Nik Daum

If people would like to contact you, how would you like to be contacted? (Email, Webpage)

http://www.nikdaum.com/meatland

What type of tools or media do you use?

I have recently been traveling a lot, and have found it easiest to
draw with pen on paper, take a digital photo and color in Photoshop.

Where is the place you would like to work or be an Intern if you had a choice?

I'd love working for Pixar or Aardman. While I'm not focused enough
for either place, I think both houses produce tight, beautiful and
good-spirited animations.


Who do you think are the top character designers out there?

Let me preface this be saying that I think illustrators/fine artists
can be considered character designers as long as their creations are
more than decoration. I think that a lot of emotional interest in
their work because the character's life is theirs start to finish.

Sylvain Chomet, Chris Ware, Mark Ryden, among others. While their
characters vary in design and purpose, each transcends being a
commodity and approaches art. Part of what makes them so unique is
that their styles work so well with their purpose: Chomet's
"Triplets" characters reflect both a somber and playful world, Ware
works in a variety of intricate styles with each expression and
composition perfectly crafted to the story, Ryden's characters are
mysterious and eerily real.

What are some of your favorite character designs which you have seen?

Anything from "Les Triplettes de Belleville." Every character had
such a specific and interesting shape. In what was basically a
silent movie, the characters had to be visually distinctive in order
for the action to make sense. Beyond being a gimmick, their body
types and deformities effected who they were and how they behaved.
And they achieved this while being beautifully loose, expressive and
weird.


What is your most favorite subject to draw? And why?

I enjoy drawing trees and people because they are both varied and
beautiful subjects. If a person fell down in the forest, would I draw
it? You bet.

What inspired you to become an Artist?

There seemed to be no acceptable alternative.

What are some of your favorite website links that would be relevant to this Blog?

http://www.sampaints.com
http://www.rustboy.com
http://www.burstofbeaden.com
http://www.yokotanaka.com
http://www.jeffsoto.com
http://www.femtasia.nl











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