Meet Scott C.!



Based in New York, Scott C's work spans a wide spectrum of media including paintings, children's book illustrations, and video games. He usually works in watercolor, applying the paint in a delicate yet splotched manner, such that there is a controlled and intuitive roughness to his pieces. In many ways, this particular roughness gives off the impression of intentional imperfection, a visual technique that lends itself towards Scott's interest in recreating childhood nostalgia.

A graduate of the Art Academy in San Francisco, Scott has since used his illustration degree to pursue a wide variety of projects. His most notable artistic achievements include his art direction in acclaimed video games, Psychonauts and Brutal Legend, as well as his Great Showdowns series and Double Fine Action Comics. 

Your work often draws on a wide spectrum of pop culture. Are you inspired by topics that are nostalgic to you? Can you share any more about this?

It is true! Pop culture is a big influence on my paintings. I am inspired by nostalgia and making fun of the things that have influenced my life since childhood. Well, maybe it's not making fun really. Or, maybe it is. We're laughing together, pop culture and I. I like to feel good and make people happy. Oftentimes people are pretty happy when they recognize things and discover things. I like to create paintings that give people those moments. 

I've worked in video games for about 10 years or so, creating concept art and storyboards for Double Fine Productions. The biggest projects were probably Psychonauts and Brutal Legend.  Working on those titles taught me about backstory and meaning behind the way things look and how environments and characters themselves can tell a story. While working at Double Fine, I made comics and watercolor paintings for galleries and made visits to comic conventions. Video games, comics, and galleries were all very different venues for creating stories and they all fueled my creativity differently. Each made an impact upon the other. Children's books are a rather new medium for me, but it's one that I have been excited about exploring since I was young.  Kids create the craziest stories, so it is fun to try to think in that realm. The one media I would love to explore is film and also live performance...and puppets.  I would like to try all three of those things actually.

It took me awhile to find comfort in my painting medium. I tried acrylic and gouache, but they all felt too dense for me. Watercolors have an awesome airiness to them that makes me feel super good. I like getting the texture and looseness as well. My style is pretty janky with a shaky line because I like imperfection. There is more character in a weird effed-up line than in a perfect line, I feel. I'd like to get into more textures actually, like collage. I've always wanted to go back and try oils again though, which was my absolute favorite long ago.
 

I have always been fascinated by children's art and stories. I wonder where the heck they get these crazy ideas from. They create insane scenarios that adults struggle to come up with. I used to work with kids an awful lot and I enjoyed listening to their stories as they painted. I would like to think that some of that energy has crept into the narratives that I create in my paintings.

The most enjoyable reaction I could get from someone observing my paintings is laughter, a little pointing, and even smiling. I could go with smiling just fine. I realized a while ago that that was what was most important to me when people experience my artwork. But I don't like to shovel it out to everyone. I like to lay out a few little things and make them subtle so that they can piece it together themselves. Other times, they are obviously just overly preposterous.  That's how it goes.

The idea for Zombie In Love came from my editor at Simon & Schuster, Namrata Tripathi. Kelly wrote a super funny story with really descriptive notes and ideas on jokes. Most of the illustration process was coming up with visual gags with Namrata and Sonia Chaghatzbanian, the art director, to enhance the story. They were all amazingly clever people, so the process was very enjoyable. It's incredibly satisfying to make each other laugh when you all respect each other's tastes. So that's how it went, and I enjoyed the process very much.
 

Mortimer had to be a lovable dude. But he also had to be a zombie. Zombies are terrifying and gross usually, so we had to make him pleasant enough for kids to want him to succeed in finding someone special. I wanted to make him look sort of optimistic and eager, so that you don't get too sad when he is failing all the time. And we had rules for the goriness as well. We could have body parts fall off, but it had to almost look like a doll. And no messed up skin. I tried having worms coming out of his skin, but it was decided that that was going too far. So we kept him blueish. People turn blue when they die, I think I read somewhere.

Well, I have his plaid shirt for sure.

Yeah, man. Keep trying over and over again and go to any dance titled "Cupid's Ball" and if you hear someone fall down and make a crashing sound behind you, turn around!  It may be that super special someone, but if it's not, that's ok, too.

I do have an art book coming out! it is called Amazing Everything. Insight Editions is putting it out and Jack Black did a special little foreword for it. It compiles many of my paintings in the past few years from various shows including some things from Home Slice and Great Great Grand Show at Gallery Nucleus. Just a bunch of things. It will be hard bound and largeish and it'll sit nicely on coffee tables or people's laps.

I've got a variety of little group shows going on. Some book things are in the works. The Great Showdowns are still happening.  Summer is still happening. Fall is almost here. All kinds of things!

