IA: Can you speak about the importance of colors in your artwork?

NH: I'm a self confessed dunce about using color. I still make the drawing and then color it in like I did when I was five. It's just that I've gotten a bit more skilled with it over time, I hope. That doesn't mean I don’t love color and the good use of it. There's almost nothing I admire more than good coloring in a well drawn artwork. Of course, your idea of what's good and mine may be poles apart because it's so subjective and personal. I love watching films and I suppose it influences the way I think about the use of color a lot. The combination of color and lighting to set a scene or relay an emotion is a fundamental tool in the hands of a skilled film-maker and I imagine the scenic work I do as a kind of frozen frame.

For example, it's easier to convey a somber or sad moment with a subdued palette than it is with a sunny golden one. It's not obvious to convey fiery heat using blues and purples, unless the story details demand it. We're not talking rocket science here; I'm too thick for that. I use a pretty basic range of palette choices to set a mood and then slot spot colors in to pick out focal points. When you add a lighting pattern to the mix you have plenty of scope for subtle variations to make the captured moment individual enough to relate to a particular story.

IA: What is it that gives you the sensation that an illustration is finished?

NH: Usually, it's that the clock comes and beats me over the head with both the big and the small hand. Apart from that, I come to a point where I can almost not bear to look at it. I am the worst at knowing when a piece works and can be left alone. I would still fettle every bit to a finish, despite the fact that I adore the painterly work of others and the freedom of its 'hinted at' quality. It must go back to that storytelling drive in me that wants to explain all the details about a character and their history. The word 'anal' springs to mind. Yet at the same time, I'm impatient about doing it. Go work that one out.

IA: How would you like people to see your artwork?

NH: Probably no differently than a lot of artists I speak with. It's an ego thing, in that we would ideally like to be admired for our skill, talent and have people like us too. And can I have an ice cream as well, with a cherry on top. Ego is a lot of what drives me as well I suppose. I want to get better and better at what I do, whatever “better” is, because it seems like I see others improving all the time, as well as coming out of the womb more talented than I'll ever be. Therapy beckons?

IA: Can you tell us about your influences?

NH: That might be easier for someone other than myself to answer, like maybe that therapist I mentioned earlier that I might need. Pretty much everything I've ever experienced and every artist, film, book I've ever looked at. My sense of humor, passed on from my father to me (yep he's to blame), was heavily molded in that arena to like things like Monty Python, The Young Ones and the Lord of the Rings and the Gormenghast trilogy. Going to college has a similar effect on your thinking. That's where I found out about the American school of illustration influenced by the likes of Howard Pyle and N.C Wyeth. There's another whole raft of that type of illustration that I have immense respect for. And you tend to try and emulate what you admire.

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

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: 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.

Links

Nick Harris CG Gallery Portfolio

Nick Harris Website