Bryan Moore
Sculptor
Bryan began his career as a sculptor in 1984, working on many horror films such as the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise, Jumanji, and Mortal Kombat, all the way to current offerings such as Underworld 2, The Cave and Backwater. TV work includes Tales from the Darkside, Monsters, Love and Curses and the new Sci-Fi Channel special Monsters of the UFO
When much of the FX work shifted over to computer, Bryan gravitated into the blossoming toy and collectible market, spending five years as a staff sculptor at Mattel Toys working on such classic brands as Barbie, Hot Wheels, and Disney product.
In 2002, Bryan opened Arkham Studios with Heather Saenz, to provide the toy industry with high quality prototyping and final product. Current clients include Universal, Mattel, BMW, Jakks Pacific and Burger King.
In addition, Arkham Studios now offers it's own line of literary and occult figurines for the high end collectible market.
Interview:
How did you get started in the arts?
Well, as a kid I was always drawing things like monsters that I saw on TV. Keep in mind that this was in the dark days before DVD players and you had to wait until those old black and white films came on TV. Comic books and the Sunday funnies were always things that I copied drawings from. When you're five years old and you can draw a Snoopy that actually looks like Snoopy, you're a pretty cool kid!
My interest in sculpting came from being fortunate enough to grow up in the era of Aurora Monster models. I would build those little plastic movie monsters, but never paint them as I felt paint would cover up the amazing sculptures of the monsters themselves. I would obsess over these figures for hours, making the sounds of each respective monster as I stared into it's styrene soul. I still do this today as I sculpt my subjects. If I have a recording of their voice I will mutter their words, mimicking them as I sculpt.
When I sculpted the Aleister Crowley figure, I obtained a copy of his wax cylinder recordings and would play it constantly as I fashioned his likeness from the clay. Getting into your subject psychologically is truly the way to breathe life itself into the portrait.
Was there any particular artist that influenced you?
Well, as I mentioned my first influence was certainly the Aurora monsters and to this day I have no idea who sculpted those iconic and influential toys. I wish I could shake their hand for I'm sure they have influenced many other artists besides myself.
I might mention the legendary Hayao Hama of Japan who sculpted dozens of the peerless figures that he did for the Billiken Company. He was most active in the late eighties to late nineties and from what I understand, he still produces work. Hama's sculptures were the best as it looked like he shrunk down the actual people he was sculpting rather than creating a sculpted portrait. His Bela Lugosi Dracula figure is, to this day, the best that I've ever seen.
The American illustrator Drew Struzan is someone that I've been lucky enough to know since I was sixteen. I would take the bus from school every Friday to watch him paint and he told me things that have stuck in my brain to this day, mostly that you should never settle for second best in anything you do. I can remember him painting the posters for the Muppet Movie, Raiders of the Lost Ark and a slew of others. It was, and still is, an honor to be a friend to this great and gentle man.
I have learned a great deal from many masters of figure sculpting, mostly from the 'garage kit' days from artists like Kim Ito, Jeff Yagher and Tom Kuntz. Hussein Abbo was also a huge influence during my years at Mattel Toys.
What is your professional experience?
My first professional jobs were actually in the film industry where I worked for years doing special makeup effects. I was in charge of many shows as well as working for other talented artists getting my chops for not only sculpting, but other technical skills that would serve me in good stead such as mold making, casting and finishing. It was a hard way to make a living and I did it for about fifteen years before I started working in the toy industry.
In the late eighties, a wonderful grass roots phenomenon happened called 'garage kits'�, which were sculptures created by artists in their garages who knew how to mold and cast. Most of these were movie monsters. The Japanese pioneered these kits and the wave came over to America. I was able to make a decent living doing this for years and produced over two dozen kits of my own. The early ones were awful in hindsight, but I pushed my skill and talent by getting solid advice from pals like Tom Kuntz and several others. Best thing I ever did was to throw my ego away and really be open to learning!
