Where were you born? Where did you grow up?  

I was born in São Paulo/SP, Brazil.

Have you already taken a drawing course/art training?

I studied at Escola Panamericana de Artes in 1987 and then at Escola Cepade in 1996.

How long have you been working professionally in comics?

Since 1997.

In what things -- both in art and otherwise -- have you worked on besides comics? Are comics a full-time gig for you or part-time?

Between 1989 and 1992 I worked as an art assistant for Mitutoyo do Brasil. By the time I quit this job, I was in charge of the Marketing Sector. Then, as a freelancer, I started making pencilled and airbrushed illustrations and many others for publicity agencies. Later on, I've done illustrations for an Italian company that developed free gifts and from 1997 on I've worked only in comics.

Talk about how you broke into the business -- Was it easy or hard? Did you get through ups and downs? Any interesting anecdotes? When you held your first published work in your hands, how did you feel?

In 1997, together with friends, we rented the back of a house for working, but we worked independently. Certain day, I got a work that could bring in a good amount of money and it could involve all of us. It was a 20 pages folder for a company called Dana/Albarus. I did the whole test using watercolor and ecoline, but the agency wanted us to do the final work using digital media. Everything was ok, we had an illustrator, inker, letterer... we only needed a colorist, because no one of us knew how to work with Photoshop. Then I started finding out things about the software and I started liking digital coloring, because I could do everything I've already done with the traditional media and much more.

The emotion of seeing my first printed work was really gratifying! I keep a few of these publications up till today. All the problems I got through ended there and I was sure I could do much more from that day on. In 1998, I started coloring the issues 3 and 4 of NW Studio's comic book "Spirit of Amazon". It was my first professional work in a comic book. Still through NW Studio, I made some works (covers) with Hanna-Barbera's characters and Looney Tunes. Afterwards I colored a huge amount of stuff for Disney/Pixar and 18 publications of children's stories of a series for a publisher called Fidel from Germany. Then, in the end of 2005, I got through hard times due to the person who used to agency me having started not being honest with me anymore. A person who participated of the studio day-to-day also quit due to the lack of activities. It seems like people prefer being by your side when everything is going well. I got through these hard times up till the beginning of 2008, but I would never give up on what I like to do, I would never give up on art. I made some freelance works and I managed to live the way I could and then, around 2008 I met my friend Vitor Ishimura once again and he offered me a Graphic Novel called "Chosen" and after that, things started going to a different way and today I'm able to start doing the work I most like to do once again.

Have you already worked as an assistant of any other artists? If so, please talk a bit about these experiences.

Not exactly as an assistant, but I gave a little help. A certain time I collaborated with a few Brazilian artists in their works, doing 3 Jungle Girl pages for my friend Frank Martin and Lone Ranger for my friend Marcelo Pinto.

How did your parents take the idea of working with comics?

They were rather strict at first, because they didn't know how it worked, but later they accepted the idea.

How would you describe your work environment? Is it part of your home,
or do you go "to the studio"?

A room of my house was turned into a studio. It's a parallel universe. There it has action figures, a really huge Spider-Man hanging on the ceiling, comic book based movie posters, many magazines for reference, a comfortable working desk that I projected myself, leaving everything I need close to me and when you get into the studio, it gets clear that I'm a big Batman fan. My studio is an important place to me, because it's there my works, my money and my realizations come from. I like to keep everything organized. There I have pictures of my wife and daughter. My family is always present and they always support me on the works I do.

What work are you proudest of? What's your most embarrassing?

It's hard to tell, because I usually like what I do, but there's one really old I have as my favorite. It's a Batman drawn by Marc Silvestri! I remember I colored this one using a mouse. I'm proud of it because I didn't give up on finishing it, despite the difficulties at that time. And the most embarrassing one was a Dungeons and Dragons issue. I didn't find that work very good.

What are you currently drawing? Comments on that project?

