This week I'm pleased to introduce you to a wonderful American illustrator and I want to thank him so much for taking the time to answer these questions and wish Rob lots of success and happiness in everything he does! Tell us a bit about yourself and how you got started? I've drawn pictures my whole life. Sure, I wanted to be a veterinarian and a zookeeper but those were youthful fantasies. I made illustrations for my mother, teachers, friends and school newspapers. It was just a matter of time before I tried to make a living at it. I've always believed that drawing and making pictures is a rare and exacting skill that people will pay something for. I didn't start illustration seriously though until I'd completed a masters degree in Sculpture. Other odd stops along the way included work as an archaeologist and scientific illustrator, cartographer and art teacher. After graduate school (that sculpture degree) I moved to Boston and found free-lance assignments with the local newspapers and local educational textbook publishers. I also did work for computer game and educational software companies. I've been working exclusively for print media since 1995 or so. And then the Internet happened and pretty much everything changed. What item could you absolutely not live without as far as your work goes? In the largest sense of the word "work", I absolutely could not live for long with out my sketchbooks and art supplies. Are you an early bird or a night owl worker? I am an incorrigible early bird and sometimes a night owl This might be difficult to answer but, right now, who is that one particular person who inspires you? Right now? Today? At this moment? Only one? There are so many inspirations out there: André François, Sophie Grandville-Justice, Saul Steinberg, Vincent Mathy, Benjamin Chaud, Serge Bloch, John Hersey, Morris Graves, Andrew Wyeth, William Hogarth, Delphine Durand, Aurelie Guillery, Thomas Baas, Leo Espinosa, Alain Lachartre, Steven Guarnaccia, Jon Klassen, Akinori Oishi, Kazumasa Nagai, Seymour Chwast… sorry! too many I know. What do you love most about what you do? Delighting myself and others, making art and the freedom it implies If you didn't do what you do what else would you be? Maybe play music and cook food 3 wise words to help new talent out there? Listen, Persevere, Pay yourself first. Good luck with everything. Best regards to Ziggy. -- Rob Rob Dunlavey, Illustration 8 Front St. South Natick, MA 01760 USA phone: (508) 651-7503 cell: (508) 562-0055 Portfolio Flickr Blog Pointy People