Ursula did not always want to be an artist. She did not go to art school. Her mother and stepfather are both artists, and they exposed her to a great deal of art as a child. But she rebelled against it by trying to become a scientist, and got a B.A. in Anthropology.

The closest she came to drawing was a couple of sketches of races for an RPG world, which a friend later saw, and suggested she try drawing for a comic book. "So I started drawing, discovered I sucked, and set out to Become Good."

One of the artistic impressions her mother imparted to her is a love for textures, like tree bark, which you can see in this picture here.

You can see more of Ursula Vernon's art and find out how to order prints at her website: /www.metalandmagic.com.