When I graduated from college I had a fantastic degree in drawing which, as everyone knows, is an express elevator ride to a gig in lawn maintenance. So I took the next best thing and found work as a graphic designer. While I spent my days selecting type and designing logos, I spent my evenings working as an illustrator for local mags and agencies.

Eventually I found myself working for more clients in the evenings and the weekends started filling up as well. Basically I was working my rear-end off and becoming a very grumpy designer during the day. One of my co-workers used to warn my fellow employees, "I'm not talkin' to him. He has his moo face on." I dunno what a "moo face" is but apparently I had one.

Anyway, I decided it was time to step out of the shaky world of benefits, paid vacations and 401(k)s and settle into something steady like illustration.

So far, so good. I've been able to work with clients such as Macmillan, Scholastic, Leap Frog, Hearst and Pepsi and this fall marks the publication of my first children's storybook illustration in the Penguin book, "T is for Turkey."

No more moo face.