I finished the first 50 pages of Chosen and I'm currently doing some tests for Zorro and Os Incríveis for Editora Boom.

Talk about your family: Parents, siblings, home situation. Are you married? Do you have kids? What are their names? Do you have anecdotes about married life? How does it relate to your busy schedule? If you have kids, do they understand your job? What do they say about it? Do they read comics?

I don't have my parents anymore it's been some years. My sister lives near my house and we always take the chance to meet and talk about the news. I have a 4 years old daughter. She's always enchanted with children's books with characters and super-colored stories. She already knows characters such as Superman, Hulk, Spiderman, etc and she knows her father is a Batman fan. Whenever she sees me, she wants to draw something. I hope to color an art made by her someday! My wife is very special to me, she's an angel in my life. She's always by my side supporting me. Much of what I have today, I own her.

What projects do you hope to work on in the future?

Batman. I hope I'm able to color something of him in the future. And also, to be working for the greatest comic book publishers and super-hero movie projects are my dreams. Coloring backgrounds for animation should be an interesting work. I'd like to do that someday.

Where do you see yourself in five/ten years?  

I see myself working for a big comic book publisher, creating and producing new stories for the worldwide market and always counting on Glass House partnership.

How big is the interest in comics in the place you live? Do your friends and neighbors know you make a living from comics? How do they react?

My friends participate in what I do and they always bring me news about this universe. My neighbors are all elder people, they don't talk about these things.

Tell us one thing we'll always find in your refrigerator.

It may be a fruit, yogurt, pizza or something like that. I always choose my next "victim" according to how much I'm hungry at the moment.

What's your favorite food?

Chocolate and coffee.

What are your favorite interests? (i.e.: movies, music, TV, sports, any other hobbies, etc)

I really like action movies like Matrix, The Mummy and the ones related to comic books. My movies collection goes from Tim Burton's Batman to Jon Favreau's Iron Man. About music, I listen more to 70s and 80s rock, some Brazilian popular music and movie soundtracks.

Have you ever thought about writing your own stories?

Yes! Who knows in the future.

Have you ever been in a gang?

No. I had my childhood friends and my school group.

Do you have any humoristic or interesting anecdote about the comic book market to tell us?

No. Not that I remember.

Do you have any great unsold projects in your files that nobody's got to see published?

Not yet!

If you weren't a comic-book artist today, what would you be?

I'd probably be involved with some kind of art.

Have you taught anyone comic book art or had any assistants? If so, talk about that.

Yes, I taught art at Escola Cepade from 98 to 99. No, I have never had an assistant. I had only people that worked in my studio just for the sake of their interest.

Any closing words for your fans?

Don't give up on your dreams!

LIST OF CREDITS:

1997 - 5s folder for Dana/Albarus
1998 - Spirit of Amazon
1999 - Batman cover by Marc Silvestri for Comix Book Shop Magazine #6
2000-2005 - Several coloring works for Disney US and Europe publications and also Pixar (Home On The Range, Brother Bear, The Incredibles, Finding Nemo, Toy Story, Treasure Planet, Kim Possible), having my name included in "In Ducks" artists lists acknowledged by Disney.
2001 - Dungeons and Dragons
2001 - Lady Death - Goddess Returns
2001 - Dungeons and Dragons: Tempest's Gate for Kenzer and Company Publisher
2002 - Tropical manga (cover) EDH Müller, for Comic-Besprechung Publisher from Germany and a 32 pages pocket book for Disney Denmark.
2003 - Wynonna Earp 4 issues miniseries for IDW
2004 - 18 children's book arch for Hotel Fidel from Germany
2005 - Year almost completely taken by activities for Disney Pixar
2006 - Cover of the 7th issue of The 10th Muse magazine, published in the US by Alias Comics. Also a 64 pages children's publication called Moises.
2007 - Ataque CD cover, EDH Müller and Ronin Soul magazine (both from Brazil)
2008 - 52 pages coloring of a comic book called Chosen for Glass House.