Pursuing mastery is what keeps me awake at night, and the first thing on my mind when I get up every morning.
AJ Nazzaro now has more clients than he can handle including Wizards of the Coast…
Name: AJ Nazzaro
Location: Denver, Colorado
OA Courses: Painting Drama 1&2
Current Creative Pursuit: I am currently working as a freelance illustrator + concept artist, and most recently – trading card artist.
I have been completely consumed by the world of fantasy since I was very young.
It started with my dad reading The Hobbit to me at a very young age and exploded into movies, television, comic Books, and most importantly – gaming.
About seven years ago I committed to the idea that I would do whatever it took to leave my own mark on the form of entertainment I enjoy so much.
Since then I have been relentlessly studying the skills necessary to be a Fantasy Illustrator.
Pursuing mastery is what keeps me awake at night, and the first thing on my mind when I get up every morning.
Describe your most recent creative breakthrough:
The most important discovery I’ve come across in the past year has been letting go of the idea that I’m good enough to sit down and conceive a masterpiece like flipping on a light switch.
If constructing a painting that knocks you out of your chair at a glimpse was easy, everyone would do it.
In reality, it takes a lot of exploration. More specifically – it takes a grueling amount of thumbnails and color-comping.
When I was first learning to paint, I would visualize a piece as clearly as I could in my mind and then jump right into painting. Although I do believe visualization is a powerful tool, I know now that my first vision of a painting is often very mundane and something that’s been done a hundred times.
Our first iterations of any piece of artwork are a direct result of the influences we absorb, and it’s not until you’ve exhausted those first boring options that the good stuff really starts to reveal itself.
Describe your most recent career breakthrough:
I have recently been fortunate enough to find steady work as a painter. Most notably I have been working for Wizards of the Coast on a very exciting project that is right at home with my painting style.
I’ve been a huge fan of the properties produced by Wizards long before I even considered being an artist. It’s a tremendous honor to work with them and it has already led to more trading card work from other companies.
The biggest down-side to the whole thing is that I’ve completed a ton of new paintings that can’t be released to the public for around six months after they are finished. It’s killing me!
What is the most important lesson you have you learned about your art and/or creative career?
The short answer is patience.
As a young artist it’s easy to look at professional work and imagine the artist spending 30-50 hours on a painting. What isn’t easy to see, is the thousands of hours that artist has spent to achieve that level of skill.
Every line and every brush stroke that has ever come from their hand has served as the foundation for that one piece.
I truly believe talent is an illusion created by those modestly dedicated to hard work. Anyone can be an artist, but only the few who are willing to claim it with blood sweat and tears will be.
What are your thoughts on failure?
Failure is a son of a B.
It’s something we become terrified of as we get older. It’s the pounding in our ears that says “I knew you weren’t good enough.” It’s the reason we are forced to get jobs in the real world and it makes us leave creative ambitions behind.
I’ll be the first to admit that there are subject matters and mediums that just scare me, but the thing about the fear of failure is that it’s literally the only thing standing in the way of successful goals.
Perseverance is the currency for success as an artist, and if you can face those fears head on its insane how fast you can grow.
What’s the one thing you’re doing to reach your next creative goal? What is that goal?
My next goal as an artist is to work in a game studio as a visual development artist.
I truly enjoy working freelance right now but in the future what I would like to add to my art journey is collaboration. I really look forward to one day working with a group of like-minded artists on a project that we can all just cut loose and geek out on.
I am currently working on a personal high fantasy – character design project that has been itching at the back of my mind for a while now.
It’s probably a bit overly ambitious with my current workload but I think it’s going to be pretty awesome when it sees the light of day.
How has The Oatley Academy affected your life?
The Oatley Academy, and specifically Painting Drama 1 was a massive step for me.
It took me from being a hungry aspiring artist to the first stages of a professional career. It feels like I was plugged into the Matrix for a month and came out with a deep new understanding and respect for composition.
I had always regarded composition as this elusive unicorn type skill that you could only stumble upon after years of experience. I guess that is true, in a sense, because eventually you will discover what works and what doesn’t – but in reality, it’s a learn-able skill like any other.
Successful compositions can be dissected, analyzed and boiled down to manageable bits. It just takes someone who is already a zen master guru to teach it to you.
Favorite Color:
Radioactive Green on Black.
Favorite Movie:
The Lord of the Rings / Star Wars (Lets just count them each as one epic movie, muahaha!).
Favorite Painter:
Wei Wang (Blizzard).
Guilty Pleasure:
Challenging exotic Zoo animals to dangerous rite-of-passage duels.
What advice can you provide for young, aspiring artists?
You’ve got to fall in love.
You have to find that one thing in the world of art that makes you so happy that you are willing to dedicate the rest of your life to it.
It’s a very long road, but if you can learn to appreciate the small successes and incremental improvement it changes from a grueling grind to a satisfying journey.
What advice can you provide for pre-professional artists?
You’re almost there! It so easy to give up at this point – but you aren’t going to do that. You’ve come this far and I can see there isn’t an inch of quit in your eyes. My advice to you is pretty unrelated to art, actually.
You already have this whole “learning to get better at art” thing down.
Now the trick is to do it smart and preserve the longevity of your body.
I was pretty naive a few years ago, I would draw day after day without moving from my seat. I was practically laying in my computer chair as I painted.
I started getting unbelievable back pain that literally made it impossible for me to get out of bed.
Every single artist will encounter some sort of physical barrier eventually; it might be your drawing hand, your shoulder, your upper back, or your lower back. It really sucks, but it’s a good sign.
It’s a sign that you’re committed to this thing, come hell or high water.
Now that you’ve earned your stripes you’ve got to learn how to work around that pain. You need to stretch and walk around frequently, you should probably renew your gym membership, you need to practice good posture habits.
…You might even have to start a side career as a crocodile wrangler.
Whatever it takes! You’ve only got one body, and if you ignore it – its going to give out on you.
What advice can you provide for seasoned pros?
I mainly just want to say thank you.
I have been inspired by hundreds of artists to get where I am today. Hearing your stories of success is part of the fuel that keeps me going and makes my art dreams seem possible. I vow to carry that torch and do my part to inspire the next generation of artists.
I do have one bit of advice, though.
Don’t lose your passion. Don’t stop learning. Don’t get too comfortable up there at the top – because I’m working like a savage, and I’m gunning for your job.
What can one artist do to change the world?
I’m not a very political person, so those examples aside – I think an artist can change the world one mind at a time.
They can show a young person or someone who chose a different path that they don’t have to give up on their dream to create.
If we let art fade away from our culture in the name of having a steady job and reliable retirement fund we will lose the spark that keeps this place great.
I don’t want to live in a world where there aren’t four new X-men movies released each year. I don’t want to live in a world where every product on the shelves of stores is packaged in a list of nutrition facts.
I don’t want to be part of a system of people who accept that walls should be painted white. I want to enjoy the small things, and smile when I fall in love with something new.
What does it mean to be an Oatley Academy Student?
Being a part of The Oatley Academy has been my ticket to a global community of artists who are all striving for success in similar fields.
It has been the most effective means of critique and inspiration I have found since graduating from a traditional art school.
After taking Painting Drama I had a new vocabulary for describing artwork – like learning a new language.
It helped me articulate things that I couldn’t describe prior, and being part of such a tight knit group who were fluent in the same dialect has given us an incredible sense of family.
I think its also worth mentioning that I am an immensely competitive person and being in school has always been motivation to grow with my classmates. Just being in the presence of other hungry artists alone has helped me grow!