The garage kit movement imploded when there was suddenly a glut of money minded people who saw that this hobby was turning into a big business. These greedy business people began to buy up licenses for the figures and shut down anyone who was making a garage kit. So, a good thing lasted only so long. The tale is long and would require a book unto itself!
The garage kit years were a great training ground when a job opportunity came up at Mattel Toys. I was lucky enough to work there for about five years and learned an amazing amount about toy production, wax work and engineering issues like shrinkage ratios and all that fun stuff. The big thrill was always walking into a Toys R Us and seeing my work on the shelves. Can't tell you how many Buzz Lightyears and Barbie shoes I sculpted over the years!
The Mattel ride ended right after 9/11 when the company laid off about a quarter of their work force in the design center. From what I understand, corporate America has taken over as they outsource more jobs overseas and lay off people every quarter. It's truly capitalism at it's ugliest at that place now.
Why did you open Arkham Studios?
After the Mattel layoffs, I had to work like everybody else! Heather and I found a great deal on a huge industrial space where we created sculptures for ourselves and many other toy companies for the next four years.
Arkham Studios seems to focus on occult figures. Any particular reason?
Well, Heather and I both have always had an interest in the darker side of life and it was a natural progression into what we always wanted to do. We both have hearses and our interests are quite varied, but things always seem to get back to our more macabre nature.
So, subjects of the horror, occult and the supernatural were the direction we took and it seems to have found an audience worldwide and we never take it for granted. Ever.
You have done a figure of Anton LaVey. Weren't you afraid of getting involved with Satanists?
First off, the myths and urban legends that abound about Satanists are either untrue or something you would see in a Hollywood movie.
Heather and I both are in the Priesthood of the Church of Satan, so we knew the real skinny about real Satanists from the get-go. We thought Anton LaVey would be an excellent subject for a statue for years and since no one else had done one, we decided to! Simple as that. We approached Blanche Barton, who is Anton LaVey's widow and asked her permission and she kindly said that she would be glad to support such a project.
With that, we began the arduous task of finding as much photo reference as we could to properly create a fitting tribute. Friends such as Peter Gilmore, Peggy Nadramia and Evil Wilhelm provided many wonderful photos, as well as great anecdotes of what the man was like in person.
The sculpture took many months as I personally felt that I was creating something a little different than the standard portrait. I knew that every statue we sold would most likely be in a Satanists ritual chamber and charged with much power and energy, which turned out to be exactly where they all wound up. An interesting aside is that I happened to have an old pair of Rockport loafers that were identical to a pair that Anton LaVey had.
I had these shoes for about twenty years and they were beat and pretty scuffed up. Anyway, a friend came over while I was working on the sculpture and I had all these pictures of Anton LaVey taped to the wall in front of the work and it looked like some kind of bad, cheesy Satanic altar. I also had these old loafers on the workspace. My pal looked at the shoes and at the pictures of LaVey. I told him that they were actually Anton LaVey's shoes as I pointed to the picture. He got really creeped out as I put them on and they 'magically'� fit me too! I took them off and started toward him in a Dracula pose with the old loafers, saying (in a terrible Lugosi accent) "Come on, put on the devil's shoes''� and he ran like a scared kid!
Heh heh! The devil's loafers. I should put them on eBay!
Any advice for sculptors just starting out?
Yes. Practice, practice, practice! Don't be afraid of failure as you'll create far more failures than successes at first.
Throw away your ego in thinking that you'll be the next Michelangelo. You won't. Be grateful for every job you get where someone is actually willing to pay you money to sculpt! Never be late. This is a deadline driven business and if you can't hack that then this business is not for you.
Never think you are too good or too old to learn something new. I took a sculpting class from an eighty year old German woman a few years ago and it's the best thing I ever could have done to give my skill level a shot in the arm. She used to shake her fist in my face and say "I challenge you!" Bless her heart; she was right every time she did that!
I'll tell you the same thing Drew Struzan told me over twenty five years ago:.
NEVER SETTLE FOR SECOND BEST.
Also, play music you like and plan on drinking lots of coffee. Your sculptures will go faster that way!