>>121272120>>121272302>When you were a kid, did anyone encourage you to become an artist?My third-grade teacher, Mrs. McMahon, was very excited about my drawings. She asked me to draw her portrait once, and she thought it turned out really funny. She was definitely an inspiration.
>What were you like when you were ten?I grew up in Southern California, so pretty early on I was interested in critters and the ocean. I was into science and collecting bugs, and I had a tendency to build strange, smelly things, such as a dinosaur out of chicken bones.
>What advice do you have for kids who are interested in animation or science-or both?Sometimes people say you can only take one path. To that, I say, "Maybe that's not true." My work in marine biology helped me create a cartoon that might appear new to everyone. My other piece of advice is to follow your own instincts as an artist. If you have a style that seems different, have fun it with; be proud of it.
>How would you describe the style of SpongeBob SquarePants?Whimsical. Since I love surfing, and the show takes place in the ocean, I decided to add a lot of Hawaiian surf culture-music, design, SpongeBob's pineapple house. I think that adds to the show's sense of optimism and fun.
>Which SpongeBob character do you most identify with?I identify with all the characters on some level. Sometimes I'm grumpy or being snobby about something, so I'm like Squidward (below). And sometimes I'm optimistic and naïve, just like SpongeBob.
>What's more fun: being a cartoonist or working with sea creatures?They both have their advantages. I miss being able to work at the ocean every day. But when I was working by the ocean, I missed drawing and creating. I'll have to make a studio under the water, I guess.
