Koichi Sakamoto
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Southern California Chinese American artist working in Oil, Watercolor and Mixed Media.
- An Interview Creature Effects Genius Steve Wang
- Finding Inspiration in Ultraman
- A Rising Star Among Stars
- A Life-Changing Halloween at King Norman’s Toy Store
- Making An Impression at Stan Winston Studio
- Working as A Director
- Steve Wang’s Lessons in Practical Effects
Today's monster maker interview features the man who Guillermo del Toro calls “an unsung, or not-often-enough-sung, genius,” creature designer, monster maker and film director Steve Wang. CLICK on the video above to watch the FULL INTERVIEW. In our exclusive, brief video interview with Steve, he talks about discovering latex masks at a toy store in...
Award-winning special effects character creation artist and respected monster maker Steve Wang was born in Taiwan and moved to the United States at the age of 9. His greatest inspirations were the Tokusatsu superhero TV shows Ultraman and Kamen Rider, as well as Hong Kong kung fu films, including Master of the Flying Guillotine. (A young Steve Wang...
As a veteran special makeup effects artist and creature designer, Steve has worked with fellow veterans before him, including Stan Winston, Rick Baker, and Dick Smith. He collaborated and led makeup design on the iconic and original Abe Sapien character in Guillermo Del Toro’s Hellboy for Spectral Motion, as Art Director for Patrick Tatopolous Desi...
Coming from Taiwan, there wasn’t really a tradition of celebrating Halloween. Steve’s first exposure to the world of monsters was the Halloween display shelf of latex masks at King Norman’s Kingdom of Toys—a legendary, independent toy store in Northern California. Steve says, “Up until that time, all the masks I’d seen were cardboard…so seeing a fu...
Steve’s first industry job was for Stan Winston Studio on Invaders from Mars. Hired initially by Studio supervisor Alec Gillis while Stan was in London on Aliens, Stan came back for the production and, impressed with Steve’s style, encouraged Steve’s work as a creature painter for the drone brains. On set, Steve learned the value of communication w...
Steve has received great praise for his two film adaptations of the manga superhero Guyver (The Guyver and Guyver: Dark Hero). Another project that drew attention to him was the direct-to-video movie Drive, which starred Mark Dacascos & Kadeem Hardison. He also made independent films, such as Kung Fu Rascals, based on a series of 8mm short films he...
“Of all the guys who were the masters when I got started,” says Steve, “Stan was really my mentor…The thing that I took away from Stan the most was how to appreciate what I do. I was more of the self-hating perfectionist, but Stan pulled me aside and said, ‘it’s okay for you to tell yourself you did good, to be proud’ and it made a lot of sense to ...
Steve Wang designed a sculpture depicting Sarah Kerrigan (The Queen of Blades), a character from the Starcraft Universe in 2012. The sculpture was placed at the Blizzard Entertainment Office in Versailles, France the same year. He has also made statues of Tryndamere and Ryze, two champions from League of Legends, for Riot Games that same year.
Artist, IP Developer
“I don’t like horror movies,” smiles Steve Wang, a self-taught artist and sculptor. It’s a startling confession from the famed creature creator, who envisioned and then brought to life the rapacious alien in 1987’s sci-fi horror flick Predator when he was barely 20 years old.
Master artist Steve Wang creates memorable characters as a designer, effects artist, entrepreneur, and film director of creature effects-driven feature films.
Steve Wang. As a veteran special makeup FX artist and creature designer, Steve has worked with Academy Award winners Stan Winston, Rick Baker and the legendary Dick Smith. At Stan Winston Studios, Steve was the lead concept designer, sculptor and painter behind one of Hollywood’s most memorable creatures, “The Predator.”
