Inspiration: Stephen Silver

Every week, I'm gonna try to give props to fellow artists who have been an inspiration to me. Certain artists you might not have heard about. Other artists, like this guy, Mr Stephen Silver you have.

I met Stephen at the Animation Academy in Burbank, and was immediately blown away by his work. I remember all the students and teachers surrounding his portfolio in awe of his artistic abilities. A year or two later, I would start to go sketching with Stephen, Justin Ridge, Sean Charmatz and Chad Woods from Nickelodeon during our lunch hour. We'd always be searching for the best places to draw, be it Starbucks,Hooters, Costco, or any other place, where interesting characters might be lurking. During that time I learned much from him, and we also became good friends. He has since been working at Sony, designing characters for a feature film, which will surely look incredible.

Stephen has also shown me a lot about self publishing. He truly encouraged me to self publish my own sketchbook, and the business that goes along with it. It's rare to meet such a patient artist so willing to share their knowledge with others, the way Stephen has, and I can't express how much I've appreciated it.

These two caricatures of me were generously drawn in his books that I got from him. BAM!!! He just busted these out on the spot. Pretty amazing stuff. Thanks man! Let's get together and draw soon!

Check out his blog at www.stephensilver.blogspot.com or his website at www.silvertoons.com.