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For his latest exhibition with Nucleus, Justin Gerard honed his illustrative talents to recreate his own vision of St. George and the Dragon.  Aptly titled, St. George and the Dragon, the show consists of seven fantasy-driven pieces, a combination of pencil, ink, and watercolor drawings, each capturing a passage within the story. Justin is no stranger to this kind of content—his portfolio displays a diverse eclecticism of monsters and magic having done fantasy concept art for Warner Bros. and Insomniac Games. We were fortunate enough to catch up with Justin and ask him a few questions about his Gallery Nucleus Show. Here are some of his thoughts on the St. George tale, his re-visioning, and his creative process.

"I have always enjoyed the St. George legend and have contemplated doing a short series on it for some time. Some of my interest in it is in the simple, straight-forward enjoyment I get out of man vs. monster themed works. And knight vs. dragon is perhaps the most archetypical variation of this theme in Western culture.

But much of my interest in the story is also religious and personal to me and is a bit hard to explain with words. I have always had an easier time making sense of, and communicating, these sort of feelings through visuals, rather than through words. Words never seem to really capture what I am after. Sort of like seeing and experiencing a sunset and taking a photo of it with a digital camera. As good as the digital camera photo may be when seeing it later, it never seems to measure up to the actual experience.

It is likely that I will return to the St. George legend in the future. When preparing for this show I created several dozen thumbnails, many of which I was pleased with, but due to the limitations of time, was unable to pursue. There are also other themes within the overall legend that I would find compelling to explore."

When asked about the particularity of the scenes he had chosen to illustrate, Justin remarked that they were a product of heavy rumination and meditation and that they best reflected his own feelings at time. He also added, "Like other illustrators of the fantasy genre, I just really like drawing dragons." Who's to argue with that one?

Justin also spoke with uncertainty on how "St. George and the Dragon" would fit into his large catalogue of work, even hinting that this re-envisioning was only just the beginning of what he hoped to explore. 

"Possibly it will find a common thread with the rest of my work because the man vs. monster or man vs. impossible circumstances themed works have existed and will likely always exist in my work. I suppose also that the limitations of my own abilities and the technical peculiarities of my own methods of working will likely brand these as creations of mine. But I am not really sure how they will fit in. I feel like I am still just sort of getting started with everything. There is so much more I want to explore, so many other stories I want to tackle that I am not certain how these pieces will fit in." 

And as for the actually creative process?  From the sounds of it, it's very meticulous and thoughtful, often requiring the piece to undergo many transformations before actually arriving to its finished state.

"Generally it involves a lot of conceptual work in pencil and then more conceptual work in digital.  I spend a lot of time early on trying to separate good ideas from bad ideas. (Or at least that is the plan...) After this I will do a very tight drawing to size. Then I will transfer that drawing to bristol board and watercolor the piece. For some of these I will often take that watercolor and then work digitally over that to further refine it. I have an idea in my head, often from the very first thumbnail I did of a scene, and sometimes I can achieve the colors and ideas in my head with just watercolor, and sometimes I can't. When I can't seem to get it through watercolor I almost always finish the painting digitally. I hate not being able to really capture what's in my head. It's sort of like waking from a really amazing dream and remembering that it was amazing but not being able to remember anything about it."

Lastly, we asked Justin about any recent sources of inspirations and how these may have aided him in his creative efforts.

"I took a backpacking trip along the John Muir trail recently, and like most backcountry trips, it was very inspiring.  I tend to spend most of the earlier parts of these trips hating hiking, camping, people, traveling, switch-backs, and mosquitos.  But by the end I end up loving life and people again.  And I tend to come back with a much better perspective on everything afterwards. Getting out and away from everything does a lot for me. The John Muir trail is an amazing place for reflection, meditation and inspiration.  And also to get eaten by mosquitos if you go at the wrong time of year."

So if you haven't already, be sure to come by Nucleus and check out Justin's St. George and the Dragon and be on the look out for his upcoming piece in Nucleus's October show, Breath of Embers.  

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The work of Jeremy Enecio reveals not just a young master who commands his media with precision and passion, but an artist who knows how to convey strong haunting atmospheres laced with symbolism and curiosity. For his latest Nucleus exhibition, "Embodiments," Jeremy uses these strengths to explore his recent fascination with nymph mythology.  But rather than recreating the image of the nymph, Jeremy uses the nymph as a foundation, a fertile base in which his own ideas can expand and grow. In a short interview, Jeremy was kind enough to illuminate the processes behind his work, shedding light upon the nymphs, their meaning, and the significance of their recontextualization.  Here are his thoughts on the nymphs and the fascination behind them.

