This week I sat down with Walter Jacott, better known to his fans as Chauskoskis, to get a little insight behind his art, his life, and his contribution to the "Most Wanted" series.
Let me start off by saying thanks for being a part of the series, and for taking the time out from your busy schedule to do this little Q&A.
Now, tell us a little bit about your art; Where does your inspiration come from, is there a method to your madness, an what medium, if any, would you say is your favorite?
First I just want to thank you guys for inviting me to the Series, you guys did a terrific job on this. Well, honestly i don't consider my stuff "art". I'm just a guy who makes ugly characters and stuff. But that's easy when you've grown up with clay in one hand, and a pencil in the other, lol. I don't feel that I have a particular style, but if I do, I know it's constantly changing. At times, My drawings and sculpts tend to vary in style from one another, but I plan on finding a more defined path with my custom toys. My inspiration comes from all around me; art, people, random stuff, or whatever else I've seen through out my 32yrs of life. I use whatever pops into my head most of the times, but there are moments when I'm just a complete blank. Which is why I've saved every single drawing I've ever made. So when i just can't come up with any good ideas, I open up my big box filled with thousands of drawings on small papers and napkins. Then I just take a look at them and auto-steal some ideas, lol. I also love to look at art and design websites, and right click and save hundreds of pics of anything that's awesome, even though I never really look through them. I guess I just hope that something good will stick in to my brain, lol. (But just a little warning, I'm always full of surprises, so beware cause I may come up with a different style every once in a while :P) As for a favorite medium? Hmm, tricky question... Honestly, I don't have one, I enjoy them all.
"Chauskoskis" is such a unique name, and I can't for the life of me figure out what it stands for, lol. So, what exactly does it mean, and why did you choose it as your artist name?
Haha, maybe I Should have picked my last name instead? I've just recently started using this nick name now that I'm in the toy scene, but its origins come from as far back as '97. As you know my names is Walter Jacott. Walter is not a very common name here in Mexico, and my last name, which is Scottish, is even less common. I think it's so rare that all the Jacotts here are direct relatives of each other, lol. Well, I was introduced to a couple guys who later become close friends of mine. It was just like a "hey guys, this is Walter Jacott", "pleased to meet you" type of thing. Some time passed, and one day I was walking on the street and the same guys saw me from across the street, so they wanted to shout out my name. . . but they had obviously forgot it, because what came out of their mouths was: "HEY YOU.......(big pause) CHAUSKOSKIS!" Lol, it was the only time they called me like that, but I think they were trying to say some weird name that is like the Mexican version of "Tchaikovsky" ( the classic musician). That's a little bit of a long story though, but I hope it made enough sense, lol.
For those of us how don't know much about the inner workings of the art scene, share with us some of your experiences. From past projects to future collabs, we're all ears ;)
Dude! There is so much cool stuff to come... Of course I have dozens of custom toys on the table, but there are also some original figures as personal projects; Some as DIY toys, some as sculptures to be casted in small runs, some hot collabos with some well known artists (Karuzo is still on the way, my buddy Frank Mysterio and I are really happy with how the things are moving along), and many cool shows coming up. Some of them I can't really talk about, but I can say im on the Celsius show in July from Rotobox, and the Jouwe Show from MyTummyToys... And of course my soon to be out designs for the Qee X Skelanimals series (how awesome is that?) -FUNKY DANCE HERE- LOL
How did you come to find out about the "Most Wanted" project? How do you feel about the line up, and tell us a little bit about your piece in the series.
I'm a part time visitor on the KR forums just cause I'm already a member on 4 or 5 different art forums, and as you know it takes a huge amount of time to post back and forth. Sometimes I even forget were I just posted, lol, anyways, I always go to KR boards and click for "new posts". And the "Most Wanted"series always seem to be on top, lol. So I read the whole thing, even though it was super long, and I was impressed by the detail and dedication from the artists and the organizers. It looked so well planned and handled with care, that I felt so much respect for you guys. I was already friends with some of the artists on the first series so it was great to see many of them aboard. So I am very pleased to have joined all my old and new buddies, who are great artists btw, in this series.
I remember submitting 3 or 4 rough ideas that were very complex with many add ons and stuff, but the final design we decided on, well, I have to say it really rocks! Maybe some people will expect something crazier from me, but I think this was a good choice. I feel I used a unique way of using the dunny shape, plus it's a very clean and simple design, at least I think so. I can't say any more, but I really hope you guys like it as much as I do.
Watch out KR here comes MWS2!
Thanks again bro, much respect from myself and all the other guys. Any last words you wanna give to your growing legion of fans? And what's the word on getting an original piece from you?
Just want to say thank you to you Manny, Igor, and Tim. Also, a special thanks to Sergio Mancini, WuzOne and Gawein who said good things about me, which I think helped me get on the series :)
To the fans, hope you dig my stuff even more so now, cause I will be around for a while, lol. Expect the unexpected!
About commissions :( I'm not taking much, cause I have too much stuff to take care of lately, but anyways feel free to drop me a message for whatever you like. If you need a tip or even a commission I will see what Ican do. It's good to know the people who like my stuff and I'm always pleased to say hi.
Thanks again Walter, and thanks to everyone who checked this out. Below you'll find some links to Chauskoskis work, so you can pick up were we left off. We hope you enjoyed the interview, and please feel free to leave us any comments. Good or bad, we want to hear them. And remember to check back next week for another interview from one of our artists.
http://walterjacott.blogspot.com/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/walterjacott/
http://twitter.com/chauskoskis
always wondered where that name came from. What Walter not a common name? It's both my grandfather's and my Uncle's name. Very interesting to read that you don't think you have a style and that it's all over the place always changing. I feel the same way about myself. No worries Walter, just keep doing what you're doing, there's a definite style there.
ReplyDeleteI think Walter was being a little modest. He's definitely got his own style, and he's hands down one of the more unique artists in the scene. Big ups homie!
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