Children’s book illustrator Nick Harris grew up in a small coastal town in Southern England knowing he wanted to be a doctor but after some time studying sciences he realized that his career choice was “way off the mark” and he decided, to our delight, to pursue his favorite hobby, drawing. With no specific job in mind he enrolled in a three year program studying illustration where he met his wife Katy and an agent that guided him and encouraged him and remains his close friend and colleague until today. Nick‘s studies allowed his favorite hobby to become his passion and he has been a successful illustrator since 1982. This experienced artist shares his wisdom and offers some valuable advice for any aspiring artist.

Nick Harris: As a kid I felt compelled to try and fettle every square centimeter of a piece to be as finished as it could be. Tonal areas of pencil work had to be showing no lines unless I specifically wanted them there. Had the drawing underneath been better maybe that would have been justified. The results tended to be rather stiff and lifeless. Art college freed up my thinking a lot. I still like the same kind of things and admire a lot of the same styles of art as I did when I was that kid but I'm maybe more flexible about how I approach a piece. Lack of time and patience has had an impact on the imagery I’ve produced over the years too.

IA: To describe your style I imagined Norman Rockwell at the Pre-Raphaelite era. What do you think of such an assertion?

NH: I think you're being very kind Patrice. Norman Rockwell was and still is one of my illustrator gods. I might not feel the resonance of the social history in his paintings, not having grown up in the US through that period of his peak output, but his earlier work in particular is so good it makes me want to lick it. He could draw and paint the hind legs off a donkey. The deliberate caricaturing that typifies many of his pieces introduces such humanity and life. Yes, the content seems old fashioned and corny now but they are masterfully done. The Pre-Raphaelites are another constant source of inspiration for their vibrant, almost super realist offerings. If like me, you've ever stood awed in front of an original John Everret Millais painting with your jaw hanging open then you know what I mean. I would love to have that sort of talent and discipline because that's what it takes to achieve these levels of finish in your art. I don't have either. I do still try though.

IA: Your artworks Star Quest and Dragon Quest are full of details. How do you start your work on such an illustration? Are there some Nick Harris rules, steps, philosophy…?

NH: 'Work BIG to SMALL.' By that I mean go for the bigger shapes and broad composition first. It won't matter how good the small details are if the big stuff doesn't work. Then work on the medium sized stuff and so on down. You shouldn't be polishing the buckles of the lesser characters until the end, no matter how tempting it is (and yes I still do it, damn-it). Chances are that if you do you'll probably have to go over them again anyway to make them fit in better at the end. It's an organizational thing with pieces as complicated as these were. I still had a lot more patience when I did these. Even so they drove me bonkers. They were fun to do but really time consuming. And do bear in mind that these are real media watercolors I'm talking about, on real art board. Digital art has the advantage of more flexibility. But I do still tend to organize my working methods around similar ideas. Old dog - old tricks.