It is shameful that, until his name appeared on last year's Hugo
ballots, so few people outside his native Australia knew much
about the work of the artist *Nick Stathopoulos* -- in fact,
many confessed to not even knowing the name. All of that has
changed over the past twelve months or so: later last year the
anthology_ Dreaming Down Under _walked off with a World Fantasy
Award, and earlier this year its Stathopoulos cover was nominated
for a BSFA Award. Nowadays_ everybody _knows the name! The Paper
Tiger Online Gallery
(www.papertiger.co.uk/ezine/fantasy_gallery/index.html) is proud
to have a great selection of his work on show. A busy man, Nick
nevertheless gave generously of his time for this interview:_
*PS:* First of all, the question on everyone's lips -- are you
going to be able to make it to Worldcon in Chicago in three
weeks' time?
*NS:* Sadly no. I'm running behind on a major mural project . . .
six huge paintings of classic Australian steam trains. The
largest is 16ft long! I pretend I'm N.C. Wyeth when I paint these
things!
I have a couple of other projects bubbling away . . . and
getting a flight back was going to be a bit of a problem thanks
to the Olympics. The Australian dollar is nearly 50% down on the
US dollar . . . so when you add all of those things up . . .
sorry, no trip to the US this year. Wish I was going tho.
*PS:* Talking of the USA, I know a lot of US fans beef about the
fact that so very little Australian fantasy/sf fiction is
published in the States, and I get the impression this is true in
spades about Australian fantasy/sf art. Have you found that it's
retarded your career in any way that you don't live in the USA?
*NS:* The short answer . . . yes. Well, things are improving --
for writers anyway. The World Fantasy Award winning anthology
_Dreaming Down Under_ edited by Jack Dann and Janeen Webb is just
about to be published in the US with my original Australian-
edition cover. That should mildly redress the dearth of Oz
fiction. There are Australian writers who have made inroads . . .
Greg Egan and Sean McMullen are probably the best known.
But so little sf and fantasy gets published here, it's
mostly imported from Britain and the US. Has being in Australia
retarded my career? _What_ career? I get maybe one or two covers
a year. And the pay! About a quarter of the lowest US rates.
Pathetic! The US reprint fee for the _Dreaming Down Under_ cover
is more than I got paid for the original here! To make matters
worse, publishers here have discovered PhotoShop, and now do
these appalling CG covers in-house. Woeful stuff.
*PS:* How active is the fantasy/sf art scene in Australia? I know
there are some excellent artists there, because there were some
fabulous Oz submissions (your own included, I hasten to add) for
the Paper Tiger Online Gallery. Is it much of a community, or do
you tread your separate roads?
*NS:* Not really a community as such. There are some excellent
artists residing around the country. Like the incredible, young
and gifted Shaun Tan, who won a Gold medal in the recent
_Spectrum Best SF and Fantasy Art_ volume. Marilyn Pride, who is
famous for her painted stones and dinosaur books. Then there's
Gregory Bridges, who paints these super-detailed cityscapes and
spaceships. There are some up-and-coming talents too . . . like
Marco Nero -- only names to your readers, but they are all
talented artists. I was amazed at the work by Wayne Haag on the
Paper Tiger Online Gallery. Wow! (Bravo to all who laboured hard
on the site -- looks great!)
Sadly, we do tread separate roads. The tyranny of distance,
work commitments, and the low level of fannish activity don't
help either.
*PS:* As you know, I'm especially nuts about your cover for
Cherry Wilder's _Dealers in Light and Darkness_. Do you have any
particular favourites of your own?
*NS:* Thanks. That happens to be one of my favourites -- I'm a
sucker for a sad robot too. I like cover for _The Man Who
Melted_, and a big painting of the Yamato I did a few years back,
both in oils. That was a technical nightmare. But I'm not really
too keen on my own work.
I think it's common for artists to not like their own work.
All they see are the mistakes and the shortcuts. I get a lot of
pleasure "image fixing" from other artists' work. I tend to
prefer the art I do for small-press publications because they
give me more freedom, and they don't get art-directed into
banality.
It was interesting to see my work on the Paper Tiger Online
Gallery (another plug!) in conjunction with the work of others. I
realized that I don't really have an identifiable style, unlike
say Brom -- whose work is distinctive and greatly admired. I try
to tailor each cover to the feel and contents of the book, but at
a personal stylistic cost. No two of my covers looks alike in
that gallery. That's probably not a good thing.
*PS:* And, as a kind of corollary to the last question, if you
were to be given the opportunity to do the cover for any one
particular book you've never illustrated, which one would it be?
Likewise, of course, for the interiors . . .
*NS:* Oh! What a fabulous question! My instant image response was
not for literature but for music. I'd love to design Wagner's
Ring Cycle, or take a whole bunch of my favourite pieces of music
and do an exhibition's worth of paintings based on each piece.
The viewer would listen to the track while looking at each
painting or sculpture.
