The following article was written by CHAMPION himself & was published in OUTCOME #7 in 1989. Article © 1989 OUTCOME. 
Images © Steve Masters/Man-Age Press all rights reserved. 
The images may not be published, reproduced or used in any way, shape or form in any manner or media without the express written permission of Man-Age Press.

When STEVE MASTERS, artist extraordinaire, designed "BIG" magazine for CHAMPION in the mid-60s he was already the darling of Madison Avenue with his unusual and much-sought-after, eye-catching technique in advertising art, which was a highly stylized and personally original as the sexually erotic plates of art he was creating for CHAMPION's publications.

Steve sketched and beautifully shaded naked muscles of the most virile and handsome males of his day who would sit still, undraped, long periods while Steve worked his magic.

Part of his magic was to draw a bit of himself into his work, harmonizing his own best features with those of his models into a loving marriage of masculine beauty.

Another part of his genius was being able to create his wonderful works of art in reverse on the underside of transparent vellum paper., then to paste his sexy figures to colored paper, selected for it's flesh tone, cut and shaded most sensitively. The method was repeated for backgrounds surrounding his near-nude figures, meticulously accomplished and so harmoniously appealing to the subject matter.

At 18, Steve had entered Columbia University as a medical student where he used his then considerable artistic talent to help pay for his education by drawing life-like anatomical figures for fellow student papers and newly published medical books.

His increasing love for the human body and the accomplishments of translating that love into art strongly directed a future toward his highly successful and lucrative career as an advertising artist, which fortunately for us, spilled over in his spare time to the erotic art commissioned by CHAMPION, which Steve enjoyed doing so thoroughly.

Married and the father of a beautiful young daughter, Steve tragically left our world still in his prime. Most of his sexually oriented art was willed to the Kinsey Institute, where Steve also had once given himself to a film study of male to male sex.

CHAMPION presented all of the original art he still had to The ARCHIVE.

MAN-AGE Press was given the right to act as agent & sell photographic prints of Steve's work.