Interview with Nick Harris

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Interview with Nick Harris

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IIA: What's your definition of art?

NH: Ask me an easy one why don't you!! Art as a word covers such a broad spectrum of offerings that pretty much the whole world is included these days, depending on how you look at it. So maybe that should be my answer. It isn't about the thing you're looking at so much as about how you look at it. There is art in the least of things, if that's the way you see. The fact that some of the biggest prices are paid by hype merchants for these things, to people who know how to play the “fine art game” can be a little annoying sometimes and do disservice to the art scene generally. I'd better not get into that one…

IA: How has your art evolved with technology?

NH: Coming from a watercolor illustration background, I noticed the PC encroaching more and more into the business in the late 1990's. It was more to do with how the publishers wanted the artwork presented or delivered really at that stage. I realized I had to move with the times or I might become an oddity; ok, granted I am an oddity anyway. Ten years or so on from that I work more or less totally digitally. I draw straight into the PC with a Wacom, color it with Painter, ArtRage and Sketchbook Pro and do post work in Photoshop. I still draw without reference in the same way, although the inferior line quality tends to mean that I rely more on that 'less natural to me' coloring now. But the coloring is more versatile in how I can apply it.
My watercolor technique involved painstakingly building up layers of washes over a drawing to give depth and subtlety and you have to wait for each wash to dry between applications. Anyone that's used a paint program in a PC knows that just doesn't apply in digital image making. I avoid the painfully slow watercolor brushes in Painter and prefer tinting brushes instead. If I want any watercolor affects I can introduce them after. It's back to an organization thing again. I love the 'oil pastels' in Painter for their responsiveness and I love the drawing tools in ArtRage and Skethcbook Pro for theirs. It's just about finding tools that suit you and your way of thinking

CG Gallery

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IA: How do you see technology? What are in your opinion the advantage and drawbacks of it?

NH: The biggest advantage of digital for me is the ability to edit at all stages and even after the finish. If a piece went wrong in using traditional painting it meant a clean start from square one. And the reproduction capabilities of digital pieces is a major advantage. “How many copies/variations would you like sir/madam?”. The biggest disadvantage is: “Where's the original?” There is not one definitive individual original to hang on a collector's/gallery wall. That affects the value put on a piece. Also, some uninformed people still think that it's the computer that does the creative work!! Whaaaaa..!?

IA: How do you think your job will evolve?

NH: Not having seen the digital tools coming, I'm waiting with bated breath for the next development. It will probably have to do with how the internet or its successor evolves and the impact it has on our day to day lives. This is always assuming that global warming doesn't close down all the power stations and have us living in igloos. I plan to keep on drawing in anyway I can and conning some poor sucker or another that they'd like to pay me for doing it. What a hard and cynical individual I am.

IA: What advice would you give to someone who would like to start a career in illustration?

NH: Go with your strengths and what you like to do as much as you can. If you enjoy it, you'll practice. If you practice, you should get better at it. If you love what you're doing it shows in your work. For me, having an agent has worked really well. I'm lucky in having found someone I get on with, trust and has stuck by me through both my and his own difficult times. I have always been busy, if never rich. If I cared more about money, I probably wouldn’t be doing illustration as a career. We're back to, you have to really love it because you WILL be tested. There's nothing better than passing a test though, is there? Well, maybe a hot chocolate with marshmallows on a winter's night while the latest episode of Heroes plays on the TV.

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