My favorite book when I was a child was "The Magical Drawings of Mooney B. Finch" by David McPhail. It was the story of a boy with a magic pencil. Whatever he drew would come to life. I don't remember a lot about the book but I remember that pencil. It was the greatest thing any kid could have. As long as you could draw, anything was possible. The only limit was your imagination and I had plenty of that.

When I got older I decided I wanted to pursue a career in illustration. This was a career where I could combine my love of comics, animation and storytelling to create artwork that people could really enjoy. This dream eventually led me to the Rochester Institute of Technology where I graduated Magna Cum Laude with a degree in Illustration and was published in the Society of Illustrators student annual. I have been working as an Illustrator ever since.

I am currently the Design and Production Supervisor and Staff Illustrator for New Readers Press in Syracuse, NY. I have also been doing Freelance Illustration for the last several years.

-James P. Wallace