Steven Chorney is a graphic designer and illustrator.[1]
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Steven Chorney was born in 1951, Washington, DC. Raised in Buffalo, NY, and having no formal art education, Chorney moved to Southern California in 1971 to pursue his dream of becoming a visual artist. "My father was trained as a commercial artist in Toronto, Canada. It may be said that he made the largest impact on my decision to follow this chosen field."[1][2]
Steven landed a position with a small independent agency on the Sunset Strip in Hollywood, animating and designing television commercials. In 1976, his entry to the Chicago International Film Festival garnered the First Place Award for Animated Television Commercials. Later, while creating numerous freelance assignments for the recording industry the marketing departments of some of the major Hollywood studios began to take note. "A turning point came" relates the artist, "with the creation of a movie poster design for the film Lassiter starring Tom Selleck and Jane Seymour". The bold approach was a departure from the standard montage often seen. Others took note as well, and the assignments began to come in. "I like to think it was something I did...but more truthfully, I was in the right place at the right time."
Over the 1983-86 period, Chorney created dramatic illustrations for over 50 TV Guide advertisements for CBS and NBC television programs, including, Dynasty, Miami Vice, Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer, Private Eye, T.J. Hooker, and Cagney and Lacey. In 1987 his work on the popular television series Designing Women won First Place in The Hollywood Reporter Key Art Awards for Television. The artist's drawing skills and dramatic technique
have been applied to over 120 motion picture campaigns for many of the major studios including Disney, MGM, Universal and Warner Bros.[3] Recognized for his design and conceptual abilities, Chorney was frequently enlisted to develop the preliminary designs for the final movie posters on films as diverse as Who Framed Roger Rabbit, James Bond License to Kill,[4] Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and many more.
"As with many other artists in this field, a large percentage of our work was in the creation of preliminary designs which were never seen beyond the presentation stage. Some of these works rivaled the final painting in detail. But it didn't matter, we loved what we were doing!" "Often artists were used to create initial designs and layouts for presentation while yet another might actually finish the final painting. At times it was a scheduling reason, (sometimes one artist was faster than another or already busy on assignment) other times it was a conscious decision for a certain look. Some artists visualize well, others paint well, sometimes they did both."[5]
"Deadlines were of such critical importance there was little time to wait for sending art to another area for creation, revisions etc. There were no computers to immediately transfer electronic data as seen today. The general rule of the day: only artists from the Hollywood area were called in. As a result, the pool of talent was a relatively small roster of reliable artists who could withstand the constraints of producing artwork 'on demand'. At times the completion of the final poster painting would be required within a 24 hour period! A demanding profession indeed! But it was exciting too!"[5]
Still working, the artist’s paintings may be seen illustrating magazine covers and books such as the popular Star Wars young reader series and others. In addition, Steve Chorney has been creating works for Universal Parks & Resorts, Paramount Parks, Disney Parks, numerous State Tourist attractions, as well as private commissions and Gallery works. He currently lives near Santa Barbara, California.
Chicago International Film Festival, First Place Award for Animated Television Commercials, 1976.
Hollywood Reporter, Key Art Award, Television, Steven Chorney, Designing Women, 1987.