Thumbnails: Nic Klein

Thumbnails: 30 Second Interviews

Nic Klein, one of many ConceptArt.org finds for me. I'm killing two birds with one stone here - not only is he someone for my "Thumbnails", he's also on my "Wish List"

Do you have to like the book/comic to be excited about the project?
No. Every Project has potential for something exciting, whether it is the characters, the composition of the piece, or just a technical aspect. In fact being a fan of something and then getting the chance to work on it could even be a bit of bad thing, because you might have such a clear image of the characters or what previous Illustrators might've done with a property that it blocks your own creativity, and thus might turn into a disaster.

What are you working on now?
Right Now I am painting an Comic Issue for Marvel MAX, It is Issue 4 of "Dead of Night:Man-thing". It is the first time for me painting a whole issue so I am excited.

Favorite color?
Pink & Blue (baby blue almost turquoise), I know, weird.

Favorite painting you did in the past year?
It's a tie between the Spectra Pulse cover for Bantam Dell Publishing and the Starlord#1 [third image] cover for Marvel comics. The Spectra piece for all the stuff that is going on in it, and for the freedom I had in making it. The starlord piece because it was the first Marvel cover I did, and it has a great energy to it.

Do you have a set image in your mind when you first start sketching or do you start out abstractly and let the process of doodling take over?
This is a tricky one. I think there are very few artists that I know that can claim to have the ability to capture exactly what is in their head. I am not one of them, sometimes more sometimes less, but making art or an Illustration is always a process for me. I start out with an idea and elements will be added or taken away as I see fit. Obviously this depends on what the illustration is for and how much freedom I have/or what needs to be communicated with a piece. With personal work I have no one to answer to but myself so this is the most spontaneous work, although some jobs where the Art direction is loose this also applies.