ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

A LIFE OF Fantasy

For one young artist, a passion for mythical worlds is providing some amazing real-world opportunities.

Alyse Stewart details a work in progress in her Manteo studio.

PHOTOS BY RYAN MOSER / STORY BY LEXI HOLIAN

At 18 years old, Manteo local Alyse Stewart already feels as though she’s been an artist all her life – but it wasn’t always clear to her what she would do with her craft. Her impressive, award-winning artwork leans toward realism, and for a while, she thought comics might be her calling. But then she saw the character art depicted in fantasy games like Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: The Gathering.

“You see a person and think that’s almost a photograph,” she says. “But it’s actually a person from another world. It’s got a realistic quality mixed with the fantastic elements.”

The recent high school grad creates using oil paints, watercolors, digital mediums and charcoal and has been recognized locally and nationally for her compelling artwork. She’s had a talent for drawing from a young age, and her style was partially born of her fascination with board games, books and movies such as Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings and films by Guillermo del Toro.

Two of her favorite games are Dungeons & Dragons, a fantasy tabletop role-playing game, and Magic: The Gathering, a trading card game in which players cast spells and summon creatures depicted on the cards. In both games, character art is at the heart of the experience.

Magic is a must-play in the Stewart household, and after spending some time with the cards, Alyse began researching the artists behind the characters. She was immediately captivated by the work of artists such as Ryan Pancoast, Scott Fischer and Matthew Stewart. “That was it,” she says. “I was like, that’s what I want to do.”

Each piece begins with researching the subject and gathering references. Alyse has an abundance of history books, art books from masters like Rembrandt and Salvador Dali, and books on topics such as the artistic process behind the characters for the band Gorillaz.

“If it’s supposed to be a dark piece, maybe I’ll watch Pan’s Labyrinth or something that’s got an edge to it,” she says. “Or I’ll read some Clive Barker, or look at paintings from H.R. Giger to get into the right headspace and have that visual library in my brain. It’s all so that when I do the piece, I have the correct lens.”

As the daughter of the artist/owners of Silver Bonsai Gallery in Manteo, art has long been a constant in Alyse’s life. “Growing up, it’s just what I saw,” she explains. “My parents making art in their own way and being surrounded by it daily.”

She began studying art seriously in the seventh or eighth grade when she started taking anatomy and drawing classes. A quick painting today may seem effortless, but every work of art has years of experience behind it. She encourages anyone who is intimidated by art to take time to hone their skills, even if they think they don’t have talent at first.

“I was blessed with a gift, that I could draw from an early age,” she says. “But where I am right now isn’t all about talent. Talent gives you a head start, but it’s really the work you put in behind it.”

Beyond artwork, Alyse has a passion for music, having played the piano and cello for many years. Art is her form of creative expression, but it’s also her job, so music

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provides the opportunity to step away from a piece before going back to it with new eyes.

“It’s that breath of fresh air,” she adds.

In recent years, Alyse’s artwork has been recognized in numerous competitions. She’s even been awarded several scholarships, including one from the Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary for a piece inspired by patriotism that earned second place in a nationwide competition.

Having graduated high school this past June, Alyse has also been accepted to the Los Angeles Academy of Figurative Art (LAAFA) – a highly prestigious art school that gives out only 10 fulltime Bachelor of Arts degrees each year. Given the current atmosphere surrounding Covid-19, LAAFA won’t be bringing any new students into the program in 2020, so Alyse will attend starting in 2021.

That hasn’t stopped her from setting up a mentorship with one of LAAFA’s professors in the meantime, though. Artist Ron Lemen and his wife, Vanessa, are well-known in the illustrative world, with Ron having created artwork for Magic: The Gathering. This year, the Lemens have an online mentorship program that Alyse will be taking part in before she goes to LAAFA.

One medium she’s looking forward to learning more about from the Lemens is working in 3D, which includes physical and digital sculpting using programs such as ZBrush and Blender. She’s primarily focused on the 2D until now – the opposite of her parents – but is quick to point out the benefits of 3D.

“For 2D artists, it’s very important to know the 3D, because if you’re going to paint something 2D, you still want it to have dimension,” she says. “You want to know the form all the way around, not just what’s being seen, or else an image can look flat.”

This summer, Alyse is working locally on artistic projects with The Lost Colony and The Elizabethan Gardens. She’s also painting a mural for the Magic tournament room at Super Galactic Games ‘n Comics in Kitty Hawk and working on her personal artwork for future portfolio reviews. Though it’s an idea that’s still in progress, she’d like to start submitting work as well to Wizards of the Coast, the publisher of Dungeons & Dragons and Magic, as she continues to take classes and refine her skills.

“Right now, the dream is to be working for companies like Wizards of the Coast,” she says. “It’s simple, but I really want to be able to play some Magic and pull one of my cards from the deck someday – or be able to see a new D&D manual come out with my work on the cover.”

But potential fame isn’t what drives Alyse in the slightest. “That art is what inspired me,” she explains with a smile. “So I want to be able to do that for somebody else, too.”

Both finished pieces and initial outlines in a variety of mediums adorn18-year-old Alyse’s home studio.