About Kurt
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What's going on, readers. The name is Kurt R. "Gunrose" Sunderland. I am an artist, as well as the author of the upcoming Records of the Astral series of fantasy books and the historical fantasy novel, Crownlands. I'm mostly an introverted person in real life, but since you've come to the About page and everything, I figure I'll tell you a bit more about myself. The progress of my art and writing has intertwined throughout my childhood and later years. As such, I'll share some history of both from the beginning.
Born and raised in Oakland, California, I've been writing and drawing since I could start forming sentences. My genre of choice was often fantasies inspired by the video games I grew up with around the same time. I religiously played many old school 90's classics at home, all thanks to the fact that my older siblings were hardcore "Sega" guys back in the day. My first games were Golden Axe, Sonic the Hedgehog, Space Harrier 2, Mickey Mouse: Castle of Illusion, and Shining in the Darkness, among others.
My artwork is also rooted in fighting games; specifically, the artistic side of the fighting game genre. As a casual pencil artist since I was a child, I've always been inspired by "interesting "character designs. If you're well-acquainted with the top fighting game franchises, there's no doubt you respect something about the artwork & visual designs of many of the characters. Not only their visual appearances, but their storylines and movesets can be inspiring in a variety of ways. Many fighting games can easily be considered "works of art"... not only due to the intricate game designs themselves (and many of their brilliant soundtracks), but due to the countless 2D artworks, 3D renders, and animations that were created from scratch by amazingly talented, legendary artists.
On that note, major inspirations behind my visual art goes to the master artists who are responsible for some of the most inspiring and skillful video-game art of all time...just to name off a few; Bengus, Akiman, Shinkiro, Edayan, Takuji Kawano, Kinu Nishimura, Daigo Ikeno, Falcoon, Nona, Eiji Shiroi, and Daisuke Ishiwitari, among others.
However, my writing would not be where it is today if it weren't for the multitude of books, movies, and works of art that came before it. When constructing and writing the story of what became Umbral Siren around my high-school years, my goal was to make my own branch of the supernatural action/horror genre, but with more emphasis on the psychological horror aspect. In order to do so, I looked at and studied an extensive collection of works by masters in the fields of horror, storytelling, and film-making, the majority of these being Western works of art.
One of the largest contributors to my collection of literary inspirations is Stephen King. King has become so widely-recognized as a master of the horror genre, that most of his writing has been adapted for film and television. In his book about horror fiction, Dense Macabre, Stephen King describes three different types of horror: Terror, Horror, and Revulsion. While Horror and Revulsion are visceral reactions to monsters jumping out or aliens bursting through chests, as well as blood and gore in general, terror is a psychological effect we feel when imagining the horrors to come. It is this psychological terror of Stephen King's books, along with the lore of his stories that inspired me. Other inspirations include Dean Koontz, Robert McGammon, Ira Levin, Richard Matheson, David Lynch's Twin Peaks, Alejandro Jodorowski, Roger Zelazny, Nnedi Okorafor, Octavia Butler, and others.
Aside from all of the above, I enjoy researching early Medieval European and African history; particularly West African kingdoms (Mali Empire, Songhai, Oyo, Benin, Ghana, Ashanti) and the early kingdoms of Western Europe after the fall of the Western half of the Roman Empire (Frankish-Germanic tribes, Anglo-Saxons, Merovingians, Carolingians, the Danes, Visigoths). I also have an eclectic taste in music - (early 90s rap, RnB, 80s Rock and alternative, 80s Japanese funk, smooth jazz, New Age, Vaporwave), practice Bujinkan Taijutsu, read about politics and philosophy, have an interest in Tarot, and make mischief with friends while going out of town or state on occasion.
I live in San Leandro, in the Bay Area of California with my father and older sibling.
Born and raised in Oakland, California, I've been writing and drawing since I could start forming sentences. My genre of choice was often fantasies inspired by the video games I grew up with around the same time. I religiously played many old school 90's classics at home, all thanks to the fact that my older siblings were hardcore "Sega" guys back in the day. My first games were Golden Axe, Sonic the Hedgehog, Space Harrier 2, Mickey Mouse: Castle of Illusion, and Shining in the Darkness, among others.
My artwork is also rooted in fighting games; specifically, the artistic side of the fighting game genre. As a casual pencil artist since I was a child, I've always been inspired by "interesting "character designs. If you're well-acquainted with the top fighting game franchises, there's no doubt you respect something about the artwork & visual designs of many of the characters. Not only their visual appearances, but their storylines and movesets can be inspiring in a variety of ways. Many fighting games can easily be considered "works of art"... not only due to the intricate game designs themselves (and many of their brilliant soundtracks), but due to the countless 2D artworks, 3D renders, and animations that were created from scratch by amazingly talented, legendary artists.
On that note, major inspirations behind my visual art goes to the master artists who are responsible for some of the most inspiring and skillful video-game art of all time...just to name off a few; Bengus, Akiman, Shinkiro, Edayan, Takuji Kawano, Kinu Nishimura, Daigo Ikeno, Falcoon, Nona, Eiji Shiroi, and Daisuke Ishiwitari, among others.
However, my writing would not be where it is today if it weren't for the multitude of books, movies, and works of art that came before it. When constructing and writing the story of what became Umbral Siren around my high-school years, my goal was to make my own branch of the supernatural action/horror genre, but with more emphasis on the psychological horror aspect. In order to do so, I looked at and studied an extensive collection of works by masters in the fields of horror, storytelling, and film-making, the majority of these being Western works of art.
One of the largest contributors to my collection of literary inspirations is Stephen King. King has become so widely-recognized as a master of the horror genre, that most of his writing has been adapted for film and television. In his book about horror fiction, Dense Macabre, Stephen King describes three different types of horror: Terror, Horror, and Revulsion. While Horror and Revulsion are visceral reactions to monsters jumping out or aliens bursting through chests, as well as blood and gore in general, terror is a psychological effect we feel when imagining the horrors to come. It is this psychological terror of Stephen King's books, along with the lore of his stories that inspired me. Other inspirations include Dean Koontz, Robert McGammon, Ira Levin, Richard Matheson, David Lynch's Twin Peaks, Alejandro Jodorowski, Roger Zelazny, Nnedi Okorafor, Octavia Butler, and others.
Aside from all of the above, I enjoy researching early Medieval European and African history; particularly West African kingdoms (Mali Empire, Songhai, Oyo, Benin, Ghana, Ashanti) and the early kingdoms of Western Europe after the fall of the Western half of the Roman Empire (Frankish-Germanic tribes, Anglo-Saxons, Merovingians, Carolingians, the Danes, Visigoths). I also have an eclectic taste in music - (early 90s rap, RnB, 80s Rock and alternative, 80s Japanese funk, smooth jazz, New Age, Vaporwave), practice Bujinkan Taijutsu, read about politics and philosophy, have an interest in Tarot, and make mischief with friends while going out of town or state on occasion.
I live in San Leandro, in the Bay Area of California with my father and older sibling.
EDUCATION
Laney College - Graphic Design
Berkeley City College - Art & Animation
Laney College - Graphic Design
Berkeley City College - Art & Animation
Six of the best - some of my Favorites:
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