Local artist shares his talent in a new way

Steffon Moody, a well-known islander, is now The Beachcomber’s “go-to” artist for editorial cartoons.

By Elizabeth Shepherd • June 11, 2020 1:30 am
Steffon Moody, a well-known local artist and performer, is now contributing his meticulous pen-and-ink drawings to adorn the opinion pages of The Beachcomber (Susan Riemer Photo).
Steffon Moody, a well-known local artist and performer, is now contributing his meticulous pen-and-ink drawings to adorn the opinion pages of The Beachcomber (Susan Riemer Photo).

The Beachcomber is pleased to announce that Steffon Moody, a well-known islander, is now our “go-to” artist for editorial cartoons.

Except — as anyone has who has looked at our opinion pages this week or last week knows — Moody’s work really can’t be defined by the word “cartoon.” The artworks adorning our pages these past two weeks are meticulous pen-and-ink drawings, captioned to comment on tumultuous current events. In the future, readers can also expect more reflective and even humorous works by Moody on these pages. All are sure to have a distinctly Vashon flair.

Moody began his career as a visual artist at the age of 16, working as a theatrical set painter at the Muny Opera in St. Louis. He learned the craft of set painting from his father, Robert Moody, and a crew of 14 painters. Their weekly task was to paint the scenery for an entire musical on one of the largest stages in the United States. Paint, literally, flew.

Moody now teaches drawing and design at DigiPen School of Technology; a gaming and animation college in Seattle, WA.

His website, steffonmoody.com, showcases his prolific work in the 2D mediums of oil paint, ink, graphite and charcoal. Each medium elicits a different kind of storytelling. He uses only three colors (plus white) in his oil paintings —cyan, magenta and yellow, known as the CMY color wheel. All other colors are derived by mixing those three.

Moody has a BFA in painting from Washington University in St. Louis , and has worked as an artist for the Muny Opera, St. Louis Repertory Theater, Greg Thompson and SuperScenics. He also took a 30 year tangent as a performer, first with Vashon’s UMO Ensemble and then with his own company, Chameleon Performance. More about this company can be found at chameleonperformance.com.

He lives on Maury Island with his wife, Arlette, his daughter, Louisa, and his son, Giacomo.

We are proud to showcase the creative, sensitive and sometimes powerful punch of Moody’s artwork on our opinion pages. We thank him for his contribution to our newspaper during this time.