Matte painting involves a variety of tools, including digital painting, photomanipulation, 3D, and of course, compositing. Every artist has their own tools and background, which makes it interesting to interview artists and see where they stared, how they progressed, what they were influenced by, and the projects they’ve worked on.
In this interview, we sat down with Nick Giassullo, a matte painter from San Francisco who has worked on a variety of projects including artworks for the videogame Fable.
Hope you find this interview enlightening!
- Your Name: Nick Giassullo
- Your Age: 26
- Location (City or Country): San Francisco
- Your website or portfolio: http://www.giassullofx.com/
- Software you use: Photoshop, Maya, Nuke
Thanks for taking the time to interview with us. First off, could you tell us a little about yourself?
Currently I’m a freelance matte painter at Rhythm and Hues. I have matte painting experience in feature films, commercials, and video games. I recently graduated from Academy of Art University, where I focused on matte painting in their VFX & 3D Animation department.
How did you get started with digital art?
Before getting into digital art I was a fine artist, usually working in graphite, charcoal, and oil painting. But it felt limited in ways when compared to working digitally. So now my pencils and brushes sit in my closet collecting dust while my wacom gets most of the use.
From a creative standpoint, is it easier to work on personal work or client work?
I prefer client work. Personal work its all on your shoulders everything from a rough sketch to a final piece, it’s kind of daunting in that sense. I do my best when working on client work because of the collaborative effort and the fact that I can focus more on my painting while not working in a vacuum as I do on personal stuff.
Can you describe your typical workflow when you’re working on a project, whether it be personal or for a client?
Usually I’m given plates and references to start off with. Then I start building up the matte. It can start to get crazy when having so many layers in photoshop so its important to have thm organized in separate folders, generally foreground, mid-ground, background, and sky. Then when the matte painting has been approved I layer the painting out so it can be projected on cards or geometry with a camera move.
If you could choose an artwork from your gallery that you would choose as a favorite, what would it be?
What program do you do the majority of your work in, and why?
Mostly photoshop for matte painting. Maya for camera mapping setup and integrating 3D elements. Also Nukes 3D environment for final camera mapping and compositing. Recently I got my hands on Vue which works great for creating atmosphere and base plates to work off of in photoshop.
What’s been your favorite client project to work on?
I had alot of fun working on the cinematics for the recent Fable trailer. The deadline was really tight, but the enthusiasm and positive energy from everyone at Rhythm and Hues made the project run smooth.
Do you use any external hardware such as a drawing tablet?
Right now I use a Intuos 3 Graphic Tablet.
