Carman was born in Seoul, South Korea, to a Korean mother and American father, and moved to California as a toddler. It wasn't crowded then, and Carman had miles of hills to play in. He grew up fishing wow goldin the streams, rivers and ocean of the central coast. As a teenager, Carman played keyboards and sang in a band that covered the hits of the day—Jimi Hendrix, the Allman Brothers, and Chicago—interspersed with a magic show. "One of the things that got me started thinking about art was the music industry," says Carman. He cites the cover art of James Flournoy Holmes (Flor Noi) for the Allman Brothers' 1972 Eat a Peach album as a favorite, as well as the Roger Dean covers for Yes. "Album art was so inspiring then," he says. "That was the stuff that got me thinking, Wow gold buy gold World of Warcraft Gold Wars Gold people do this for a living.'"

  Carman attended Brigham Young University, where he earned a degree in visual communication and illustration. There, he met his mentor, James Christensen, whose work in the realm of fantasy is world-renowned. He also met and married his wife, Mollie. After college, Carman freelanced as a graphic designer for various companies making "cool stuff like video game covers." They lived in the East for a spell, but missed the West. "I like the West," says Carman. "It's open and expansive and there is room to roam." Carman decided to return to BYU for graduate school in painting.