About

Hi, my name is Stephen Stark, but please just call me Steve. I’m currently an illustrator based in Austin, Texas, and I’ve been painting long enough to still own my original Intuos3 drawing tablet.

I’m formerly a Lead Background Supervisor at Powerhouse Animation, working on Netflix’s Castlevania, and the Background Supervisor for Castlevania: Nocturne. In my off time, I’ve been slowly chipping away at a series of illustrations focusing on the ordinarily extraordinary everyday person you might find in fantasy settings. To me, those worlds demand a different kind of lifestyle and effort than the common jobs we have in the real world, and I wanted to create a series that explores that idea. In contrast, by the end of the series I hope to have a cast of characters that reflects the diversity of the real world—various races, genders, body types, and more—as opposed to the limited scope often seen in traditional fantasy stories.

Through those personal illustrations, I’ve been given the amazing opportunity to work with the incredible Wizards of the Coast on their flagship card game, Magic: The Gathering. This has allowed me to collaborate with an extraordinary assortment of art directors and explore a variety of properties tied to the game.

I’ve also had the pleasure of having two of my pieces—"Surprise!" and "Soulsmith"—featured in Spectrum Fantastic Art, an award-winning annual collection showcasing some of the best fantastical art in the world.

I can be reached at steves@i-stark.com