| Joe Vaux: The Importance of Never Growing Up Too Much |
| Written by Nathan Spoor Friday, 06 March 2009 12:22 | |||||||
Page 1 of 2  Joe Vaux... what can be said? Well, he's an interesting character as well as having the skills to knock out some of the more pop-toon-tastic paintings this side of anywhere. And, he's not afraid to never
grow up. That, and more, through here...
Nathan Spoor interviews artist Joe Vaux.  "Last Thing Standing" My name is Joe Vaux, born Joseph Nikolai Vaux in 1972. Im the product of two amazingly talented and loving parents. Both my mother and Father are Professors of art and actively show their work in galleries around the world. Dad paints tranquil abstract landscapes that can sooth the soul. My mom creates amazing detailed pencil drawings of feathers and flora. But probably their most amazing work was done in the sack when I was conceived. (Ha! Just kidding) We had a family group show back in 2006 in my home town and the best comment I heard came from a friend talking to my folks: Richard, Sandra, your work is so calming and peaceful what the hell happened to Joe? Well Ill tell you... I think my first true love was Star Wars. I saw the movie when I was 5 and like most kids it blew off my buster browns. I was pretty obsessed with everything about it, playing for hours with my action figures. Building ships out of Legos, making drawings. It was awesome! Now take a pinch of Star Wars and add an intense interest in fairy tales, Dr. Seuss, Smurfs, legos, monsters, music and an uncle-who-liked-to-scare-the-living-shit-out-of-me-AND-you and you can begin to get a sense of my building blocks.  "Reset" I didnt start painting until I was a junior in High School. It was around this time that I started to think about my future and possible paths to journey down. After getting some books that revealed a bit of the amazing art generated by the special effects team working at ILM, I thought "Thats what I want to do. With my parents guidance I began construction on a portfolio that would get me into a great college art program. I ended up choosing Syracuse University for many reasons. It had a great art and film program without being strictly an art school and I was able to get a bit of a financial scholarship. For the next four years I really buckled down and learned from teachers, friends and on my own. By my sophomore year I decided to focus on a degree in Illustration. I really enjoyed and blossomed during these college years. I was by no means ready for the world when I graduated high school. Those years of school opened my mind to new techniques and styles as well as gave me time to figure out my artistic voice. I met my wife and many other great friends there and consider this time to be exactly the bridge I needed to enter the professional art world.  "Squatter" Like any artist Im inspired by my surroundings. By day, I work as an assistant director on the Family Guy. I work with some pretty amazing artists who constantly inspire my creative juices. These guys and gals could draw me under a bridge and make me want to improve my craft. Another source of inspiration is my family. Whether its my dog attacking my feet or my son twirling in a princess dress or my wifes jokes - my idea bin is usually filled. Other things that float my creative boat are: weird plants, random junk in the street, clouds, movies, music, wacky people and of course: animals.  "Matee" When Im searching for a new painting idea, I take these elements into consideration. I scramble them up and start doodling in my sketchbook. I think my best ideas hit me when Im lying in bed just before sleep. Once I lock in on an idea it sticks in my brain. Since I seem to get mentally overwhelmed easily, I only have one painting on the desk at a time. As one image is nearing completion I start the brainstorming for the next piece and off I go again. A lot of people ask if I do detailed drawings before I paint and the answer is no. I hate doing things multiple times probably because of the nature of my day job. (Animation requires a lot retread of ideas) As a result, my sketch phase never really gets beyond a crude thumbnail. Every once in a while a main character in a piece will get a little more design attention but more often the final image doesnt appear until Ive drawn it up on the finished board. I start with an under-painting , then draw in the details of the composition. After that I sit down and start chipping away at the madness, painting from back to front.  Sketches for "A Meeting of the Mind"  "A Meeting of the Mind" There is a big difference between the work I do in animation and my personnel work. With my paintings there is only one person I need to consult, myself. In the office setting you are part of a team working to create a product. Many minds and hands generate the work contained in an episode. Its obviously a lot less personnel but still rewarding.  Sketches for "Breach of Contract" As an assistant director on Family Guy I work closely with my director to take two scripts a season through the storyboard process. We generally have two additional storyboard artists working with us to transform a script into the visuals the audience will see on the TV. After we receive a script we begin with a thumbnailing stage where we work out a lot shot selection. A lot of thinking and design is done during these couple of weeks. When these are approved we work on tightening the drawings and locking down the character acting. This process takes about 7 weeks. After more notes are addressed we build an animatic, which is a filmed storyboard with audio track and some sound effects. When the episode is locked, timed, checked and design is completed we are ready to ship. All the finished animation is done in Korea. Soon after shipping its time for us to begin a new episode and everything begins again.  "Breach of Contract" Im hoping that this year I will be working with Mark Murphy of Murphy Design to put together a nice collection of my work in a book form. Ive been wanting to do this for a while and think that Mark is the guy to really make a Joe Vaux book sing.  Oh, A day in the life of Joe Vaux. Get ready to get excited! The family wakes up at about 7am. I take my lazy dog for a poop walk around the neighborhood. When we return my son, Zander is usually up and eating some breakfast. I sit down and chow on some cereal with my man and we talk about silly stuff. Then we usually play some crazy running games around the house while the the lazy dog suddenly feels inspired to tackle me around the legs. 8am its time to go to work. Ill sit in some lovely LA traffic for about 20 minutes then pull into my building. Once inside, I fire up the old computer and start attacking my storyboards. Around 12:30 my pals get together for a bite to eat. We joke around for about an hour, then its back to work. I usually get home around 6 pm. Eat dinner with the family then watch some cartoons wife the kid as we wind down for his bedtime. Then theres a bath and some stories and the kids off to slumber land.  8pm job number 2 begins. Now its always a bit easier to start this process if my wife (also a talented illustrator) happens to be busy in the studio as well. Ill usually, if Im good, paint for about 2 hours. By this time my eyeballs are spent. The wife and I will chill in front of the tube for a few and then hit the hay. After a bit of reading Ill sometimes start thinking about my next images. Soon the brain shuts down and Im out at around 11pm. People wonder how I get my paintings done with such a limited work time and all I can say is they do. I love my sleep. How do you feel about showing in galleries as apposed to doing work just for yourself? [NEXT PAGE]
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