I drew all the time, everyone always supported the fact that I was going to do something with art. My parents were very supportive. My Dad was an accountant so he was always dealing with money so he was always worried about how I was gong to make my money. But he always wanted all of his kids to do what we wanted to do. I had no idea what I was gonna do with my art when I was in high school and I had a very bad college guidance counselor when I was in high school and she gave me terrible advice.
I grew up in Jersey so I was told I couldn’t apply to any schools in California because that’s too far away and I couldn’t apply to any schools in New York City because that’s too dangerous, of course. And so I was allowed to apply to like two schools and I was also allowed to apply to a school called the Rhode Island School of Design even though I was told I wouldn’t get in because it’s the hardest school to get into. I got into one of the other schools I was allowed to apply to and, you know, I didn’t know anything.
I didn’t think about one thing or another. I was going to go to this other school but at the last minute RISD — Rhode Island School of Design — sent me an envelope saying congratulations, you’ve been accepted. Suddenly I was, “All right, I guess I’ll go to RISD.” RISD has an open policy with Brown University which is right next door in Providence and so you can take classes or do activities at either school. I went to RISD and I became an illustration major, but only because at the time there were no requirements for being an illustration major.
Because I did not want to be a children’s book illustrator. In high school people actually used to tell me I should be a children’s book illustrator, which I think kind of annoyed me. By the time I got to college I had decided I definitely was not going to be a children’s book illustrator. I started doing more theater up at Brown University and I did some acting, and I had a friend who also was in the theater there and he said, “Well, Brian, you know, you act and you go to Rhode Island School of Design where you do art, so you must do set design. You must design the things for the stage, the scenery.”
I said, “No, I’ve never done that.” And he said, “Oh, well, I’m directing a show called The Bald Soprano. Think about designing it.” We literally took out a napkin and he told me what the show was about and I started making sketches and we ended up building what I designed and it was kind of a hit. Suddenly I was a set designer. And I was like, “Oh, this is perfect because it combines my love of theater with my love of art.”
I was going to be a set designer and I was very excited about that, and I was going to go to grad school for set design and I was all set to do that and I didn’t get into the set design graduate program that I really wanted to get into. I found out you usually have to apply a couple of times for that, but I thought you know what, maybe this is a sign. Maybe I need to just back off a little bit. So I traveled around Europe for a while which was great.
While I traveled, I drew and I wrote stories. When I got back, I realized, huh, you know, I really love to draw and I really love telling stories, and I have always loved kids, and so I was like, “Oh no, I think I am supposed to be a children’s book illustrator”.
