Phantom X-Ray Goggles

Ryan Heshka was born in Manitoba, Canada, and grew up in Winnipeg. Fueled by long prairie winters, he spent a lot of his childhood drawing, building cardboard cities and making super 8 films. Early influences that persist to this day include antiquated comics and pulp magazines, natural history, graphic design and music, movies and animation. Formally trained in interior design, he is self-taught as an artist. His illustrations have appeared in Vanity Fair, Playboy, Wall Street Journal, Esquire, the New York Times, Smart Money, and on the cover and interiors of BLAB!. He has been selected to appear in American Illustration, Society of Illustrators, and Communication Arts. In addition to gallery shows across North America and Europe, he has produced the "Mean Girls Club" comic book and graphic novel, and the recently self-published comic book "Frog WIfe". He lives in Vancouver, Canada with his wife Marinda and daughter Roxy. Graphite is a versatile and widely used medium in art, primarily known for its soft, smooth texture and the ability to create fine details, shading, and gradients. It comes in the form of pencils or sticks, with varying degrees of hardness, ranging from very soft (6B, 8B) to very hard (H, 2H). The softness or hardness of the graphite determines the darkness or lightness of the marks it produces. When used in drawing, graphite allows artists to achieve a range of effects, from precise, sharp lines to soft, velvety shading. It is often favored for its ability to create tonal depth and realistic textures, making it a popular choice for portraiture, still life, and landscape drawing. Its subtlety and versatility also make it ideal for sketching and underpainting for larger works. Founded In 1991, originally as Copro/Nason Fine Arts began as an entity to curate art exhibitions at museums and local galleries and publish lithograph & silk-screen prints. The first contemporary cutting edge artists that Copro/Nason worked with were Mark Ryden, Robert Williams, Big Daddy Roth, Shag, Pizz, Von Dutch, Coop and many others. In 1999 Copro/Nason Gallery was opened In Culver City and soon transcended the limits of Lowbrow. By incorporating gothic-inspired visons of fantasy, horror, and surrealistic excesses into an ambitious program, mixing acknowledged masters with newer talents such as Sas Christian, Amy Sol, Audrey Kawasaki, Lori Earley and many others Copro/Nason soon began to take shape.