xsullo
Nick Sullo (xsullo) popularly known as xsullo, is a veteran digital artist with over 10 (ten) year of experience working with some of the biggest commercial brands and movie studio. He has been experimenting in the crypto art and Non-Fungible Token (NFT) space, and his vibrant work has been making waves so far across the community.[1][2]
Xsullo has experience in film, TV, commercials, and video games. His recent projects include Stranger Things on Netflix, Gotham, and the fifth Pirates of the Caribbean film.[3]
Personal Life
Nick Sullo was born and raised in California. He came from a fine art and VFX (Visual effects) background.
Xsullo is a chill, easy-going, soft-spoken guy. At a young age his parents tried to define him as being shy but since then he have always tried to prove them wrong. His favorite book is "The Tribe" by Sebastian Junger.
Early Life
Nick Sullo started out as a fine artist since he was a kid. He was doing illustrations, paintings, printmaking. He started experimenting in digital when he was 12. He normally got his hands on a wacom and a copy of Photoshop that his neighbor had in his music studio.
He enjoys both digital and acrylic painting. Xsullo don’t really have a particular favorite medium.
Xsullo started out using 3D software and 3D kit bash with human figures and objects. He do color, and light the scene, hit render then draw over the image in Manga Studio. If an illustration strikes a deep chord with him, He will then re-create it on canvas with acrylic and spray paint.
Xsullo hope to achieve Satisfaction, but he is never satisfied with his work.
Education
Nick Sullo went to art school at the Academy of Fine Art in San Francisco.
Career
Nick Sullo (xsullo) started his career in visual effects for film. He has been working as a digital artist within the film industry for close to a decade, undertaking jobs in San Francisco, Vancouver BC, Los Angeles, California, & Portland, Oregon.
His aesthetic has been focused on vivid colors and surrealism since he was in high school. It’s only recent that he have been attempting at molding these two together in his illustrations.
In the 90’s, xsullo started experimenting with traditional mediums; oil paints, pen & ink, printmaking, and photography. Then in the early 2000’s, he began gravitating more towards digital work, with a growing passion for film. Since then, he’s been motivated by the future of technology and how it can help push the craft for clients and his personal creative endeavors. [6]
xsullo’s personal artworks explores both issues close to home and those happening in the world at large. He injects these inspirations into a visual aesthetic which combines surrealism with cyberpunk and techno-dystopian signifiers, all rendered with confident lines and fantastically vivid colour palettes.
xsullo utilizes his skills in both traditional and digital domains, often taking digital pieces that resonate with him deeply and bringing them to life in the real world through the use of acrylics and spray paint on canvas.
Within the field of visual effects, he has contributed to projects such as Taboo featuring Tom Hardy, Netflix original Stranger Things, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, San Andreas and Iron Man 3. [4][5]
“Art plays a major role in my life, it puts food on the table, and pays the bills as well as being very enriching and allowing me to personally grow and progress through my life and help me get past things. Artwork in general, especially when seeing others, helps open up my world to see things differently and it reminds me to be open-minded and to never corner my style or creativity.”
– xsullo
High Art 2019
Adjoin
Adjoin was inspired by growing up in Northern California. Xsullo was surrounded by artist, cannabis growers, and the interest in technology. His neighbor who grew cannabis for a living had a music studio where he gave him access to Photoshop, Autodesk Maya, and a wacom tablet. Since then it sparked his passion for digital art. After his neighbor passed away, he formed xsullo with his wife. Adjoin is dedicated in the memory of his neighbor.
Interview with Allships
During his interview with Allships [7], Xsullos had this to say
I think people are drawn to how art is made, whether it's to spectate or to learn. I think it adds more to the artwork and people appreciate that.
My concepts always start with an image or a word that pops into my head. This could be inspired by what's happening in the world or what's happening internally. Overall, I don't get inspired by individual people, instead, I'm inspired by things that affect either the world or worlds within myself.
When I was younger I got really into MC Escher, Dali, Katsuhiro Otomo, Akira Toriyama, Alex Grey, Jean Giraud. So i see their impact they had on me as a kid influence my style even to this day.
Concerning NFT world, Nick Sullos said:
The NFT community has been supportive of both the artists and collectors. There's a concern of over flooding the market with artists though. I believe the focus will shift more towards gathering more collectors into the space. I would encourage artists to join, though it's getting more difficult to get listed on SuperRare and Nifty because of the ratio of artists to collectors.
But there's been word that more and more collectors are joining the space because of the growing interest. Nowadays artists that are able to join Nifty or SuperRare tend to have a large social media presence, and/or have a selling history with their art.
