Interview with Artist Michael Myers

Michael Myers is a fantastic illustrator and designer from Waterloo, IA. His illustrations are sometimes dark and scary but full of expression and personality. Michael‘s work is very versatile and full of imagination and it comprises vintage prints, cool animations, t-shirt designs, freaky design works and disturbingly awesome drawings.

When did you start your career as a designer?

I started drawing at the age of 5, and have always been doodling or drawing since then. I landed a job doing design work for t-shirts at a screen printing company when I was 14. Since then I have worked as a web designer and currently work as an artist full-time at a video game company that develops casino games for the PC.

What is your educational background?

I received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. I feel I have learned the most from online art communities such as Threadless.com and Emptees.com.

You’ve surely worked on several projects so far. What would be the most relevant ones?

I feel that the most relevant of the projects I’ve worked on haven’t been for clients, but were personal projects. The two I can think of recently are my series of LOST character illustrations, and a set of DC Superhero posters I created this year.

Can you name 3 designs from your portfolio you like the most?

I think the pieces I’m most proud of are: Birth of Icarus, Invasion and perhaps my interpretation of the Smoke Monster from the ABC show LOST.

Our readers would definitely love to know what hardware and software you use when you create your designs?

For the longest time I was a PC guy, but over the past couple of years I have started working strictly on macs. I am currently working on an i7 Macbook Pro, and I have to say I’m loving it! In terms of software, I usually sketch my ideas in Autodesk Sketchbook Pro, then take the sketches into either Photoshop CS3 or Manga Studio for inking and color. But don’t ever underestimate the power of a pencil and a sketchbook. They’re indispensable.

What are the things that inspire you? Can you name a few websites you use for inspiration?

I guess I draw inspiration from movies, TV shows, video games and books. I’m always finding some great T-Shirt designs at Emptees.com, which features some of the greatest apparel designers currently working in that field.

When you began your journey as a designer you probably had a few role models, would you name two of your favorite artists?

Matt Rhodes, who currently works as a lead concept artist at Bioware and I’ve always been a huge Joe Madureira fan. I’m gonna throw a 3rd in here and say Olly Moss. He’s been a more recent inspiration, but his design work is top-notch.

Designing has its ups and downs, what is the most difficult problem you ever faced as a designer?

I think the most difficult problem I’ve ever faced (and am currently facing) is keeping my work fresh. I find it very difficult at times to keep trying new things. It’s easy to fall into a comfort zone with your work, but it’s hard to grow as an artist when you fall into that trap.

Looking a bit into the future, how do you think people will look at your designs in four years from now?

I hope they will see them as quirky, inspirational, and still relevant.

What advice would you give to the newbie designers?

Learn the basics. Nail down form, basic color theory and lighting. These are things I’m still trying to work on, and I don’t think you can ever know too much. Also, keep with it. You won’t be an amazing artist just by thinking about it, you’ve got to DO it. Keep sketching, keep pushing, and keep learning.

What do you think your greatest achievement is so far?

I would say getting to the point where people email me wanting to work with me on projects. For the longest time I was pursuing clients, trying to get whatever work I could. This isn’t a bad practice, but I’ve found that once you start getting contacted from clients based on the personal work they’ve seen from me, they generally want something similar. It makes the job more fun when you can create imagery and work in a style you really enjoy.

How much free time you have in a week and how do you usually spend that?

Between a full time 9-5 job, a wife and 3 children, my free-time is pretty minimal. I try and do as much artwork as I can (when I’m not distracted by the T.V. or video games) during what little open window I have during the night.

What is your favorite PC game and how many hours you spend playing it?

Sadly it is World of Warcraft. I haven’t played in a while, and I’d rather not say how many hours I have played :).

I really liked this design: What was your drive to create it?

I had just purchased some ink and a new sable brush, and wanted to ink a drawing. I started sketching the angel character, and then started adding elements from the game “Kid Icarus”. It slowly evolved into a classic Nintendo throwback illustration, and I was pretty pleased with how it turned out.

Check out Michael Myers Behance profile here.

Michael Myers website portfolio here.