How did you first know you’d be an illustrator and when did you realize you could make a living at it?
Other than wanting to be a cowboy when I was young, I have always wanted to work as an illustrator. My uncle was an illustrator and he was a great role model for me. His motto was “Art for Education” and he illustrated textbooks and films but was also making sculpture, designing rugs, and making his own art. ¶ So I never thought that illustration was any less valid than, say, fine art. The issue for me wasn’t whether I could make a living at it, but rather that I had to make a living at it because there wasn’t anything else that I wanted to do.

You’ve been on the covers of many of the world’s leading publications. Are there any that stand out in particular?
I love working for the New Yorker. They are such supporters of illustration and they allow their artists a great deal of creative freedom. All of the cover ideas are mine,  and I love the idea that they respect not only the talent of their artists, but also the artists’ brains.

Time magazine works on a weekly schedule. How much time are you given to come up with an illustration? What’s the process?
There’s never enough time. Typically they call Tuesday or Wednesday and the final art has to be  in NYC by Friday so that the magazine can be

designed, printed and shipped to be on newsstands worldwide Monday. So often artists only have a day to do the sketches and complete the finished painting. It’s a grueling schedule, but I also find it an interesting adrenaline rush!

This issue of Fiber features your anthropomorphic alphabet illustrations. What prompted you to do them?
I’m interested in human behavior, and what makes us tick. I’m often frustrated by ways in which politicians, for instance, have behaved. We as humans can be so brilliant and yet at the same time can commit such atrocities. I think that surely we are more prompted by ancient biological impulses than we would like to admit. ¶ To simplify, I think we often behave as animals, and it’s not surprising to me, based on the fact that we share such a significant amount of genetic material with them. With that in mind, I created an imaginary anthropomorphic alphabet… animal/human hybrids.

You’ve had some of your nudes published in magazines. Have you had any problems with them?
Yes of course, and especially recently since North America has taken a political turn to the right. I use the human figure largely as metaphor, and because I want to create timeless images. Some magazines are more tolerant than others. Sometimes I have to create strategic poses so as to cover the naughty bits.