Exhibitions
- MARVEL Scream: Curse of Carnage (2019) #1 (Variant) 2019[8]
- WOW x WOW 2018 [9]
- HI FRUCTOSE online 2018 [10]
- BRUT Magazine issue #2 2018 [11]
- Vice The Creators Project 2016 [12]
- UPPERPLAYGROUND NEWS [13]
- BIZARRE BEYOND BELIEF MAGAZINE
- Ballistic Publishing d'artiste matte painting 3 Australia 2013 [14]
- Viking National Musset, Installation. Denmark, London, & Berlin 2011 [15]
- Sacramento Fine Art Center Sacramento CA 1996 [16]
Film Credits
| Film | Role |
|---|---|
| BRAINFEEDER FILMS | VFX LEAD 2019-Present |
| Every Breath You Take | 13 Films / Generalist 3D environments |
| iSolve | Senior VFX Artist |
| 2 Hearts | Concept Design / Generalist | CloudVFX |
| I Still See You | Concept Design / Generalist | CloudVFX |
| The Haunting of Sharon Tate | VFX artist |
| Stickman | Lead Matte Painter |
| Neverknock | Lead Matte Painter |
| Perfect (2018) | Head of VFX | xsullo |
| Zero | Digital Compositor |
| Cloudboy (Sweedish) | Digital Compositor |
| Pirates of the Caribbean 5 (2017) | Sr. Matte Painter/Compositor | CoSA VFX |
| Un Ange | Senior Compositor |
| Yamasong: March of the Hallows | Sr Matte Painter/3D Environments/Comp |
| San Andreas | Senior Matte Painter | Atomic Fiction |
| Amityville: The Awakening | Senior Matte Painter | Scarecrow FX |
| Brilliant (short) | Concept Design | Jordan Freda Company |
| Mandorla | 3D Matte Painter | Jordan Freda Company |
| Beyond the Mask | 3D Matte Painter / Comp |
| Winter's Tale | 3D Environments | The Molecule FX |
| Iron Man 3 | 3D Environments | Digital Domain |
| Jack the Giant Slayer | 3D Matte Painter | Digital Domain |
| Escape from Planet Earth | Matte Painter/ Concept Design |
| Dear Elenaor | Matte painter |
| Touchback | Matte Painter | Spy Post, SF |
| Insidious | Matte Painter | Spy Post, SF |
| Amityville: The Awakening | Concept Design | Spy Post, SF |
| Dust (short) | Matte Painter |
TV | Commercial
| Film | Role |
|---|---|
| LOVE DEATH + ROBOTS | Promo Art | Netflix Marketing |
| Nike 2018 World Cup | |
| Stranger Things | Senior Matte Painter Concept art / Comp |
| Juüna | Concept Designer |
| Haters Back Off! S02 | Generalist | VFX Cloud |
| The Ranch | |
| Pitch | Senior Matte Painter | Comp | CoSA VFX |
| Untitled Paranormal Film | Senior Matte Painter | Comp | CoSA VFX |
| Senior Matte Painter | Comp | CoSA VFX | |
| Shut Eyes Hulu | Senior Compositor | Wicked Liquid |
| The Thundermans | Senior Compositor | Wicked Liquid |
| School of Rock TV series | Senior Compositor | Wicked Liquid |
| Senior Compositor | Wicked Liquid | |
| I am Elizabeth Smart | Senior Matte Painter | Senior Compositor |
| Commercial | Senior Matte Painter | Bent Image Lab |
| Commercial | Generalist | Bent Image Lab |
| AT&T Commercial | Generalist | Bent Image Lab |
| Commercial | Senior Matte Painter | Brand New School |
| New England Creamery | Senior Matte Painter | PSYOP LA |
| Crocs Ad | Matte Painter | Adult Swim |
| Your Pretty Face is Going to Hell | Matte Painter | PSYOP LA |
| Recovery Road | CG Generlist |
| Advertisement | Concept Design | ScarecrowFX |
| COSMOS: A Space Time Odyssey | Senior Matte Painter | MOE |
| Undsiclosed | Matte Painter | Stir.no |
| Paradise TV pitch | Concept Design | Encore Hollywood |
| Arrow | Matte Painter | Zoic Studio |
| GMC Sierra Commercial | 3D Matte Painter | MOE |
| Ford 2013 F-Series Commercial | Concept Design | BrandNewSchool |
| Under the Dome | Matte Painter | Encore Hollywood |
| Star-Crossed | Concept Design | BrandNewSchool |
| Ford Mustang Commercial | Matte Painter |
| Call of Duty: Black Ops II | Matte Painter / TD | The Mill LA |
| Target Commercial | Matte Painter/Concept Design | A52 |
| Beauty & The Beast (2012) | Matte Painter | Encore, Hollywood |
| TNT Ad | Matte Painter/Design | Delicate Machine |
| Switched at Birth | Matte Painter / Generalist |
VG Cinematics
| Film | Role |
|---|---|
| NBA2K21 | 2k Games / Concept art / Environments |
| Rainbow Six Siege: The Hammer and the Scalpel | Senior Matte Painter | Digic Pictures |
| Xbox One: Recore | Senior Matte Painter /Concept Art | PSYOP LA |
| Devil May Cry 5 | Matte Painter / Concept Design |Rhythm & Hues |
| Star Wars Kinect | Matte Painter |Rhythm & Hues, LA |
| Fbale The Journey | Matte Painter | Rhythm & Hues, LA |
| Skylander: Spyro's Adventure | Matte Painter | Panda Panther, NY |
Other
| Film | Role |
|---|---|
| Disney's Into the Woods Promo | Concept/Set Design | Ringer.tv |
| Project Reel | CG Generalist | ScarecrowFX |
| GMC Ipad App | Environment Artist | Mind Over Eye |
| New York Media Installation | Matte Painter | Alien Kung Fu |
| Undisclosed Project | Senior Matte Painter | Mind Over Eye |
Reel
- 2019 Reel: A collection of 2 special project worked on between 2016 - 2019 as a Matte Painter & 3D environment artist. Projects include TV series Taboo, Produced by Ridley Scott, starring Tom Hardy, and CGI trailer for Rainbow Six Siege The Hammer and the Scalpel by Ubisoft.
- Taboo Reel: Is in collaboration with BlueBolt VFX. Xsullo had the pleasure in supplying the matte paintings, 3d environments, and compositing for season 01.
- 2017 Reel: Is a collection of Compositing, Matte Painting, 3D environments, lighting, modeling and texturing work that he helped with between 2014-2016.
Trivia
Nick Sullo (xsullo) likes cycling, hiking, and anything that gets him outside.