Koeb studied under Storey at the Academy of Art in San Francisco. I had been in junior college for about three years. On a visit to my friend Kelly's school, I saw Barron Storey's work for the first time. Seeing it was one of the most powerful experiences of my life. Paintings, illustrations; work that was truthful and full of heart. His work was raw with personal experience, much the same way Francis Bacon's work reveals as much about Bacon as it does the subject he painted. I studied illustration under Barron at the Academy of Art, San Francisco. I had some really good teachers, but Barron was really the main influence on me and the way I approach picture making. As with most students, I began by mimicking the surface aspects of his work, but later moved into more of my own thing, with the heart of it coming from what Barron taught as the most important aspect of illustration: seeing. (from an article on the Graphic Artists Guild and Koeb's involvement. Where as Mckean is now overly focused on digital work (where in it all looks the same), Koeb has stuck with a more painterly approach, very loose, very fresh... as he said, his own thing... but keeping his options open when it comes to digital work, which he continues to do.