When it comes down to it, comics is all about the art of storytelling. Some stories work best visually, creating both atmosphere and plot in one ink splash. Such is Ryan Heshka’s comics-inspired art. Inspired by vintage aesthetics, Heshka takes visual storytelling to the ultimate level, creating artwork that reminds of antiquated comics and pulp magazines, but with a modern twist.
“My aesthetic from the get go was vintage: I was an oddball kid who sought out visuals from bygone eras,” he explained once in an interview with WOW x WOW. “Its almost as if I were just born that way, wired into the past,” he joked.
Like most creatives, Heshka’s passion sparked early on. “I drew a lot as a child, and through my teens,” he explains. But his road to comics art was a meandering one, and he attended university for interior design, working in that field for about four years before returning to his original passion. “In the late 90s I relocated to Vancouver, B.C., and found my way into animation, an art form I have always loved,” he recalled.
“Around that time, illustration really caught my eye, so I created some promotional cards and sent those out, with the hopes of becoming a professional illustrator. Kate Larkworthy Artist Representation in New York liked my work, and I found myself, again, image making.”
His intuition proved right, and so far his illustrations have been published in esteemed publications like Wall Street Journal, Esquire, and the New York Times. He has also been selected to appear in American Illustration, Society of Illustrators, and Communication Arts. And with well over 50k fans on Instagram, you’d want to check him out.