I find music very inspiring. I've discussed doing this with
a talented composer friend of mine, Peter Miller. I've already
painted a cover for one of his CDs -- _Love Vs Gravity_, which is
featured in the Online Gallery. Maybe a book and CD combo . . .
CDs are so cheap to burn these days.
While I was art-directing a computer game company they
_almost_ bought the rights to a _Lord of the Rings_ game. (In
hindsight that was a mistake!) So I started sketching and
imagining my own Middle Earth -- that's about to become well
trodden territory. Now I mainly fantasize about my own universes
and projects . . .
*PS:* How did you find the experience of working as a
backgrounder for Hanna-Barbera? And Disney? Did you find the two
companies different in their approaches to their artists?
*NS:* I learned a lot in the five years I freelanced . . . I
became adept at freehand airbrushing . . . analysing a subject --
reducing it into simple components . . . and I really learned to
speed up. All lessons I carry with me today.
I was painting five or six backgrounds a day. I'd also paint
the elaborate opening and closing pans, which were showcases. I
didn't just paint backgrounds -- I occasionally did special-
effects animation, or sculpted maquettes of characters when they
needed to be realized in 3D. Oh . . . I also learned how to play
the airbrush trumpet!
Hanna-Barbera was fun. I liked the work environment and the
goofy (no pun intended) atmosphere. Disney was totally different,
even though the same artists transferred there when Hanna-Barbera
closed down. It was kinda like working for the CIA or something
. . . everybody was constantly looking over their shoulders, so
serious. They wanted us to wear uniforms! Sheesh! I wanted mouse
ears . . .
*PS:* Have you ever done any animation of your own?
*NS:* Oh yes . . . I was working single-handedly on an animated
_Titanic_ short (for years!) but got beaten to it by some guy
with a two-hundred-million-dollar budget. So, sadly, it's now
shelved. And, as the Australian Film Commission told me when I
tried to get funding, no one's interested in the _Titanic_. (I
actually turned down working on Cameron's _Titanic_, but that's a
different story.) I've worked on commercials and stuff in the
past. I've moved on to bigger pet projects now . . . although I
love animation -- to the point of obsession -- particularly
Miyazaki's works . . . and I loved _The Iron Giant_ . . . there's
some great computer animation in kids' TV these days. Seen the CG
_Starship Troopers_? Amazing!
(If you're very good I'll scan you some images from
_Titanica_.)
*PS:* Everybody is constantly remarking on how very good I am, so
yes please! As well as illustrating, you've also written some sf
of your own. Talk us through that facet of your career, please.
*NS:* This is a minor facet of my work . . . a hobby really. I've
had a couple of short stories published -- which of course I've
also illustrated. I adapted a story by Terry Dowling into a short
film script. I'd love to write more fiction, but there are only
so many hours in the day! I've got some kids' books I'd love to
do one day. (One involves the robot you love so much, called
_Morris Lives in Tomorrow_.) I'm also concentrating of some film
scripts . . . but more about that later.
*PS:* What of media? Which ones do you find yourself most
inspired by?
*NS:* Everything. No! Honest! I'm inspired by so much! Other
artists, books, movies, nature, CG, music. I play music as I
paint. All sorts of things . . . I've got Bowie, Bauhaus, BBE,
the soundtrack to _Gladiator_ and Kraftwerk in the CD carousel as
I type this. I love to compose my own music, which I haven't done
for some time. Film is great . . . because it really is the
_Gesumkunstwerk_ -- the "total work of art" . . . where all
disciplines come together to create one great artwork. But
there's nothing like the frisson of a spectacular painting to get
me going.
*PS:* Have you ever worked much in 3D?
*NS:* As a sculptor, yes. Lots. I used to make latex masks for
masquerades, models, puppets. As a computer 3D artist no . . .
altho I'm working with a friend who is translating some of my
designs as 3D computer objects. I really want to get into this.
I'm fascinated by Jim Burns's transition into 3D and computer
graphics . . . so seamless! I've seen other fine artists become
totally anonymous in the CG environment, but not Jim. His CG is
so _Jim_! You can't tell it's CG. That's very heartening.
*PS:* What would be your advice to a new, young fantasy/sf artist
in Australia contemplating embarking on her/his career?
*NS:* Just do it . . . look at Wayne Haag! He's a Melbourne boy
who's now working around the world on all these amazing films.
The only barrier to success is your own talent. Simple.
*PS:* And the inevitable final question: what of the future for
Nick Stathopoulos? Are there any exciting plans just about to
come to fruition? And are there any longer-term dreams . . .?
*NS:* Ha! I've got to clean out my studio . . . I just can't
bring myself to throw out any scrap of paper . . . and finish
those bloody trains!
Exciting plans . . .
Perhaps! I've just completed my second feature-length film
script. The film is designed and mostly cast. All the locations
have been scouted . . . it's now going to my readers at a major
studio and the relevant funding bodies. I hope to direct it later
this year. But I'd leave this one in the "longer-term dream"
category. I love the idea of my artwork alive on a big screen.
*PS:* Nick Stathopoulos, thanks a million!