Today we’d like to introduce you to Rachael Bryant.
Rachael, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I grew up in a family where everyone had some sort of artistic talent, whether that was working with metal, crocheting intricate dolls, making jewelry, tattooing, or building furniture that would survive alongside cockroaches in a nuclear apocalypse. I guess the narrative demanded we round out the talents, so I got the “fine art” skills in the family.
One of the fixtures, dare I say highlights, of the Bryant household, was the coffee table. It was this huge white marble slab that was always cool to the touch. My brother and sister, who were teenagers when I came into the picture, drew on this coffee table when they were kids. Always with pencil, because the porous nature of marble would make sure Crayon drawings became semi-permanent installation pieces…
To 6-year-old Rachael, this table was an endless canvas, seemingly tailor-made for artistic exploration. I let my brain spill out onto this table, and the next day or two it would be wiped down with Goo Gone, leaving a clean slate (literally) for the next idea.
Of course, as I got older and started to attend elementary school, I wanted to share my drawings with others. As marble is not known for its portability, especially in the hands of a small girl, I opted instead for a material that I could more easily fit into a child’s backpack. You know it, you love it, it’s paper. Like many little girls, I had a horse/unicorn phase.
Unlike many little girls, however, I actually had a horse! In fact, I grew up surrounded by animals — chickens, goats, rabbits, guinea pigs, dogs, cats, etc. I connected with animals a lot better than I connected with people. I still do. And like most 90’s kids, I grew up watching Sailor Moon, Pokemon, and Digimon, but on September 2nd, 2001, Adult Swim launched on Cartoon Network, and I was treated to my first taste of “adult anime,” Cowboy Bebop.
I soon became engrossed in anime and Japanese culture, becoming what the Internet “affectionately” (see: derogatorily) refers to as a “weeaboo.” Anime style became, in my mind, the peak of artistry, so I was content just to draw anime for the next seven years. In my senior year of high school, my AP Art teacher, Mr. Raygoza, sat me down. Many art teachers before him had tried to get me to branch out from the anime style, but I was stubborn and convinced that they just “didn’t get it.”
Mr. Raygoza treated all of us like adults, and I think he knew how to approach each student individually to get the best out of them. He gave me a simple task. “Here’s a picture of a bird. I want you to draw this bird to the best of your abilities.” I took this bird picture, probably slapped it down on my desk in a huff, and begrudgingly drew that stupid bird. To this day, I still have that bird drawing.
After high school, I went to San Jacinto Community College, where I stayed for a little too long taking every art class I could. I think I threw myself into school and making art because I was at a low point in my life. After a year together, my “first love” had unceremoniously dumped me, and none of my friends approved of our relationship from the start, so one by one they alienated themselves from me, including my best friend since middle school.
Soon, I was alone and confused and depressed. I was a poor student from a lower-middle-class family working at a movie theater, so therapy was out of the question. I made art to fill the void. They say you make your best art when you’re miserable and I have to agree. My muse and namesake, The Gilded Lady, was painted in my second-to-last year of college, right before I met the love of my life, Kyle.
On my first date with Kyle, I showed him all the artwork I guess I had been saving to share with a friend. Ever since then, he has believed in me harder than I have ever and probably will ever believe in myself. Without him, I don’t think I would have had the courage and emotional fortitude to put myself into the Houston art scene.
Almost five years ago, I quit my job at G.E. and became a full-time artist. I got my first booth at Comicpalooza that very same May, and subsequently, I got my first die-hard fans, a very nice couple who get commissions of themselves as comic characters. They come back every year to get commissions from me, and I have been able to watch their family grow.
Now their commissions include their son, like the latest one of Batman, Catwoman, and baby Robin. Since that first year, I have been in a Muir Fine Art Gallery group exhibit, and I am a mainstay artist at the Insomnia Gallery. Admittedly, I have always been a late bloomer. My artistic journey might be going a little slower than some, but at almost 30 I feel like I am finally coming into my own.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
My biggest obstacle is honestly myself. I have so many ideas floating around in my head, and I’m just as excited about this one as I am about that one, so I have a lot of trouble focusing my attention on one project and sticking with it! I also have a problem with perfectionism and needing to get everything “just right” the first time. The logical part of my brain knows this is impossible.
Unfortunately, because the majority of my work is hyper-detailed and I put my all into every piece I do, I am more susceptible to burn out. Thus, I take longer to complete things. So for something like a comic, a first page might have obviously been done five months ago, but in that five months my style has changed, or I’ve learned a new technique. This makes me start over a lot of projects because I want everything to look uniform. It’s an impulse I’m still learning to curb.
I also have social anxiety that differs in severity from “just kind of awkward” to “please don’t look at me” on a day to day basis. It is especially bad around people I view as artistic equals or superiors, so I am not very good at putting myself out there and networking. So… hopefully, this article helps with that a little bit!
The Gilded Lady – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
As I said before, I went through a horse/unicorn phase like many little girls. That love of unicorns never left me entirely. One of my favorite childhood movies was the 1982 animated classic The Last Unicorn. I was mesmerized by the Unicorn- her grace, her dainty proportions, her big eyes, the ornamental way her hair was drawn.
Tantamount to that, I am a lover of zombie media, and one of my personal heroes is Greg Nicotero, one of the biggest special effects artists in Hollywood. His work on The Walking Dead is inspiring, and his attention to detail awes me. I admire the amount of research he does to ensure he’s accurately depicting varying stages of decomposition. He tells a story just through little details, and I strive to do the same.
So, I incorporate those elements into my artwork. I think I am most known for my level of detail, the use of gold throughout my pieces, my clean line art, my bright palette, my use of freckles, and my subject matter. I call my art style Gossamer and Gore. To my mind, there is very little difference between drawing an intricate golden jeweled necklace and drawing the shattered bones sticking out of a rotting zombie face. They’re both fun to ink.
When I do work just for myself, I tend to draw feminine figures with hooves, tails, horns, big eyes, and impossibly long eyelashes. They’re usually wearing little more than gold jewelry. Every single one of these figures is inspired by the original Gilded Lady painting. They’re not so much her children as members of her court, creatures with their own power and story.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
I have been working on a graphic novel since my senior year of high school. It is the biggest project that I have started over, and I am embarrassed by that, so all my older friends know about it, but I don’t really mention it to new people. I have never stopped working on it, though, even if it’s just refining some dialogue or drawing the characters from time to time. I will never give up on it.
I think when I am holding a published, soft-cover version of that graphic novel in my hand, I will have succeeded as an artist and as a person. It will mean that my problems that hold me back from my full potential have been dealt with and I had the confidence to submit what I consider my magnum opus to public opinion.
Pricing:
- Commissions, 9×12 Pencil Sketches to Fully Colored Pieces: $15-$60
- Commissions, 11×17 Pencil Sketches to Fully Colored Pieces: $50-$120
- Original Prints: $10
- Stickers: $2
Contact Info:
- Website: https://thegildedlady.myportfolio.com/
- Email: thegildedladyart@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thegildedladyart
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thegildedladyart
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