This was Art and it commanded all the formidable intensity that youthful passions can provoke. Instead he discovered how a painting might be imbued with complex dimensions, opening perspectives that could not be contained in a straightforward scene. In the summer of '84, with a degree in fine arts and a portfolio of SF Illustration, Bruce left Indiana for New York City, seeking employment. Over the next six years he created a dozen book covers, all of them in the familiar, representational mode. He also illustrated a graphic novel, and spent a couple of years working in television full time.
Painting is like writing in that improvement in the basic skills comes only with time and practice.
By 1990 Bruce's journeyman years paid off when he succeeded in securing enough work painting science fiction book covers that he could consider it his full time profession. 1990 also saw his art divide into two distinct tracks. But he also embarked on a new style of painting that left representationalism behind. Everyone of them was rejected. Bruce found this a great incentive to finally let loose with some compositions that he truly believed would make for striking covers, though he didn't think for a minute they would be accepted.