An interview with comic illustrator Christopher Taylor aka AlphaCMT
Christopher Taylor, aka AlphaCMT, is a digital illustrator and comic book artist from Virginia who’s been in the game for a while. He’s been professionally drawing since the 80s, and has worked for DC comics, Marvel, and worked on several independent comics too.
Nowadays he draws simply what inspires him, such as men he finds attractive, politically motivated illustrations such as an original piece of Mayor-elect of NYC Zohran Mamdani, and my personal favorite: a fusion of pop art mixed with mecha-inspired elements!
It’s super easy to find yourself in a rabbit hole scrolling spree once you go to his Instagram, because his art style is so detailed and interesting. I’ve known Christopher for a few years now and whenever I need a pick-me-up of creative inspiration, I take a stroll into his artistic headspace by just looking at all the amazing work he’s done. I am obsessed with his work.
I wanted to pick his brain a little bit and let the world of bears into his universe too, so check out my interview with him below!
Bryce Quartz: Hey there, Christopher! Thanks for taking the time to speak with me. How are you doing lately?
Christopher: Hey, you know what? I’m doing ok. I’m hanging in there! This is a crazy timeline we’re living in at the moment!
I agree with you there! It’s always a pleasure talking with you, and I’m excited to dive into this interview. Can you tell us how long you’ve been an illustrator and how you got into being an artist?
Well… I think I’ve been doing this professionally in one capacity or another since 1987. As for how I got into being a artist, I guess I can thank my Aunt Karen. She introduced me to comic books at an early age. By the time I was in high school, I knew I specifically wanted to be a comic book artist.
When you told me before that you worked on comics and lived in NYC doing it, I was so fascinated and proud to even know you. What was your experience like being a comic book illustrator, good and bad?
Well I have to make a slight correction there. I was living in Philadelphia, my home for the majority of my adult life, but I was always in New York as it’s just two hours away. I guess I kinda grew up in both cities as it were. I partied in NYC and eventually started getting work there too.
As far as my experiences goes… well it was a wild time! Kudos to all the artists making it on their own, but it was extremely helpful to make friends who had the same interests as I did. For me, that was the mutual love of Anime and Manga, and making comics! Eventually those friendships formed the basis for an art collective and studio called Maximum Overtime.
My mentors in the studio were Martin King and comics legend Paris Cullins. Paris was really riding high at the time co-creating and drawing Blue Devil followed by Blue Beetle. Paris was always incredibly fast by most standards but he couldn’t do everything he wanted.
That’s where the studio came in. And we really patterned ourselves after manga studios in Japan. So some of us would read the scripts and do layouts, while others would do backgrounds. Paris would swoop in and do tight pencils. As a result we’d typically crank out a 22 page comic in 2 weeks. And we did a LOT of books like that. New Gods, Superboy, Speed Racer, Dreadstar, Animal Man are the ones that stand out in my mind.
So the studio was the stepping stone for me. I graduated into doing comics on my own. My first series I did was Shuriken. Ironically it was created by another Philly artist Reggie Byers. I’ll always hold Reggie in the highest regard, because he was an editor at a small comic startup that would go on to do big things called Comico. He gave me my first decent critique when I was trying to get work fresh out of high school.
I never forgot his words of encouragement. After Shuriken, I went to work for Dark Horse and landed the ALIEN3 movie adaptation. For me back then, THAT was a big deal. In fact, I still get royalty checks from it. Not big ones mind you, but you and I can go get McDonalds every quarter if we want!
Anyhoo, I went to DC and got sporadic work on an anthology book called Showcase, and landed three fill in issues and part of a annual on my favorite book of all time Legion of Super-Heroes! That was a dream come true for me. I went to Marvel and only did one thing for them at the time. A half issue of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.
As for bad experiences? Well I’m reminded by a question Paris Cullins posed to me early in my career. It resonated back then… but now, not so much. He said, “Chris do you want to be a comic book artist, or an illustrator? Because you can’t be both.”
I always took a more illustrative and graphic design approach to my work and that cost me in speed. I was never the fastest artist and it became apparent that I’m definitely NOT a monthly book guy. And I spiraled into depression because of it. By the end of the 90’s I was pretty much out of comics.
Every time I see your work that you have published now, I am always amazed at your skill and pure talent. What are some of your favorite pieces that you’ve done over the last few years?
Well there’s a big jump in skill level as to what I can do NOW as opposed to what I could do then. And I attribute that jump to moving to NYC in 2015. I had spent 5 years working at Pearl Art and Craft and 13 years working in the front desk dept of the Marriott, both in Philadelphia. All the while still freelancing.
In fact, from 2007 to 2009 we even got the band back together again in terms of the studio Maximum Overtime. Unfortunately, with mixed results. We were developing a Heavy Metal style magazine called Gritz & Gravy that never quite got off the ground. Only one issue is in existence. But. I learned so much! Come to find out I really am a graphic designer as well as an illustrator.
During those days, I was still only thinking in black and white and my artwork was still very much comic book adjacent. That all changed when I moved to NYC. Even when you’re poor and you don’t think you have access to a lot resources, there’s no place like it. Seemingly, everyone is all about their hustle, and when their creative aspirations coincide with yours, magic can spark.
