If you feel emptiness in your imagination and are hungry for inspiration, you should certainly try playing Scarygirl tonight before sleep. Lively and vivid psychedelic world of Scarygirl carries you to an alternative reality with its own truths and rules like in a lucid dream. But when you look deeper, you’ll notice that you are experiencing the reflection of the world we live in.
The game was programmed by the company “Touch My Pixel” whereas the characters of Scarygirl and her world were created by an illustrator and a designer of collectible souvenir toys Nathan Jurevicius from Australia. He was also the art director while developing the game. I’ve memorized his Lithuanian name since Pictopia festival. Being curious I contacted him to ask some questions about the game and his Baltic heritage.
Archatas: I noticed your name among the participants in Pictopia Festival in Berlin. Were you visiting the festival?
Nathan: I spoke at the previous festival in Berlin and was invited back to speak at the most recent Pictopia but had to pull out due to last minute issues. I very much enjoyed the time I spent there a couple of years ago.
Archatas: You presented animation for Canadian MTV called MTV Fauna there. Are there any links on the web where visitors of my blog could watch that?
Nathan: Please go to mtv.ca/fauna. You can also see a few of them on Youtube. You can also purchase the figures.
Archatas: How come your name is Lithuanian although you yourself are from Australia?
Nathan: My father is Lithuanian and his parents were Latvian and Lithuanian (but my father only speaks Latvian). Unfortunately I can only speak English.
Archatas: How did you start your interesting work with character design, vinyl toys, and animation?
Nathan: I graduated from University in 1995 and went straight into freelance illustration. I was mainly an editorial illustrator for books and magazines. I was lucky enough to get into multimedia after winning a design competition and started producing mini games and tiny animated flash spots (but I don’t do any animation now). About 8 years ago I was contacted by a Hong Kong design firm and asked if I wanted to design toys with them – it was all very quick and exciting.
Archatas: So how old are you now?
Nathan: I just turned 36.
Archatas: What inspired you? I see some East Asian influence in your works. Is it Manga?
Nathan: I’m very inspired by travel, my kids, Lithuanian/Latvian folklore, museums.
Archatas: Have you been in Lithuania or Latvia yourself?
Nathan: Unfortunately not. One day I’d like to visit and maybe do a museum show or something big.
Archatas: Do you have a blog?
Nathan: No – currently I’m redesigning my personal site though my www.scarygirl.com site keeps me busy.
Archatas: I tried the game recently. And it looks wonderful. At the first sight, Scarygirl looks like an easy game for small kids. But some parts of it are really difficult to manage. I got stuck at the sixth level at jumping on mushrooms. Have you completed (playing) the game yourself?
Nathan: It’s meant to be a simple game in the sense of the structure but it gets more challenging as the game continues. It’s for all ages. I have completed it a few times but it took a long while!
Archatas: How old is Scarygirl as a project/brand? How long did it take to create the game?
Nathan: The concept goes back to 2000 with the brand first emerging on a small scale in 2001. It really took off in about 2003. The game took about 1 and half years part time to make (I was the only illustrator and there were just 2 programmers, one animator and a producer to keep us all in check).
Archatas: Do you create both 2D and 3D works, or are there some technical drawers in your team who create 3D models out of hand-drawn characters?
Nathan: I just do 2D work but design a lot of characters to work in 3D by creating the turnarounds for the 3D modelers.
Archatas: I’ve heard there is an illustrated novel about Scarygirl. Will the book also be published in Lithuanian?
Nathan: There will be a graphic novel released in October 2009 (over 100 pages). It’s all wordless except for an interview in the middle of the book. I’m sure it will get to Lithuania. The Australia publisher is Allen and Unwin.
Archatas: What video games did you play when you were a child? Do you still like gaming? What’s your favorite genre?
Nathan: When I was really young the only games we had were Pong. But as I got older I enjoyed playing Mario Bros. I enjoying gaming a lot but don’t have a lot of time. I own a copy of Fallout 3 and have just bought Little Big Planet which I’m really loving. I suppose I like games where there’s a lot to investigate like Warcraft – but I’m also a fan of platformers.
Archatas: What software do you use? Do you draw on paper at first and then scan it, or do you use a computer drawing tablets?
Nathan: I always draw on paper first. If I’m doing an art show it’s watercolour, ink and paint but if it’s for multimedia I’ll scan the pencil in and use illustrator and photoshop. I use a mouse for everything!
Archatas: I’ve read that you are working on a new project called Pelėda. Is it a sequel of Scarygirl or a completely different brand?
Nathan: Actually, Peleda is a series of plastic windup owls I created for a company in the US. I wanted to do something that related back to my fathers culture.
Archatas: Now I remembered. I saw those Peleda figures in “Haus der Kulturen der Welt” and that made me really surprised.
Archatas: What I really like is that each of your characters has his/her background story and character features. They are kinda psychological. Do you imagine real people when creating animal characters? There is one character in MTV Fauna called Nathn. Is it somehow related to you? 
Nathan: Yes, often I create characters with my friends or people I know in mind. All the MTV Fauna characters were named after various people who worked on the project (just jumbled their names). In relation to the Scarygirl characters I see myself as being a bit like Blister (the giant octopus).
Archatas: Thanks for the interview. It was nice to talk to you. I’ll put your novel on my wish list
Those who are interested in the process of character creation by Nathan Jurevicius might check the video, I found on Youtube. And those who want to experience varying gameplays, minigames, rich and imaginative graphics, and mysterious music, can play Scarygirl at the official site.
The messages after each level are cool. And I like puzzles since my childhood when I bought every release of puzzle magazine called “AHA” (I am not sure whether it still exists).
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