About Mike Ivy

Born and raised in Austin, Texas, I was an Art teacher in Pflugerville ISD for 25 years. Drawing has been my passion since early childhood. As a child, I was a voracious little artist with grand ambitions. I began illustrating pictures and later created a Space Dog comic series around the time I saw Star Wars in the summer of 1977. Five years later, I had built a one-boy comic book empire with several series and a raving audience of one.

Throughout high school and college, I explored various artistic phases, ultimately identifying as an Abstract Expressionist Surrealist, albeit with a fair amount of hubris. However, my journey took a turn when I found myself coaching and assisting fellow art students at Southwest Texas State University, which ignited my interest in Art Education.

Teaching Art allowed me to evolve as an illustrator, drawing inspiration from the many artists I introduced to my students, particularly Edward Gorey and Charles M. Schulz, as well as from the numerous young artists I had the opportunity to teach. While reading a biography of Gorey and a volume of Schulz's Complete Peanuts, I came up with the idea of "My 8-Year-Old Self."

Now I've come full circle, illustrating Space Dog as part of My 8-Year-Old Self's fantasy adventures. Once again, I'm a voracious, but not so little, artist, striving to keep the hubris and grandiose delusions at bay while drawing about my passions.