Interview with:Chris Nixon [cnixon]
ILLUSTRATION
 | What is your specialty in illustration? Capturing imagination and wonder,
creating interesting and relatable characters. |
| Is there a web address where we can see some of your work? |
| Have you completed formal art studies, or are you self-taught? I graduated from Curtin University of Technology with a Bachelor of Design (Illustration) in 2007. I've been painting and drawing since I was 5. |
| How did you get your first full assignment? What did it involve? I exhibited for the student graduation exhibition in 2007 and was lucky enough to be picked by Fremantle Press to illustrate a children's picture book. The project took a little over a year from initial concepts to the final submission of all the designs, and it was a huge learning experience for me. I feel very lucky to have been given the break, and for Fremantle Press to have trust in me. |
| What past or present day illustrators do you admire most? Past: Maurice Sendak, Ollie Johnston, Alan Lee
Present: Shaun Tan, Justin Gerard, Corey Godbey, Enrique Fernandez, Dice Tsutsumi, Jon Foster, Michael Knapp. |
| Do you have a particular style, or does it vary a lot? I prefer to blend traditional media with digital, but occasionally I work completely in either. I love oil painting as a medium and I'm working hard to get better at it. |
| What is hardest to draw? The human figure. |
| What type of music do you listen to while you work? I actually prefer to have movies and my favorite TV shows on while I'm working. At the moment it's Seinfeld, The Office and the Planet Earth series. |
| What new techniques have you been experimenting with lately? I've been working at getting better with all traditional media that I use. I'm always experimenting with new techniques and creating textures that I can transfer to the digital medium.
Lately I've been into charcoal sketching and exploring the human figure, which has helped my illustration enormously. |
| What part of your work do you do on paper and what part digitally? I try to do as much traditionally as possible, and try to have as little digital showing as possible. My goal is to work digitally to create an illustration that still has a traditional look and feel to it. There are limitations to both mediums, so it's important for me to understand these and play to the strengths of each.
I usually work with pencil, graphite, charcoal, inks and watercolour to create the base for the illustration. I then scan it and enhance digitally, building layers up like an oil painting. |
| What research do you do for your illustrations? Each illustration is completely different, but I usually look to other illustrations for inspiration. I like to see if an artist has tackled a similar subject and to see how they have treated it. From there I conceptualise and look to photography and references all around me to help create towards a final illustration.
I do a fair bit of research for each illustration and can often take up the bulk of the time it takes towards the final. |
| Do you have any specific goals as an illustrator? My goal is to work in film. I've always had the dream of working as part of the production team for movies, wether it be character design or storyboarding and layout, I find the whole process fascinating and hope to be part of it one day.
In the meantime I love illustrating children's books. To me they are like little films and I really enjoy trying to capture the imagination and wonder of a child. |
| What illustration web sites do you frequent? I like to see blogs showing a little bit about the artist's process. Justin Gerard's and Corey Godbey's from Portland Studios blogs are great for this. Also I like Enrique Fernandez blog and any of the artists who I find that work in the film industry. I'm always on the lookout for any information and inspiration that will help me get to that goal of mine. |
| What are you working on now? I am taking a short break in between children's books to work with a band on their EP to be released later this year. The band is called Lacrymae and they are a progressive metal band from Perth, so the project couldn't be further from what I usually work on which is a nice change and a challenge to adapt. |
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426 visits Whohub
Chris Nixon
Perth, Australia
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