Michael King is a hard-working, personable, occasionally brilliant graphic artist who likes to write about himself in the third person.

He began his career as a graphic artist in his teens by working for his mother’s graphic design business after school. He later taught himself Photoshop on the job while working in the trenches at Thunder Press, a motorcycle lifestyle newspaper that grew from a small regional circulation to a national presence with three regional editions. At the newspaper, he later branched out into writing and editing. For years he worked as a subcontractor for Envision Media (where he taught himself InDesign on the job), and often did advanced Photoshop work under tight deadlines.

He enjoys the variety and new challenges that come with freelancing, and the surprising discoveries inherent in the creative process. He also enjoys learning new things: He’s currently teaching himself 3D modeling and motion graphics to expand his capabilities to create beautiful imagery, and he looks forward to adding these to his freelance tool set in the future. (Keep an eye on his blog for the latest developments.)

Fun facts about Michael:

• In his high school play, he played the Ragpicker in Jean Giradoux’s The Madwoman of Shallot.
• He published a novel called Lorien Lost with St Martin’s Press that won praise from Ray Bradbury, Locus Magazine, and The Washington Post.
• He does a bit of English country dancing, and has performed at the Northern California Renaissance Faire, and the Great Dickens Christmas Fair in San Francisco.