Award winning artist Shane Ryan offers a glimpse into his bizzare, horror fantasy world
Shane Ryan's 'Nightmares'
By J. Jekyll
July 2009
Goremaster.com
Shane Ryan is an award winning dark gothic horror artist/designer specializing in hand drawn pieces of art. His catagories of work include tattoos, print and t-shirt mediums. He has been working in the gothic horror industry for nearly 20 years. His expertise and attention to detail is evident in his macabre creations. He shares his journey into this field and the dedication it takes to make even the creepiest of nightmares a reality. |
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GM: When did you make your decision to enter the field?
SR: Ever since my early child hood years I have always dreamt of being an artist in the industry, being pretty much entirely self taught I spent the best part if 20 years honing my technique and skills, working mainly as a hobby artist, I wasn't about 7 years ago that I decided it was time to have a real go at turning my dream into a reality.
GM: What or who inspired you to start? Who was your influence?
SR: Firstly my love for horror films, the creative genius of the make up/fx people and the original concept designers, in particular Clive Barker and H.R.Giger. Also my family and friends who have always been supportive and encouraging, which is always a great help to have those sorts of people around you.
GM: Favorite early special effects/horror memory – movie scene – book – TV show?
SR: The first transformation scene in Dario Argento's Demons (1985), that was truly macabre and in my opinion a lot more convincing then a lot of today's transformation scenes, the way the teeth and nails came out from underneath the existing ones is far more what you'd expect to see when someone changes into a slime spewing flesh eating demon, far better then the way they magical transform into fangs and claws these days. Even today in my more abstract surrealist type works I still do my best to obtain this grounding in realism, I think it gives a more raw edge to my work then it would otherwise have.
GM: What are your top five special effects/horror movies?
SR: The Thing (John Carpenter) (1982)
Hell Raiser (1987)
Aliens (1986)
Demons (1985)
Romero's dead films (1968-present)
GM: What is your favorite makeup special effects/horror scene from a movie?
SR: Now that's a tough one, there's so many great horror movie moments to choose from, but I’d have to say that scene in The Thing (1982) were that guys head falls off, hits the floor, grows legs and starts running around the place, that was truly bizarre, but still some how retained that level of realism that I love, brilliant!. This scene became a huge influence on my work which you can see coming out in my pieces Twisted Thoughts and Nightmares.
''Quarantine Beach'
GM: Who is your favorite horror artist?
SR: Clive Barker hands down, especially his hell raiser and tortured souls work, some of that stuff is just totally twisted and truly innovative, but all of his work is great films, books, art.
GM: How did you get started working in the horror industry?
SR: I first started off as a custom designer for a local tattoo studio, specializing in horror themed designs of course. I then moved onto doing freelance commissions in my local area and researching ways to enter the industry, from there I started contacting publishers, film production companies and music producers, horror websites and magazines, keeping an eye on art and film forums for opportunities to gain further exposure for my work, winning competitions and having my work published on various horror websites and contributing to the self published international collaborative paperback book On Consecrated Ground Vol.2 certainly helped.
GM: Whose current work do you admire?
SR: Clive Barker, H.R.Giger, Paul Booth, Eli Roth, George A. Romero,
GM: How have you gotten work in the industry?
SR: Mainly through networking, there's no better way to get the word out on who you are and what you do then good old fashion networking, if enough key people know who you are eventually the hard work all pays off and people start contacting you. A good understanding of the Six Degrees of Separation theory can help with networking considerably.
"Skinface'
GM: What was your toughest job?
SR: As an artist I believe there’s always much to learn and always room for improvement, with every new piece I do I always try to raise the bar in terms of design, technique and over all quality that bit further each time, as a result I’d say that every new piece I do is my toughest job yet.
GM: What was your favorite job?
SR: That ones easy the tattoo designs for my own leg, all though I enjoy the challenge of custom work, for enjoyment you really can't go past doing a piece for yourself, especially when you know it's going to be living canvass you take with you for the rest of your life, it's over 10 years in the making and still not finished, some part's have been drawn and redrawn time and time again. Oh and also my piece The Tribe.2:Meal Time, the concept was cook up one day between me and a new found buddy in cyber space, the horror fiend Kelly Toney, a big thanks Kel for your input and ideas.
GM: How do you pick out materials to use for a project? Do you make your own? Are there any brands that you recommend?
SR: One thing I’m real fussy about is the quality of my sketch paper, the smoother the better too, the smoother your paper is the smoother shading that it's possible to achieve, pencil wise I always use a 5B,HB and an F, to get the tonal ranges, both traditional and mechanical, for editing Photo Shop, using a Wacom Graphics Tablet Intuos 3, anyone half serious about doing any type of artwork on a computer needs to throw there mouse away (well maybe not), but at least get them selves a good graphics tablet, there a must.
GM: Are there any new breakthroughs or ideas in the industry that excite you?
SR: The strong re-emerging of the horror genre in general, I think finally the horror genre is getting the respect that it deserves, definitely here in Australia it's moved on a lot from the days, were horror wasn't taken seriously by the masses as a form of art. Silicone masks, they seem to have a more realistic look and plus don't deteriorate over time like latex does, the rise of the independent film industry I’m particularly happy about, there's a lot of new and refreshing ideas coming out from the independent makers at the moment, which has been helped greatly by the many great horror film festivals happening around the globe these days, which a may add these festival them selves are rather exciting to see grow the way they are as well.
''The Tribe'
GM: What is a current project you are working on? Or what project are you excited about?
SR: I currently have a several possible projects on the horizon that I’m very excited about, I have a possible book to illustrate and do a cover for, plus several magazine features, plus a piece I’m working on for Doug Bradley.com, it's going to be a slight reinvention of Pinhead surrounded by and all new league of Cenobites, I be very interested to see how this goes down with the fans, as they say fan pieces are the hardest to get right, you either get it right and are praised for your genius or you get it wrong and the fans hang you, or in this case send you to hell.
GM: Do you have advice for a beginner or someone just getting started in the business?
SR: The most important thing to remember is networking the more relevant people you can meet the better, whether it's in person or online, the more people that know who you are and what you do the better, enter competitions, and join relevant forums and social sites, contact magazines, websites. And also don't be afraid to make mistakes, if you’re not making mistakes you’re not trying hard enough, just make sure you learn something by it and you'll be o.k.
GM: What was the best advice/training you ever received?
SR: Probably, the only way to reach your goals and ambitions is to do something about it, otherwise it will only remain a dream, also I picked up a good saying from a Michael Jordan once, "the key to success is not being a afraid to fail over and over again", and it's true how many people who have reached there goals and ambitions got it right from the start, not many at all, most of them were just to dedicated and I guess a little to stubborn (me included) to give up.
See more of Shane Ryan's amazing work at his website:
http://www.asylumartefacts.com/
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