"For some reason, I’ve always found nymphs to be quite fascinating even among the myriad other creatures and characters written in ancient Greek mythology.  Maybe it’s the simplicity behind their very being; spirits of nature depicted as beautiful women.  They personify forests, bodies of water, valleys and mountains.  I’m interested by the idea of inanimate objects and spaces having souls and visualizing them in human form. Looking back, I noticed that the majority of the figures in my work were embodiments of one thing or another, whether it be chaos, harmony, light, balance, etc.  I wanted to explore this more by delving into man-made constructs, like beauty and poverty."

When asked about the nymphs and the man-made constructs, Jeremy revealed that this juxtaposition was meant as a way to explore his own understanding of modern concepts.  Taking these ideas and appropriating them to paint has allowed him to turn the tangible into things of visual substance. 

"I like to think of nymphs as not having any one true form, yet they reveal themselves in particular ways.  In most traditional cases they are human females. I took this a little bit further using spirits, perceived visually, to represent not only objects, but concepts.  They act as icons, or proxies to otherwise invisible things.  Nymphs are also bound to their environment, perhaps because they are their environment.  This idea plays a key role in this series in that the figures only represent part of what makes up the nymph.  They are not isolated from the elements surrounding them.  In “Poverty,” the two figures in the distant background, indifferent yet capable of judgement, are an extention of the central figure as an embodiment of that particular experience. 

Most of us rarely look at the world we live in without being bogged down by societal influences.  We see beauty the way we were taught to see it. We use technology and can’t imagine life without it.  I wanted to convey these ideas in a timeless way.  The idea of the nymph is an ancient one, and using it to illustrate modern ideas forces the viewer out of their own modern perception of things."

As for the dark and brooding aesthetic quality to his work, Jeremy spoke of these decisions as being intuitive and without the intentionality of being creepy or haunting. 

"I think as an aesthetic, it has always been subconscious in my work.  Often times, I don’t even see a piece as being dark, whereas someone else would find it utterly creepy.  Although most of the pieces in this show are admittedly somewhat dark, the concepts I’ve chosen to illustrate are not altogether negative.  Technology, for instance, is by no means a bane on humanity, but I’ve represented it as a figure in struggle, awkwardly attempting to balance on artificiality, and with multiple eyes to view the world simultaneously, there is a sense of bewilderment.  I think images that bring negative issues to light have a bigger impact on me and stick with me more intensely than an image without any tension."

When it came to the actual creation of the work, Jeremy outlned the process from notebook sketches to finalized painting. Here's what he had to say on the production of "Embodiments":

"I started off with notes, jotting down ideas of what I wanted to see embodied in human form.  After I narrowed down the ideas into a group I was happy with, I focused on symbolism, trying to incorporate certain motifs and personal symbols into the sketches.  This is a challenge because it’s important for me to pull from my own vocabulary of meanings and keep away from universal symbolism.  The finished pieces are a mixture of acrylic and oil.  I am constantly experimenting with different techniques which is why there are so many variations of paint application in this series. That’s the fun part for me.  I painted all of the pieces sort of simultaneously, keeping a close watch on how they all fit together.  At several intervals, placing them all side by side to make sure they felt like one body of work while at the same time, having a good variety of color schemes."

When asked about the future of his work and what direction it would take, Jeremy seemed uncertain, but seemed quite pleased with how things were turning out, stating that he was enjoying the direction in his subject matter.

Currently, Jeremy has taken an interest in film, and has been following the works of numerous directors including Stanley Kubric, Quentin Tarantino, Akira Kurosawa, Takashi Miike, P.T. Anderson, Park Chan Wook, and the Coen Brothers. He is particularly obsessed with the cinematic masterpiece, "Baraka." We look forward to how these influences will make their way into Jeremy's work!

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We are excited about tonight's opening for many reasons including a fun raffle contest where Junko Mizuno fans can take home some really special items. All attendees will each receive 1 free raffle ticket and additional ones are available for $1 each. At least three prizes will be awarded at 8pm, 9pm, and 10pm.

Prizes include...

• Zodiac Girls Sticker Set 
• Melvins Letter Press Print
• Exclusive Giclées 
• BIG Magazine Poster
• Cinderalla Silkscreen (artist proof)

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We've got a brand new Junko Mizuno exclusive graphic t-shirt coming your way! They're coming hot off the press and will available for this Saturday's show. Pick one up while you can!


And here's a sneak-peek at the design... It's only a mock-up, but the final design will feature silver foil covering the white flowers and bunny skull. Stay tuned for actual pictures!

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