I didn’t set out to retrain myself to digitally paint, but that’s what happened. Because certain clients saw in me potential I didn’t even see in myself at the time. Apparently I COULD do likenesses. Apparently I COULD grasp color theory. Apparently I COULD paint… with a mouse[!] Which is fucking crazy to me when I think about it!
So yeah, my almost 4 years in NYC had a profound effect on my creative process. And I came full circle back to that question: do you want to be a comic book artist, or an illustrator? Turns out I think I’m much more accomplished as a painter than I ever was as a comic book artist.
As for my favorite pieces? The politically charged ones. The ones where I thought I was going to get cancelled for because I dared to have an opinion. If This Pig Could Talk was my response to the death of George Floyd. It’s visceral, raw, and unapologetic with righteous anger. It along with TIA [This is America] were the two seminal pieces that helped land me my latest gig with Penguin Random House. I think that’s fucking amazing given this country’s current anti DEI sentiment.
My other favorite was a triple portrait piece of Lil Nas X. He never saw it, but Penguin Random House did and that landed me an IRONHEART book cover. It was a decent paycheck but sadly no one saw it. Marvel shelved its IRONHEART series for what? Three years? It appears the book got caught up in that. But the lesson we should all take away from this is that fan art is legitimate art and it’s always going to land you a gig if it’s good enough.
And my favorite piece of the last few months is my fan art of Zohran Mamdani. I really wished his team had officially acknowledged it as I tried to reach out several times, but I’m really really quite proud of that work. It’s extremely straight forward, it’s got the MTA bus for the fast and free buses, beautiful brownstones for the freeze rents [hey we can all dream to affordably rent part of a Brownstone!] and a loving mother with her child in the park for the free child care.
Bonus points for anyone who saw the mother’s Ugandan dress as an easter egg for where Mamdani was born. And yes anyone who’s interested can purchase it on a t-shirt or other merch! Shameless plug I know!
The videos that you put out showing your illustrations being drawn from start to finish are always insanely cool to watch, it gives a really cool insight visually into your process. For further insight into your process, can you tell us what gets you into “the zone” and what goes through your mind as you create?
Thank you very much! Yeah the time-lapses are very cool, I love pairing them to house music or K-pop! But beyond the coolness factor they serve a very important purpose. Now more than ever I think it’s important whenever possible for an artist to show their PROCESS.
A.I. can do what takes me days to weeks in seconds. And as a cruel secondary gut punch, if one’s work is extremely technical, or semi or hyper realistic it’s easy to be accused that your work is either completely done by A.I. or A.I. assisted. The time lapses kills that noise.
As for what gets me in the zone? More often than not… House music. By far my favorite genre of music to listen to.
You do such a wide variety of art and I’m a bit obsessed. Can you tell us a little bit about the different things that inspire you?
For starters, creative people like YOU. It’s what I miss most about being in NYC. I could bump into you at Rockbar, or the subway, or the Strand bookstore, a brief conversation later I’m finding out you’re a rapper and you’re finding out I’m an artist. Before you know it we’re collaborating! That shit happens all the time in NYC! It’s crazy energy. Beyond that, social media. It keeps me informed and it keeps me current. With it I have some semblance to what trends are popping off!
Let’s get a little bit off topic to lighten the mood, what is your go to feel good meal? I’m always hungry and want your suggestions!
Well first I want to give a shout out to my husband of twenty years Sebastian. He really is an excellent cook! Everything he makes he knocks out the park. But beyond that, and it’s probably going to sound a little stereotypical… but i loves me some fried chicken, collards, mac and cheese [with a little spicy kick to it] rice and gravy. Basically, your typical soul food go-to’s.
Back to the art, do you have any crazy stories as an illustrator that you’ve experienced and can share with us?
Truth be told… not really. Overall, I’ve had really wonderful clients over the years! But nothing too crazy comes to mind. I think that’s a good thing.
Lastly, where can we find your work and are you taking commission requests?
Honestly, I really am all over the place. Tiktok, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Threads, Bluesky, Facebook, Artstation, Cara, Behance. It’s all in my Linktree! And yes I’m definitely taking commissions! My email is usually pretty prominent regardless of social media platform, so if you have a legitimate inquiry please don’t hesitate to contact me.
It was such a pleasure chatting with you, Christopher! Anything else you’d like to leave our readers with?
Yes! We’ve focused on what I would consider my “mainstream” career, but I’ve really made an effort to become more accessible to the bear and bear adjacent communities of which both me and my extended family are a part of. My husband and myself have created DURTY BEAR and it’s currently very much a boutique experience where one can pick up my Bear themed artwork either on T-shirts or other merch.
The catalog reflects my ability to illustrate realistically to pop art cartoons. So there’s really a lot of variety to choose from. And finally, this is definitely a shot out to all the Bear bars and event promoters who actually want to use real Bear artists in their community instead of using A.I. slop, here’s your opportunity. I’m happy to assist!
Be sure to follow Christopher on his social media, check out his artwork, and stay up to date with what he’s doing next!
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