3DTotal: You have worked for many big named clients: Sony Imageworks, Marvel Studios, Sega, BMW, Saatchi & Saatchi to name but a few. I imagine you must have worked for many small clients, too.  What are the main differences in working for the big named companies, as opposed to the “little guys”?
Michael: When there’s more money, and there’s likely to also be more time to invest in the creative process and perfectionism. But it always depends on the project, product and client, and how far you can go creatively.

3DTotal: Do you have any “Golden Rules” that you try to follow with your art?
Michael: The only rule that always remains for me is to do something original, and that sometimes means to abandon some other “Golden Rules”.

3DTotal: That’s great advice, but surely you are inspired by many other artworks you see. Do you think they in turn influence your work in any way?
Michael: I think inspiration is where every artist’s journey starts. I bet every artist out

there would agree with that! I’ve got a lot of books of my favorite artists, Moebius and Otomo, but also painters like Lucian Freud and Jenny Saville have of course influenced me.

The challenge will always be to invent enough stuff on your own. Most artists don’t want to be just the clone of their idol, which is why it’s so important to find your own techniques of creativity!

3DTotal: One of your latest images, “The Boxer”, is a real attention grabber! Can you tell us some points about the background and the process behind this one?
Michael: “The Boxer” was a personal research project to find an uncommon character design. I didn’t really spend much time on it, so I’m really happy how this turned out. There are already lots of

anthropomorphic animals in old books, comics and animation movies, so I believe it’s not special because of the man/pig thing. I think what makes the difference is that it seems believable, and that is also what challenges me the most with that kind of stuff: to put something which is usually too far out or too abstract on a believable level, so that it has a presence, like the person that is in the same room with you – it makes it only more threatening.

3DTotal: “Anthropomorphic”, now that is a good word! I hate to admit that I had to Google it, but for others, like me, who don’t know what it means, it’s “the attribution of uniquely human characteristics to non-human beings”, which leads me nicely onto my final question ...  We just had a conversation in our studio about the film “The Fly”, when the main guy gets teleported with a fly and