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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