Home - Metal Lifestyle - Art - Spotlight Artist: Monte Moore

Monte Moore
By: Eva Jarkiewicz
Date: Aug, 2010

Having been a fan of Monte's art for roughly 15 years you would think that working on Monte's spotlight for Metal Life Magazine would be an easy task. But how do you summarize the work of an artist that is as prolific and diverse as Monte? It's been a challenge and hopefully you will feel that I have done his talent some justice here. Strangely I recall the Comic Book store and the employee that first introduced me to Monte's work but I no longer recall what comic it was. Since then I have been fortunate enough to have met Monte at the San Diego Comic-Con over at least 10 years and even commissioned a piece, "Vixination".

I still remember the day I spoke with Monte about what it was I wanted the piece to be. Having learned over the years of attending Comic-Con that sometimes less instruction is better with an artist, all I asked was for a piece that was fitting for somebody with the nickname of 'evil-twin', a woman of strength where strength was not necessarily physical. The only added item was naming a couple of his pieces that to me fit that last criteria. When I received the finished piece I was completely blown away. Even knowing the quality of Monte's work I was blown away by the result.

Monte Moore is not your average artist, as you will realize when you begin to explore the various artistic ventures that Monte has pursued. Most artists have one area of expertise, one medium that they excel at. Monte seems determined to be an exception and never fails to surprise me when he expands his skills in a new direction.

Born in 1971, Monte is the youngest of four sons of a ranching family. As a teenager Monte thought he would become a doctor. Fortunately for the art world, he changed his mind and pursued a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Design and Illustration from Colorado State University.

Monte has gone on to create numerous works of art, independently published 6 books of his fantasy and pin-up artwork. And if Monte's art looks familiar that may be because he has gone on to design over 100 resin fantasy and gothic sculptures for 3 different international giftware manufactures. Monte's client list includes names ranging from Lucasfilm Ltd, Sony Online, Playboy, Harley-Davidson, Sturgis Bike Week, DC Comics, Marvel Comics, Image Comics, Moonstone Comics, Devil's Due, Harris Comics and many more. His work has appeared in Spectrum: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art several times as well as being a two time winner of the World Fantasy Art Show for Best Black and White Art.

You would think that so many ventures would be enough to keep Monte busy, but you would be wrong. Monte has a well known passion for motorcycles, which of course means that he loves to not only collect them, ride and tour them, but more importantly to paint them. So what does an artist with such a passion do? He sets up Maverick Custom Paint www.maverickcustompaint.com for his custom motorcycle paintwork.

Still not satisfied, Monte has branched out to a new medium for his art yet again. As an avid movie fan it shouldn't be much of a surprise that Monte has now expanded his artistic ventures to include writing and co-producing screenplays. At Comic-Con we were fortunate enough to see footage for the most recent horror film with the working title of End of the Road. From that footage I'm now waiting for this film to either be picked up by a studio or to be produced on DVD as I need to see the full story.

Denver based metal band The Threatened are working on the title track for the movie and Monte is working the art for their new album. Monte had previously worked on their logo and artwork for one of their shirt designs.

Keep an eye on Monte Moore, as he has his artistic hands reaching out to all forms of media and we are sure that he will continue to amaze his fans, new and old alike.

Web: Official Site

Here are some examples of his work:

All art copyright Monte Moore