Today we’d like to introduce you to Steven Crowe.
Hi Steven, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers.
I have been drawing for as long as I can remember but I really got hooked by a combination of three things: the Disney movie Tarzan, the Batman Animated Series, and the art in the Spawn comics. From there I made some friends who were also into drawing and super into comics. Though I was considered the worst artist by the majority of the group, I was hooked.
I continually drew throughout high school even though I failed many art classes. I didn’t fail the art classes because I wasn’t drawing, but because I was only drawing anime/comic characters. After high school, I kept pushing and eventually asked to join the indie comic studio Urban Myth Studios which I was told I was nowhere near good enough. From there I created my first comic in just over a week and sent it to their editor. That book was named “Battle Scrolls” and was full of spelling/grammar errors, and rough-looking art but the editor liked that I wasn’t going to quit. They let me tag along with them to a convention which I lost a ton of money, but I learned so much. They were again impressed that I was showing some resilience and opened the door for me to join them at other shows. Eventually, I was invited to join the studio and a few years later I became the editor for three years.
My career from there lead me to be an item artist on a few board games including the Middara which was kickstarted by a local Salt Lake studio Succubus Publishing. I was also the lead artist on Fright a party game, an instructor at Broadview University, and my latest work was on the forthcoming season two of Master Of The Universe for Netflix.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I don’t know that there is a smooth path in art. So much of your personal growth relies on looking at flaws in yourself and addressing them. To say you can always maintain a balance in that self-criticism would be a lie. If you want to be better, you have to break down the things that you are doing and sometimes that can be destructive. Sometimes you’re in a rhythm and things just flow but it is for sure a balancing act that even now I struggle with. That is even just the internal stuff, there are the externals of never knowing how to make people looking at your work happy, or even to produce something that people will like. In the end, I think the best path is to just abandon all of that and do what moves you.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am a concept artist who specializes in character design. While I’m proud of the Masters Of The Universe show and all the board games I’ve been attached to the biggest thing I’ve worked on is my own series Quest Forged which currently has a board game and graphic novel in the works.
Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
Being able to design a character that also conveys their story or gameplay mechanics is easily the most rewarding thing in terms of career. Aside from that, my lovely wife Andrea and daughter Emilia are the things that make me the happiest.
Contact Info:
- Website: artstation.com/stevencrowe
- Instagram: instagram.com/thestevencrowe
- Facebook: facebook.com/questforgearnea
