Today we’d like to introduce you to Bryan Beach.
Hi Bryan, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I spent the 80s as a child drawing in front of the TV and in the 90s, I moved on to jr high and comic books. I learned to paint in high school and entered several art shows. I designed our school mascot and ended up getting a job at age 15 at a costume shop in Murray where I worked on an early rendition of the Utah Jazz Bear costume. I attended some illustration workshops during my high school summers and eventually got an art scholarship to Utah State University where I earned a BFA with an emphasis on Illustration. After college, I worked at a small ad agency where I learned how to utilize the computer in art and became familiar with the business of being a professional artist. During the early 2000s, I built a clientele as a freelance illustrator and then worked as an artist for a film company, mostly working on children’s products like activity books, catalogs and even some animation. Throughout the 2010s I continued to work as a freelance illustrator and produced different products like games, stamps, books etc. I even worked on some international projects with the help of a UK based-art rep. One of my main clients was magazine articles for the LDS church and I eventually accepted of full time position for the church in their animation team in 2014. Over the last decade or so, I have worked on numerous projects, animations, exhibits and products for the LDS church, most of them being aimed at children and youth. I have also had the opportunity to help develop other freelance projects and outside products (like puzzles) on the side. I always felt like being an artist was my big talent and it was really the only career choice for me. In my spare time, I raise 6 kids, play guitar in a rock band, piano in a jazz trio and banjo in a bluegrass band.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
One time a friend of mine (who is an engineer) asked me the hardest part of my job. My response was, “Having to be creative every day.” Sometimes it’s fun and easy to be creative, but sometimes it’s not. When you are a commercial artist, you really have to be creative every day and push through the times that it’s not fun and doesn’t come easy. I’ve heard that Jazz musicians have this saying, something like…. “When the blue note is playing in your head, you have to take advantage of it.” It’s hard to turn that blue note on and off, you just have to utilize it when you can – sometimes everything you work on easily feels like gold — sometimes nothing seems to be working, but you just push through. Being a commercial artist, you have to create what the client wants, it may not always be your favorite piece, or they may not love what you feel is your best work. That’s just the business of it, you don’t create it for yourself, you create it for them or the audience. However, you TRY to create for yourself as much as you can, that’s what keeps you passionate about the work. The work you are most passionate about definitely shows through. I always say that when your hobby becomes your work, you have to find a new hobby and creative outlet, creating music has been that for me.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I watched a lot of cartoons as a kid. A lot of the cartoons I watched were Looney Toons or old Disney shorts from the 50s. I always assumed they were current because animation is so timeless. As I watched them, I wondered why the homes in those shorts didn’t look like my house. They were midcentury modern with swimming pools and palm trees and graphic patterns etc. I later learned that these were shorts produced by artists living in California through the 40s 50s and 60s and everything seemed to have a midcentury modern bend. Jazz was the music of the time, cubism was influential as well as the space age and limited animation which facilitated a lot of the shapes and movement of that animation style. I fell in love with the aesthetic of these cartoons and midcentury modern design. As I graduated college and was trying to discover or develop my own style, I continued to be influenced by cartoons and style of the day and really enjoyed producing illustration with a midcentury modern flair. I soon became an expert with Adobe Illustrator and the flat, graphic shapes that I could perfectly produce with it. My style has always been highly influenced by the past and present with an interest in children’s media (having 6 children of my own) I hope that I have taken all of these influences to come up with a style that is certainly familiar but also definitely mine. Working for the LDS church, I have always hoped to up the quality and style of the artwork seen by children and youth throughout the world. There are so many things that are competing for attention from our kids, I hope that my artwork can be an attractive vessel to deliver powerful messages to our children. I’ve always felt that it was my job to help create visuals that uplift, ennoble and inspire!
Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
Books: Cartoon Modern, The Art of The Incredibles, Site: Cartoon Brew, Podcast: Creative Pep Talk, Apps: Procreate, Adobe Illustrator
Contact Info:
- Website: https://beachouseillustration.com
- Instagram: @bryanbeachillustration
- Facebook: Bryan Beach
- LinkedIn: Bryan Beach
- Youtube: @bryanbeach9510
