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LMC: How and why did you get into teaching?

JS:  I have always loved sharing knowledge with, and gaining it from, others. The main reason I started the classes was to offer the kind of forum that I wish had existed when I was a kid. It’s hilarious that, when I’m teaching someone, I’ll sometimes look up to see them staring around the room listlessly instead of paying attention to what I’m showing them. Maybe it’s the jaded youth of today, but I would have been so excited to be learning from a professional when I was a kid that I would’ve been shitting myself. Of course, my classes are for all ages, and I find that it’s really great to have such a wide variance in the ages of the student body.

LMC: What are some common mistakes you see sculptors making, typically beginners?

JS:   Flatness, flatness, flatness. It is so important to continually view your sculptures from ALL ANGLES as you work on them. If you only focus on the sculpture head-on, the profile will suffer. If you focus only on the profile, the converse will be true. Don’t be afraid to exaggerate forms, bring them out. It is better to have a sculpture that is too extreme than one that isn’t extreme enough.

LMC: What about lighting while you work… what do you recommend as a good setup?

JS: I remember discussing lighting preferences with Rick Baker of all people, and we both agreed that our favorite light to sculpt by is one strong, overhead lamp that shows forms very dramatically. It’s just a personal taste, I suppose. Some guys I know like as much light as possible; several lamps as well as some daylight.

LMC: What about painting mistakes?

JS: Typically, problems that many painters seem to have are either a flatness to the paintjob (no depth), or a muddiness (all the colors run together). It is difficult to explain in an interview how to remedy these problems, but I cover it loosely in the latest Movie FX Magazine.

LMC: What can the pros learn from your classes?                        

JS: I suppose that depends on the pro. Rick Baker, nothing I would think. But I get an awful lot of professional CGI guys in my classes who are eager to get a better understanding of form and volume in the ‘real’ world as opposed to cyberspace. I even  taught a class in San Francisco to the guys at Phil Tippett’s.

LMC: Any particular students you have taught that really stand out?

JS: There is one kid who was only 13 when he started coming to my class who has grown just phenomenally. He is 19 now and attends Art Center and his work is fantastic. His name is Jared Marantz, and believe me, he is a name to watch.

LMC: You are widely regarded as one of the best.  What do you attribute this success to?

JS: It still seems unreal to me that I should be considered among the best; I’ll be at a convention or something, and someone will come up to me and say “Mr.Schell, I’m a big fan…” That’s really trippy. It seems like yesterday that I was fighting for every scrap of  respect I could get! The great irony is that now that I’ve achieved this ‘status’, it’s nowhere near as important to me as it was 13 years ago. A good friend once said “Y’know,it’s not really what you achieve in this silly business---it’s the friends you make, the experiences you have. That’s  what makes this industry worth it.” He’s right. If I had to attribute my success to anything, it would simply be tenaciousness; refusing to fail, and sticking around long enough to make it.

LMC: How would you describe your attitude to learn and succeed growing up?  Were you a  natural at all this, or did you just put in the long hours needed to learn and through experience became good, or a combination of the two?     

JS:  Definitely a combination of the two. I think that having a particular way of viewing the world, a way that is common in many artists, is the springboard from which the dedication and obsession come. A person with very little natural ability can eventually become technically proficient at any given skill, but talent is what separates the artist from the technician.

LMC: Any other artists you admire?

JS: That’s a big question. Obviously, all the classical artists of the Renaissance. As far as artists I know personally: Miles Teves, Jose Fernandez, Steve Wang, Kenneth Brilliant, Bernie Wrightson, John Wheaton, Moto Hata, Aaron Simms, Mitch Devane, Bill Basso, Kazu Hiro and many others… all these guys are friends of mine in the industry, and I have learned an incredible amount from each of them. As far as artists in general go: Frank Frazetta, Micheal Whelan, Brom (although the poetry is a bit much), Franco Saudelli, Richard Corben… almost every artist that has done fantasy-type work has created something I like—it would take years to count all my influences!

LMC: What about up and coming artists?

JS:  I know a ton of great artists that are starting to get more recognition. A fellow who took my class a few years ago named Lee Romaire just won an Emmy. When he was in my class, he showed promise—then out of nowhere I stopped by the Henson Studio to have lunch with a friend and saw these fantastic sculptures of weird little characters. I asked my friend (a guy named Mario Torres, yet another incredible sculptor) whose work it was. It was Lee’s, and his abilities had grown just amazingly! Mario, like I just mentioned, is another fellow who blows me away now. When I met him, he seemed to have a promising flair…but after a few years, he was so fast and so sure-footed in his work that I was astonished. When I can, I hire him to help me out with sculpture at the shop. He is just great. A kid I know named Peter Murphy (not the guy from Bauhaus) is getting damned good, too. I will have to kill him, I’m afraid. John Fuller, another former student, is very talented as well and now works professionally in the business.

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