drawing skills to gain an advantage in graphic design, it was settled. San Marcos was going to be my new home for the next 4 years.