DETROIT – Tony Miello describes himself as a big kid living out his fantasy of horror and zombies.
Miello, a commercial artist and comic book illustrator, is the creator of Gapo the Clown, which is published in Metro Detroit by Caliber Comics.
"A lot of my work revolves around horror elements. One of my favorite things to paint is the skulls. Zombies, I do a lot of zombie pieces for the work I do," Miello said.
He's also done licensed work for DC, Marvel, Lucasfilm and Topps trading cards.
Before becoming an artist, he worked in construction. An accident forced him to take a different career direction.
"It was probably the best thing that ever happened to me. I get to play with all sorts of characters every day. I don't come home greasy and stinking from motor oil. I come home with paint on my hands. I always tell my wife I never almost died drawing cartoons," he said.
While much of his work is fictional, Miello said a lot of his inspiration comes from reality: Detroit.
"You know I always felt that part of the resurgence of the city is going to come from the artistic community," he said. "The artist are always the ones expressing what's going on in the city first."
Miello is one of the featured artists at this year's MoPop Festival, which is celebrating it's second year at Detroit's West Riverfront Park. The summer music festival runs July 23 and 24. Click here for more information on other artists and the line up of bands.