Words by: Chris Mitchell
Scott Musgrove paints extinct fantasy creatures. Of course, he would argue my use of the word ‘fantasy.’ He would insist they were real and once roamed the wilderness of North America. In the process of arguing, things would inevitably become heated. I might shove a hot catheter in his face and insist he give up his ridiculous fantasy world. He might wield the ugly end of a broken absinthe bottle and threaten to carve out my larynx if I didn’t yield my position of skepticism. In the end, however, the beauty of his creations would overwhelm me. I would surrender to his vision completely and we’d buy each other cheap domestic beer in a smoky karaoke bar until some wretched transvestite bartender swept us out onto the streets of Seattle.
Scott Musgrove’s career started in Seattle, where he began writing comic books and doing illustration for magazines and papers.
He was good enough at what he did that one of his comic books was adapted as an animated TV show called ‘Fat Dog Mendoza’ (currently airing in Europe) but after all 26 episodes with Cartoon Network Europe, he left the show and started painting.
His recent collection, The Late Fauna of Early North America, explores a kingdom of fantastic creatures, which Scott insists lived around the end of the 19th century: the Shaggy Desert Llama, the Great Emustrich, the Crooked Pony. The most famous of his creatures, The Booted Glamour Cat, was recently immortalized as a vinyl toy.
He started painting his extinct creatures on a trip to Sumatra after an unnerving confrontation with a mysterious critter during a midnight toilet run. Not knowing how to communicate with the local tribespeople, Musgrove attempted to draw the monster, but only succeeded in terrifying the children of the village.
There is a subliminal undertone of ecology and preservation in Musgrove’s work, but he refuses to let that undertone dominate his message. Just what that message is? Well, here’s the word, straight from the Glamour Cat’s mouth.1. Tell me the best and worst parts about getting one of your comics turned into an animated series. Is it still running as you envisioned or has it been bastardized by now?
*There were a lot of good things about doing an animated version of the Fat Dog Mendoza comic. First of all, I had no intention of continuing to do more Fat Dog comics so this was just an opportunity to do something new with the characters and ideas. Since animation is a collaborative process, it was great to be able to work with a lot of other great artists. While doing the comics, it was just me alone in my studio. Bouncing ideas around with writers, designers and directors was a lot of fun for me. This also forced me to get out of certain habits in writing and drawing. Really one of the best things about doing the project was just the massive amount of work that had to be done. I had to draw and write constantly which I felt improved my work. Also, since I play music I was able to write and record the title theme music. The animation company encouraged me to be involved in any aspect of the production that I was interested in . . . which turned out to be everything. So I was exposed to and participated in a lot of new processes, everything from design, color, backgrounds to music, editing, casting and voice recording sessions. Not that I was necessarily good at all of these things, but they were all interesting to learn about.
One of the downsides of a production like this is that when 200 people are involved, there are bound to be many things that are beyond your control. So things don’t always come out the way you envisioned. It was a constant battle to make sure all aspects of the production fit together properly. It rarely happens. So as things go along, there is an erosion of the original vision. Some of the episodes turned out the way I hoped but probably an equal number ...well, I can’t even watch those ones.
In the end, I loved the experience but realized that my real love is painting. With painting, nothing has to go through committee, nothing has to be approved by an executive and I can really make exactly the artwork that I want. If it’s good or bad, it’s all my fault and I’m far more comfortable with that.
2. Other than Sumatra, which of your travels has influenced your art and how?
*I’ve spent a lot of time in South and Central America. But whatever influences came from there are buried pretty deeply in the way I work by now. Whenever I travel though, I try to do little sketches and drawings in the style of the indigenous artists. Not to try to copy the work (or to seem like a serious artiste) but just to get an idea of the process and thinking that goes into the way they work. Ultimately, I always go back to the way I just naturally draw and paint.
3. Why don’t you paint extinct plants?
*Didn’t I say DON’T ASK ME ABOUT PLANTS? Look, I had a number of bad experiences with plants in my past. In one instance, I tried to press charges but it was thrown out in court. No satisfaction there. Then I bought a machete and took matters into my own hands . . . And well, I still feel bad about what happened next.
4. What's the back story of the Booted Glamour Cat? Now what's the real back story?
*The Booted Glamour Cat was always a rare creature. They never thundered across the plains in enormous herds like the American Buffalo or Harea Narcoleptus (Mild Prairie Rabbit), but mostly lived in pairs here and there. Like many animals discovered in the American West, it was first trapped and shipped to Europe to be displayed in private and pubic menageries. Eventually it was hunted to extinction for it’s exotic and quite fluffy fuzzy fur collar. It was a sign of status for a man to be seen about town wearing the Glamour Cat’s shimmering fluff around his neck. Women were forbidden to wear them. Also the Cat’s large super-hard teeth were fashioned into tools for use in the mining industry. Fortunately, I was able to locate some 19th century amateur renderings of this animal and I also unearthed some Glamour Cat skeletons when they were doing construction on a new mini mall near my house. From all of this I have been able to recreate what the Glamour Cat must have looked like before this vain creature was lured to extinction using compliments and mirrors.
And that’s the real story.
5. Tell me something surprising about you.
I drive an Oscar Mayer WienerMobile.
6. What next?
Next I’m working on a book. It’ll be a collection of this ‘Late Fauna of Early North America’ series of paintings. It will have most of the paintings from this series along with explanations, diagrams, field drawings and maybe even a recipe or two for your favorite extinct animal. That should be out later in 2007.
See Scott Musgrove's work here
|