Interview via Wolf Song Journal
Scott Move’s work is known the world around for its Doom-Orientated approach, intricacies and striking symbolism which has enabled him to exhibit work in a number of Galleries worldwide, as well as produce designs for respected clients in a range of fields. After coming across his work online, I was introduced to a original and unique approach to a steadily popular aesthetic within modern illustration. The interview was conducted just before his latest exhibition; Symbols, in San Francisco.
WS: So you’re becoming a dad; how does it feel?
SM: It’s pretty exciting man; one of the most exciting things I’ve ever done so far… I don’t think there’s anything in life that can happen as cool as this.
WS: Are you hoping for a girl or a boy…?
SM: It’s a boy; we already know! I’d be excited either way; as long as there’s all arms and all legs and facing forward, I’m happy.
WS: So you’re about to exhibit some work in San Francisco – is this your first exhibit abroad?
SM: It’s not actually – the first thing that I did was probably a couple of years ago now; a guy from Japan approached me (it was a bit weird), but he said, I’ll put on a show for you in my gallery in Japan, if you send me your work. I was quite suspicious, but still up for doing it; it was difficult because everything I sent to him, I wrote in English and I think he must have translated it online to Japanese, and it just doesn’t translate very well…but we figured it out in the end and it turned out quite cool. I also did one in New York: a group exhibit that a friend of mine, Matthew, put on. It’s a bit strange having an exhibition you don’t get to see yourself.
WS: Yeah; it seems to be becoming more commonplace now, in the illustration world. So where are you from originally?
SM: I’m from Chelmsford, Essex originally. It’s where I was born, grew up etc. I moved to London in the last 2 years
WS: And how has life changed?
SM: It’s much more expensive! London is amazing though; non stop, noise and expense but, there’s so much opportunity.
WS: So let’s talk about your work in more detail. It seems to be very wood-print inspired but at the same time there’s references to other areas of illustrative work and of course tattooing. What would you say is the crux of your inspiration?
SM: To be honest – I don’t really know. I just think that over the last few years, I have tried to let things progress naturally; I’m like an image hound – I need a constant input of images so I’m always looking at things, and as a result they get stored in my brain when I draw stuff. If I’m not drawing anything specific; drawing for myself, then I guess they’ll just come out. There isn’t really a reason for anything that’s there, its just me trying to balance things out or see what works well with what. There are sometimes messages in there, but not anything outrageous. You can read into it whatever you want; obviously there’s a lot of styles in there, symbolism and connectivity with the symbolism, but overall it is what it is.
WS: And your choice to produce black-work solely; why has it become so important to your style?
SM: I think mainly because it’s so basic: it’s the most obvious mark you can make. When I originally started, it was in pen other than anything else – I liked the idea that it was so permanent and so opposite to what I was drawing on; pencil is kind of wishy-washy, but with black ink: once it’s there, it’s there. You can add more, but you can’t go back
WS: Similar to tattooing?
SM: In a sense, yeah. I’ve always struggled with shadows, and making things look the way they are meant to look; forms, negative space…I’m always trying to learn to make things look proper; once I get that then I might start adding some more colour into my work.
WS: So how long does it take for you to complete an average piece?
SM: It depends…if it’s something that I know I can draw and I’ve drawn a lot of, I can usually do it in three evenings. If its something that’s difficult, like women’s faces …body parts, hands etc it would probably take longer. I could probably do one in a day if I spent all day on it.
WS: And you use a lot of physical references or are they image based?
SM: No – the only references I use are for hands, and they’re generally my own…or things I definitely can’t draw, like women’s faces …
WS: They’re harder to draw than mens?
SM: So hard! It’s really easy to draw an ugly man, but not a good woman.
WS: Is it to do with ratios?
SM: It generally takes a lot less lines, so it’s so much more obvious when it’s even the tiniest bit out. While when you’re drawing a man’s face, you can have a lot more to it and it’s slightly easier.
WS: Intriguing. So where do your inspirations life outside of art likes of art?
SM: Music mainly. Over the last (probably) 10 years, I’ve just listened to real dark, heavy music: I think that probably comes across in my work
WS: Yes; destruction…especially the destructive power of nature?
SM: Yeah sure: not sure if that just comes from music, but I definitely like nature – coming from the countryside has probably effected my work. I try and draw all the time with music: I’m sure that somewhere along the lines, subliminally it’s gone in somewhere.
WS: What typically would you listen to?
SM: Some Doom band…something slow really; there are hundreds of bands… I was listening to a band called Winter today; just tonnes. I actually recently just wiped two complete ipods full of music, I’m so shit with technology I plugged them both in and managed to lose two ipods worth of music!
WS: How?
SM: I dunno man; I’m just real bad with technology!
WS: So, with so many illustrators adopting such a similar a approach to their practice in using occultism, symbolism and a general Old-World feel in their work, how do you try to differentiate your work?
SM: To be honest, I’m not trying to differentiate at all; I don’t really try to stand out or to be different, or anything – I think it’s impossible these days. Everything’s been done; even over the last 300 years or so.
WS: True. Have you noticed that people are adopting such a style because of things like Tattooing?
SM: I think I have noticed it a lot more because I spend so much time looking at this stuff; it’s like when you buy a new car, all of a sudden you see everyone is driving the same car….I think that tattooing has been the birthplace of a lot of stuff, definitely. That’s probably the case.
