Artist Spotlight: The Insanely Talented Matt Peppler

Obviously it wasn’t simply the style of art that caught our attention; it was also the subject matter.  Horror classics were spread across this small booth that were done in a clean and classy style. Just how Modern Horrors likes it. This was clearly a guy who had a love for the genre. Some of his works, like Outpost 31, show that there is more than a passing knowledge of some of these classics. Once again, dad takes the blame for this. ” He loved horror movies, and he shared with me the movies that he loved. The guy was a doctor and probably the most intelligent and thoughtful person I had ever known. Here he is, sitting me down in front of the TV, telling me about this crazy movie that we are about to watch. That there was this crew of astronauts in space on a voyage home and there is a creature on the ship trying to hurt them, and the crew has to figure out how to stop it. The movie was Alien, and I was 7. Most of my friends’ childhood included Disney movies. Mine had The Thing, Night of the Living Dead, Nightmare on Elm Street, and Friday the 13th.” This appreciation for horror movies was one of those secrets kept between father and son. ” It was a secret that we kept from my Mom for a very long time. She did not approve of most of the movies that I loved.”

[pullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”#b20000″ class=”” size=””]”Most of my friends’ childhood included Disney movies. Mine had The Thing, Night of the Living Dead, Nightmare on Elm Street, and Friday the 13th.”[/pullquote]

The thing about choosing a creative occupation is that it isn’t always a glamorous life. Much in the way a band hits the road to promote an album, Matt has done the same thing on the convention circuit. I was sure that going from hotel to hotel would have been a stifling experience for a creative spirit such as Matt, but he had a very different outlook. “Life on the road is better than I thought it would have been when I first began appearing at cons in artist alley. I didn’t think that I would enjoy being on the road as much as I do. I love seeing the cities that I go to and meeting people along the way. There are always hiccups along the way, and it’s easy for anyone to concentrate on the negatives even when the positives are more abundant. I could go into horror stories and misfortunes that I have experienced, but those are only moments in a long timeline.”

Matt attended his first con in March 2014. He had hopes of meeting like-minded people and perhaps even landing a freelance gig. Those things did in fact happen, along with receiving feedback from the public. I think we can all relate to the dreadful feeling that occurs when sharing something we’ve worked hard to create. It was no different for Matt, but it should come as no surprise that his work has been well received. “For a long time I created artwork for myself. I was only trying to please myself and become better at what I was doing. My third convention was Motor City Comic Con in May of 2014 and that was when the artwork turned a corner, at least from my point of view. It was the first time that anyone had ever asked [me] to sign my own work. My friend was with me who had a camera and he was quick enough to take a picture of it. That may not sound like an important event to people, however it was extremely validating. I had worked very hard. Long days and short nights for a very long time, and to have someone spend their hard earned scratch on an illustration that I made; and then ask myself to sign it was an amazing feeling. That little moment is when I knew that I was no longer making artwork strictly for myself.”

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