I have always enjoyed drawing and painting, but it became a passion as a teenager. I wanted to be great—the best. My goal was to surround myself with the right mentors and people to take a natural talent and apply a system to it.

I looked into many art schools in the United States, but I could not find any that suited my goals. Many were great schools, but I wanted structure to live by, something that was bigger than my own abilities, as I felt I had maxed out my natural talent at the time, and was creating stale work.

Russian Classical Art was my first introduction to systematic process of image making. I attended The Florence Classical Art Academy in Florence, Italy which taught the Russian Classical method of drawing and painting. We studied anatomy, drawing, painting, composition, and art history for eight to twelve hours each day. It was a rigorous process, but one which produced results. During this time I learned to view the world in three parts: light, shadow and color. I will show many people my drawings and will get a whistle or two at the nudity of the figures, and it would sadden me. Drawing and painting these people, there was not a drop of sensuality involved, just light and shadow. I would be in awe of the delicacy of a shadow falling across a chest or the harshness of the line on a cheek bone. Most of all, I cherish the many hours spent appreciating the natural beauty I was allowed to replicate on a 2D surface.