Stephen Bryant is one of the most talented people I have met. He inked the designed for one of my books, Animal Kingdom and it blew my socks off. If anyone needs the service of an artist, then he is your main. Check out what he has to say below.
Could you tell us what work you currently have available?
Sure, some of the book covers that are currently available are Animal Kingdom, Alien Aberrations, Mal Contents, Drawn to Danger, Haftmann's Rule, and Darker Than Noir. For a full list you can check out my website as I have a hard time keeping track of the stuff that came out last year. Most of my work is available on amazon.com.
Tell us about your latest release.
Well my latest release is a design campaign for Jim Coleman Ltd., but no one here wants to read about that. They want action, horror, and suspense. So I will say my latest, and some say, greatest release is the cover for Animal Kingdom. It was a blast to do this cover and it was the first time I painted a full blown carnivorous gorilla. The biggest thing about this image was that I actually forgot the story took place in the UK. So mid final pencil I had to redo everything to place the steering wheel on the right side. Once I had the final pencil all set, the rest of the illustration just came together.
For someone unfamiliar with your work, how would you describe your illustrations?
Oh man, I have never been really good with this question. It is why my resume is such a mess. My style is actually all dependent on lighting. The balance between black and white is first and foremost instead of any particular paint style. Due to the fact that I am partially colorblind, I have to make sure the my under painting is spot on, so then I can just add some predetermined colors and ta da!
What else do you have in the pipeline? At the moment I am working on a bad ass fairy tale book, which is all I can say about that. I also started work on a graphic novel title Traumatized. This will display my new pen and ink styling. Soon to be released is Dead Dog which is just such an awesome cover for Gran Mal Press. I went up and down with this illustration fighting it the whole time…it also didn’t help that I was in a cast.
What artists have had the most influence on your own artwork?
This is one of those questions that makes you have all kinds of flashbacks. If I had to pick some of my favorites, they would be (in no particular order) Tim Bradstreet, Alex Ross, Richard Krzyka, Jim Lee, Julie Bell, and probably Tom Herzberg my teacher. Tom showed me not only how to paint but also how to break an image down. How does something work, why does it work that way, and finally who is the image for? Allot of artist forget that. It really cool to be able to create a dramatic, ass kicking scene of Spider Man beating up Catwoman, but if the client asked for two mobster fist fighting and you draw superheroes…you got problems.
What was the last thing you read?
I actually just finished reading I Am Legend by Richard Matheson. I am a huge Matheson fan and whenever I need a little inspiration I sit and read one of his short stories from Button, Button: Uncanny Stories.
Anything else you’d like to tell us about?
Yeah I would like to make a statement to all aspiring artists...stick with it. There is a quote from Tim Bradstreet that has been running thru my head the last couple of months “If you don’t have the passion . . . that drive and determination, then do yourself a favor and go back to college. Get a degree and then call me, you can help me with my taxes.” Bottom line you have to keep pushing, keep challenging yourself. No one every got anything they truly wanted the easy way, and for those that did, it was a hollow victory.
Check out his official website at: http://www.srbproductions.net
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