Location: Toronto, Ontario.

Duration: About one year.

Education: I took a year of online classes through the Academy of Art University in San Francisco before moving to Toronto to pursue a degree in illustration from Ontario College of Art and Design (OCADU).

Artistic influences: There are so many, but off the top of my head, I’d say Shaun Tan, Sam Weber, Chris Van Allsburg, James Jean, Sterling Hundley, Joao Ruas and Ruprecht von Kaufmann.

First big break: Landing an assignment from Nicholas Blechman for the New York Times Book Review.

Work environment: I work from my apartment near downtown Toronto.

Technique: I sketch thumbnails and roughs digitally before drawing the final illustration traditionally in graphite. Then I scan the drawing and color it digitally.

Philosophy: Boil an idea down to its simplest elements, to get to its heart.