The only validation I look for is the approval of my collaborators, colleagues and those who appreciate the craft. So whether I'm working with Greg Maldonado, Daimon Hampton Charles Stewart III, Denys Cowan, Sean Hill or anyone else, I try to let them sing the lead while I hold down the melody.

In a broader sense, it's my job to make the penciler look good. If I'm doing my job right I'm invisible; I help to bring harmony to the art. If I'm doing too much it's like someone singing out of tune.

The inker's role is to finalize the line art before it goes to color. I help to separate fore/middle/background and add textures, shadows, and line weights to the existing art to both make coloring easier and enhance the comic book aesthetic.

My editors seeing this post:

If no one else tells you this, allow me: the satisfaction of being skilled enough to get professional level work is fleeting and unfulfilling.

To put it in simpler terms, there's a difference between *good enough* and *good*.

It's not because I don't think I produce professional work (I do), that I'm not good enough (I am), or that I'm one of the worst artists out there (I'm not). It's because I'm reaching for a higher level of competence and mastery. I see the gulf between myself and the work I study and respect.