ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: Nyco Rudolph

What do I say about Nyco Rudolph?

Can I say anything without excessive swearing? (in the good way…you know what I mean!)

Nyco is the kind of artist that you look up to when you need to step up your game.

Is your table at the con kinda average? Then build a city in the middle of the floor:

Nyco’s table at C4

Want prints that stand out? How about 3D prints, complete with 3D glasses!

The Siren by Nyco Rudolph
(Warning! Boobies)

Whether it’s his own properties or pop culture work that been mashed up (sometimes with swearing and/or naughty bits), Nyco’s work is distinctive and stands out from the crowd (Nyco’s evocative art is only accentuated when he’s got an equally talented Janelle Desrosiers to back him up).

He’s also one of a few artists who I’ve gotten to know better and will be contributing a variant cover for my newest Chronicles of Era graphic novel. I have no idea what it will be, but I know it’ll be spectacular!

Nyco answers some questions about his relationship with comics

-What inspired you to make comics?

I started drawing as a kid before I started reading comics. But it wasn’t until discovering Tintin and Calvin and Hobbes that I realized there was some truly special and inescapable quality about comics. But if Tintin was the gateway drug that made me start drawing comics, discovering Will Eisner’s work was what made me begin to truly appreciate the nuts and bolts and the mechanics of the medium. Which just made me want to do it more, but with a serious approach and to really challenge myself.

 -What did you learn from making comics?
I learnt that there isnt a better medium for expressing a world that exists entirely in your head. I’m a huge movie buff, and it’s remarkable to me how many people are involved behind the scenes. Set designers, costume designers, location scouting, research etc etc. On the one hand, I appreciate all the artisans and craftspeople working in synchronicity that result in something as immersive as Mad Max or etc. On the other hand, how cool is it as a comics creator, that you’re all of those things in one body and mind? Whatever you put on the paper is 100% you.

Dagger of Truth
©Nyco Rudolph 2016

 -What/who inspires you in your life and/or your work?

On top of the comic artists I mentioned before, Mike Mignola is another illustrator I really respect. I find that I’m inspired by filmmakers and musicians as much as I am illustrators. Tim Burton, James Cameron and Steven Spielberg have had just as much of an influence on my style as any of the aforementioned artists. Tom Waits has definitely been an influence on my art, both in his style and in how much of his own world he’s crafted for himself over the decades. He invites us in to visit, but what he does he does for himself. Bruce Springsteen is another huge influence, both on my work and life. Theres a sincerity, humanity and restlessness to him that I can definitely connect with. There’s a lot of outlandish material that makes its way into my art and writing, but I’m deeply fascinated with history and with people. One of my favourite parts of writing historical fiction is the research that I get to do. It’s pretty incredible to immerse yourself in old newspapers, photographs and public records, with the intent to reconstruct a world that doesn’t exist anymore.

Chronobot
©Nyco Rudolph 2016

 -What are you working on now (next)?

It’s been around 6 years since the last time Ive done a comic and around 15 years since I’ve drawn a comic that I had written. I’m working on writing and illustrating a couple short stories, as a warm up for the marathon that will be Hell’s Ark. Hell’s Ark is a period piece horror/science fiction epic set in 1937 Halifax. Thats all I can say for now. I’ve been inexplicably obsessed with Halifax and Nova Scotia since my childhood. Visiting the area for the first time in the summer of 2013 just cemented my feelings of needing to set a book here. There is something so treacherous about a city on the edge of the ocean and about the resilience  of the people who live there and have dealt with disaster after disaster. They are a hearty people, which is why I set my book here. If any city can make it through the event in my book, its Halifax. Plus Canadian history doesnt get nearly enough attention. If Hells Ark does well, I already have ideas for sequels and for a ton of other books set right here at home in the great white north.

Check out Nyco’s work here (Fair warning: swearing, nudity and dinosaurs abound!)