He lives in Longmont, outside Boulder.
Have you ever done a serialization likeThe Long Callbefore?
This was completely unique for me.
Thats what made it fun.
The trick was telling the story without revealing too much.
In a serial, you never want to spill the beans prematurely.
It felt old school to me in the best way.
It reminded me of old graphic novels or pulp detective stories from the 1950s.
The reader stays on a journey that goes on for weeks or months.
You dont think of watercolors as a way to illustrate a murder mystery.
Whats the appeal of that medium for you?
Ive been hooked on watercolor since high school.
I remember walking past a big, big book of work by [realistic painter] Andrew Wyeth.
It was open on display in the library to his painting of a pump house.
I was instantly struck by how powerful an image it was.
The saturation, the composition.
The description at the bottom said it was a watercolor.
That was a lightning bolt.
Watercolor adds a little bit of radiance, kind of a halo.
Its perfectly imperfect, and thats where the magic lies.
The most important thing is to learn to settle.
It causes you to slow your life down.
Say Im looking at a house across the street.
Maybe youve seen it a million times.
When youre painting, you start to notice things.
Maybe theres a little nook.
Perhaps the wall has a fish scale pattern.
Whereas if Im standing there with my hands in my pocket, its just this house across the street.
You might take out your phone and forget about it.
How exactly does that improve your life?
Well, youre noticing everything.
You hear sounds more acutely.
You notice the temperature and specific smells.
You notice that youre hungry.
Your mind is suddenly saturated with memory.
When you paint something, youll remember forever where you were when you did it.
By the way, did you make it to your flight?
I made the flight.
