I was born in New Orleans the eldest son of six siblings. I came out the chute with a baseball glove in my hand though I was not as good as my father, who could have had a career if not for the war. I lived between two airfields, one civil and one military. It was a big influence on me. I learned to paint trying to make my model airplanes to look like they did on the boxtops. I went to high school on an athletic scholarship and met my wife to be there. As most kids of the sixties, I was in love with rock 'n roll and played guitar in a garage band for about 4 years. It was, and still is, my first love. I married my high school sweetheart in 1972, graduated from USL in advertising in "73 and starved in New Orleans as a freelance illustrator.
Therese and I left home in 1974, to attend the Art Center College of Design, where I met one of heroes, Jack Leynnwood who made a name for himself painting model boxtops for Revell, Aurora and other model companies. Jack was a real renaissance man. He was a professional jazz musician, pilot, and WWII vet, fighting what he called "the Desert War"... in Arizona! He was a big influence on me and I took every class he taught. As a teacher, he demonstrated every day how to paint the things you needed to learn to paint in order to make a living in the crazy world of illustration. He was not against theory of art or the history of art and commercial art, and was willing to expound on those subjects, but in the cafeteria, at lunch or during breaks... not in class. Jack got me hooked up with an aerospace company for my first job out of Art Center. I worked there for three years while working on my freelance career. I left to concentrate on my freelance career as a storyboard illustrator, art director and designer. The four photos of Jack's art were given to me while I was employed at General Dynamics by a colleague who worked with Jack at Northrup!
In 2001, we decided to cash out of LA and move back to Louisiana. We now live in a small town north of New Orleans on a 5 acre ranch still serving the ad community not only in California, but nationwide. Please check my website and LinkedIn for further details on my client list. I worked on a variety of clients from entertainment and automotive, to consumer products and sports. You name it and I have probably done it! You can see my work at: graphicgumbo.com and the various links therein.
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