I showed up to the venue 15 minutes before my pool was set to begin, armed with a dozen bagels I’d bought to hand out to Norcal players, organizers, and Ryu mains. Walking past Justin, I immediately recognized his awesome Vaporpaintings series from /r/smashbros and gave him a bagel. After bustering out at 2-2 and playing a round of ARMS (verdict: not smash, 6/10) I went back to chat with him about the art and decided to turn it into an interview.

Takapunch: What was your inspiration behind the aesthetic of your V A P O R P A I N T I N G S series?

Justin Wharton / @JustWharton / IG JustWharton: Vaporwave is a subgenre of music where you take smooth jazz or elevator music and alter it to make something new. The visual aesthetic that goes along with it is a lot of the times a mockery of consumerism within our nation, but it’s highly known for pastel colors. Within vaporwave usually people take images they find on the internet and put them together in new ways, but I don’t feel comfortable doing that when they aren’t my own pictures, so I enjoy painting in the vaporwave style instead.

A lot the aesthetic is late 80s and early 90s, using outdated visual graphics. I keep it pretty simple, and give the work a warm feeling, like if the TV was banged on a couple times. It’s not perfect—it’s almost rugged. It’s supposed to invoke nostalgia. I want you to remember staying up until 3 in the morning playing games by yourself or with your friends.

T: The VHS imagery and scanlines certainly evoke those feelings.

J: It’s very nostalgic! Late night, music turned down. It’s hard for me to truly empathize with that aesthetic because I just turned 18. For Christmas I got a Retro Duo with Donkey Kong Country and Street Fighter 2, so I’m trying to figure out what’s nostalgic for people who are older than I am. The furthest back I can remember when it comes to games are the early N64 and gamecube titles, like Mario Sunshine, Luigi’s Mansion, and Melee of course. When I turn on Melee, it feels time freezes and I’ve been teleported back to that era. I imagine it gives that same feeling to others too.

T: What about the black bars across the eyes?

J: Eyes give a painting soul. When it comes to character, if you block the eyes, the character no longer gives off any feelings, and the player has to project their own feelings onto it. If it’s their main, then it’s easier for them to project their own identity onto that character, and use it as a proxy for themselves.

T: What was your first piece?

J: The Captain Falcon. I did it as an experiment mostly, not a joke, but something fun and different. I already painted the five gods realistically, and I wanted to take a break from realism, which restricts what I can do both in terms of proportions and artistic process. I wanted to a project that allowed me to experiment with a variety of colors, styles and techniques. If something goes wrong I can fix it. Each piece still takes about 4-5 hours, but the realistic paintings of the gods took 8-9 hours for each one.

T: Do you have a personal favorite in the series?

J: I’m a Falco main so I like Falco the most, but I really liked the dynamic pose and movement I captured in the Sheik painting.

T: If you could make any one change to melee what would it be?

J: I just want the community to last as long as possible. That’s not really a change, I guess. I wish we had more mains for obscure characters so we’d know more about them. I have lots of respect for aMSa and Axe because they’re always uncovering new tech and they’re committed to their characters. I respect people who stick to their guns like BizzarroFlame.

T: Do you have a favorite player?

J: Yeah! He even stopped by and I gave him a painting in exchange for a picture with him. Westballz!

T: Is this your first super major?



J: This is my first national and my first time meeting everyone, it’s crazy! I’m from a small town where art doesn’t sell, so I thought I might not be that great at it, but coming here has opened my eyes to how much potential there is. Now I know that I was on the right path, but in the wrong location. The Vaporpaintings are really blowing up and lots of players have come by and showed me how they’re using my paintings as their phone wallpapers. The amount of support from the community is amazing, and even though I’m not a good player, I’m happy that I’m able to contribute something in my own way.

I wasn’t even going to go at first. This is my first time going this far from home by myself. I’m a baby! Then Sworderailer pretty much said I had to come with him to share a booth and the hotel cost, and Lauren told me I was pulling out way too many johns for not coming. She got angry at me for not going to Don’t Park on the Grass, because I’m from Washington so that was a major sin.

T: How did you learn your craft?

J: I’m self-taught. Youtube is a hell of a teacher! I’ve been painting for about 4 years. This recent success makes me feel like it’s all coming together. I’ve finally hit a spot where I feel good about having put so much time and effort into it.

T: Anything I didn’t ask that you’d want to share?

J: If you’ve got a passion for something, don’t give up on it. As long as you keep enjoying it, it’s going to bring you happiness, and being happy is one of the most important things in life. Painting is my identity. It’s one of the biggest things I’ve got going for me. If I didn’t paint, i don’t even know who I’d be, it’s really weird. I get a lot of fulfillment out of doing it, and people love it, which makes me feel like I’m bringing a lot of joy to people, and that makes me really happy.

I had a ton of fun hanging out with Justin, and encourage everyone to follow him on Twitter and Instagram. His contributions to the community inspired me to see how I could get involved, and I ended up interviewing 19 others over Genesis 4 weekend, including Jisu, Dan Salvato, and Alex Jebailey. Stay tuned for updates, or follow me on Twitter and you’ll know as soon as my next piece comes out!