There are so many things that can spark a child's artistic imagination and aspirations: an adored animated movie or show, their parents' artistic tastes, comic books, a special trip to a museum. But for Spokane digital pop culture illustrator Ryan Shumate — who's done work for entertainment giants like Marvel, NBC Universal and Sony — that love of art traces back to a sublime yard sale find.
"Honestly? [It started] when I got a box of Star Wars toys in 1989. My mom got it from a garage sale," Shumate says. "I loved all of the different characters, and I immediately got to drawing..."
Fast forward to May 2025 and Shumate put those childhood skills to the test when he was hired by Lucasfilm to create official digital posters for Season 2 of the acclaimed Star Wars series Andor. The stunning mirroring diptych posters center the profiles of the show's two opposing female forces: the cold hostility of the Empire's Dedra Meero gazing toward the Death Star and the warm hope of Rebel Alliances' Mon Mothra looking upon the Rebel's logo in the sky.
It's top-tier poster design that showcases Shumate's skills, which he's also shown off in art for films like Uncharted and Marvel's Shang-Chi, video games such as Horizon Zero Dawn and musical acts including Elton John. The trademarks of his style include vibrant splashed colors and comic book style with dark, bold saturation, loose shapes and compositions. You can see some of Shumate's work and meet the artist when he sets up shop at Lilac City Comicon this weekend, June 7 and 8, at the Spokane Convention Center. Surprisingly, it'll be the first time Shumate has been a guest at — or even attended — a comicon, but it's a stop on his journey that's been in the works since those early days sketching action figures from a galaxy far, far away.Originally from Idaho Falls, Shumate was drawing as far back as he can remember. Unsurprisingly, he was always drawn toward subjects of his favorite shows. From Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to Power Rangers, if it was on TV, Shumate was drawing it.
Despite being an artsy kid, Shumate didn't really imagine it might be his job someday. The starving artist narrative was drilled into him early. Yet still wanting art to be central to his life, he attended the University of Idaho to study art education (where he also met his wife). After earning a degree and dipping his toes into the classroom, he decided he couldn't teach properly until he upped his own artistic chops.
In addition to Ryan Shumate, this year's 'Con includes plenty more artist and comic shop booths, plus guests like Rodger Bumpass (voice of Squidward on Spongebob Squarepants), a host of Star Wars TV series actors (Robert Timothy Smith, Barry Lowin, Stephen Oyoung), an array of comic book artists (Arthur Suydam, Larry Houston, Warren Montgomery,) two-time Lego Masters champion Krystle Starr, The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit actor Jed Brophy, and many more.
"I never saw myself working within the art field unless I was teaching it. I have a huge passion for helping and teaching kids. So that's why I went for the art education degree," Shumate says. "However, upon student teaching for just a little bit at Lake City High School in Coeur d'Alene in 2015, I realized it wasn't my vibe and it wasn't my time yet, and I really wanted to still apply myself artistically before I was teaching anybody."
Shumate transitioned to doing graphic design for local businesses. At the same time, he was becoming more interested in the trend of artists making amazing alternative movie posters. Companies like Mondo specialize in these limited-edition screenprinted posters, and many aspiring artists have taken to creating the uncommissioned artworks as a way to show off their creative chops in a way that could potentially find a viral audience online.
In 2018, he quit his day job to pursue art. While it hasn't been the easiest of roads, eventually some of Shumate's designs started to garner some online buzz. There was an unnerving green-drenched poster for The Fly, his own bursting-with-color "Cotton Candy Dinosaur" series, and a cosmic Black Panther poster of T'Challa on the Ancestral Plane. Eventually, these caught the eyes of Poster Posse, a California-based company that links artists with major companies looking to commission official art. Shumate joined Poster Posse in 2021, which has since led to paid work for companies like Disney.
Before anyone heads out to Lilac City Comicon to check out Shumate's booth, keep in mind that part of doing the work for massive pop culture entities means there's a restriction on what artists of his ilk can actually sell. He can't just print off posters of everything he makes because he's working on copyrighted properties. In order to sell their designs, artists like Shumate must go through a process of getting pieces licensed through galleries. They're careful not to break any rules for fear of being blacklisted by said companies for selling unauthorized prints. For example, Shumate could sell a striking Batman Beyond print that he got licensed by DC Comics via Sideshow Collectibles, but cannot peddle copies of his recent Star Wars work.
"It's funny with this Andor situation — I hadn't opened my shop emails in forever. But the influx of attention that I [got the week the posters were released], I've had to tell so many people, 'I'm so sorry, but I can't sell prints,'" Shumate says. "And that would've been nice, but I respect that. You do not want Disney coming after you being like, 'Why are you selling Star Wars drawings?'"
Delving into other mediums, Shumate did his first comic book cover last year for Rise. Properties on his dream list to make posters for include Superman and Tron. He also hopes to get into the world of creating book covers at some point.
He's also striving to get more connected with the local art community to help him get outside of his comfort zone. That can be tough because many of the visual art institutions exclude artists who work in Shumate's space, i.e. creating tributes to existing pop culture. Beyond selling some prints, a big draw of Lilac City Comicon is simply having a space to connect with the people swinging by to look at his work and chat up other exhibitors.
From a kid doodling Star Wars toys to a full-grown adult working for Lucasfilm, Shumate can't help but smile while remarking about the fact that his job is now a version of what he was doing oh-so-many years ago.
"It's pretty full circle from a box of action figures to this." ♦
Lilac City Comiccon • Sat, June 7 from 10 am-6 pm and Sun, June 8 from 10 am-4 pm • $17-$22 • All ages • Spokane Convention Center • 334 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. • lilaccitycon.com