WS: I think what makes your work bear towards a slightly different direction than a lot of other similar artists is the fact that it exists more as an artefact, as opposed to heading towards realism. How did you reach this?
SM: I try to put things together in the way that I would want it to look really; I try not to take too much influence from stuff; yet still make it pleasing for me and hopefully for others too. I try to blend things…especially with proportions. For example: a tiny little sword and a massive hand; it leaves you thinking “Is that a normal sized hand with tiny Swords, or a Giant’s hand with regular sized swords?” A lot of things like this are there to balance things out in the image; makes things less heavy.
WS: What about the one with the multi-faceted skull? It’s of my favourite pieces; especially with the stairs and the geometry…
SM: Yeah, the Geometric thing is impressive – You know when you look at something and all of a sudden your mind clicks, and you see all of the dimensions within it – that’s sick! I cant do that very well; it’s a very hard talent to master. Anything that takes more than a pencil on its own to draw, I’m not very good with. It’s something that I’m working hard to bring in; I would like to do more pattern work in the future….
WS: Seems to be a lot of tracing paper!
SM: Yeah! It takes a lot of effort, for something that seems so basic.
WS: Like the work of Xed for example?
SM: Yeah exactly; things like that are incredible.
WS: Very. So lets go back 10 years: was art and illustration a big part of your life then?
SM: Not really actually. I went to University in Northampton for a little while, but I basically didn’t really do it. I went back to education and it kinda sucked; it felt as if I was going back to square one again – I would have to draw an apple, draw this…I thought it was all pretentious bullshit really – it was only when I got back into a band, a few friends asked me to do a few drawings for t-shirts and stuff, and that became more interesting because I was doing it for myself, and how I wanted to do it.
WS: So it was too structured; traditional etc?
SM: Yeah; either that or I chose the right thing.
WS: Was it straight art you were studying on its own?
SM: Yeah; I did art at school and did a foundation course in something to do with graphics… can’t remember exactly, but it was shit. It was a case of “Let’s draw a Mc Donalds Logo; and Why is this better than the Mc Donalds Logo?” It wasn’t for me!
WS: What band did you start in?
SM: It was a Hardcore band called Special Move; I was there for quite a while, over 10 years I’d say. That’s when it all came back to me; my friend Matt asked me to draw a picture for a American band; he was like ”I know you can draw and no-one else has the time to do it,” so I did and it slowly crept back into my life without me realising it. It was only a few years after that where I started doing it to a point where I thought people would be interested; I think it’s when I started to use the internet more, I realised that there were people making some amazing stuff and that influenced me more and made me realise that, if this guy can stay at home all day and get paid to do it, I want to be able to do that.
WS: Definitely. So, I find a lot of practitioner’s own personal beliefs to affect their work; as far as religion goes, what’s your overall stance?
SM: Visually, I think religion is great, especially Catholic faith and stuff; Jesus looks cool, but that’s as far it goes – I don’t believe in any of that. If all the fairy tales were true, then the world would be a great place.
WS: So you like things like the Vatican for example ?
SM:: Yeah for sure. I mean I just think that religion causes more problems than it solves; I’m happy for people to be into it. My mum is religious, and she believes in all of that and it helps her in her life…I’m cool with that.
WS: What about life & death?
SM: Well… we’re all definitely gonna die! I don’t know; it’s a huge mystery man, and it’s the sort of thing no-one’s going to know until it’s too late. I draw a lot of bones and skeletal stuff as it’s the one unifying thing that everybody is; if you’re rich, poor, if you’re massively successful, or a tramp: it doesn’t matter. As soon as you turn back into a skeleton, you become the same as everyone else; equal.
WS: I Like that. So let,s talk about your tattooing…
SM: I’ve been doing it for the last few months properly; not an apprenticeship per say, but I’ve been learning as I go along – working in a shop for the last few weeks (Haunted Tattoo). It’s been something I’ve wanted to do for a very long time, but been too scared to take the plunge and try. I’ve had some very good tuition from some close friends who are tattooers.
WS: Who?
SM: A friend of mine, Josh, in the USA, Simon Erl has been very helpful to me, and obviously Allan Graves at Haunted; I’ve been going to see him every week, learning where I can – just trying to take in as much as possible, with the time I’m given. It’s the most exciting thing I’ve done.
WS: It all looks pretty impressive from what I’ve seen online. What would you say your aim for the next year is?
SM: Tattooing as much as possible; just progression. Slow, steady progression.
WS: Going back to your illustrative work; what equipment do you use typically?
SM:: I use the 0.05mm nibs: the smallest you can get; a pen will probably do two drawings, but as soon as they get a bit fat I just throw them away. It depends though: sometimes you might get through a pen a drawing, or four pens per section
WS: So how does your family receive your work generally?
SM: (laughs) My mum was an massive influence for me as she was an artist; she just asks me to draw nice things. I think she likes it, but just doesn’t like the subject matter. I draw Jesus with fucking roots growing out of his eyes, and she just asks “Can’t you draw him so he looks nice; like he’s supposed to?” Maybe one day. I think she’s glad that I’m doing something artistic.
WS: If you weren’t drawing this stuff, what would you be drawing?
SM: I probably wouldn’t be drawing to be honest. I’m a miserable bastard, and this is what I love.
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