Mick Coulas, Editorial Illustration:

From the beginning I drew feverishly from my imagination in a cartoon style that helped get me rejected from art college twice. As a temporary job I stuffed clocks in boxes after testing their alarms. A woman on the assembly line told me that you can go 3 days without showering if you change your clothes everyday. Forewarned is forearmed and I left the next day. Accepted at a local college to study Graphic Design, I eventually taught myself how to illustrate with an airbrush, with a little help from my friends.  I pursued illustration out of intuition rather than purpose. With Bugs Bunnyesque humor a constant theme, for the next 11 years my illustrations helped sell mustard, pudding, pickles and glue.

I was a typical bachelor. I kept a hairy black loaf of bread in my fridge. I worked constantly, never leaving the studio. If in 1991, Candace Lourdes had not come to visit, we may never have met. After a dogged pursuit, Candace became my partner in life and in business. Candace has twenty years experience in art direction, design and illustration. Today with the use of digital photgraphy, a couple of cordless digitizing pens, chewing gum and bailing wire, we try to illustrate our skewed perspective of the absurdity of life.

My major influences have been Don Martin of Mad Magazine, Chuck Jones, creator of Bugs Bunny Cartoons, Roger Dean - illustrator of Yes album covers, and contemporary illustrators such as Mark Fredrickson, Thomas Blackshire, Barry Jackson and Bill Mayer. I have a voracious appetite for popular culture especially TV, film and music.

• Editorial Client List:

Barron’s, Wall Street Journal, Chicago Tribune, Sports Illustrated for Kids, Time for Kids, Grammy Magazine,  Microsoft CPMag, 101 Communications, Country Weekly Magazine, PBI Media, Maxim Magazine and Melcher Media.