Interview with N8 Van Dyke
I first heard about N8 Van Dyke about three or four years ago when I was a youngin’ posting my art on ConceptArt.org. His style is amazing and he has really blown up the past couple years. Here’s an interview I did with the super duper artist.
Favorite cereal?
Honeycomb. Haven’t had that crap for years but I loved it.
What was your first paid gig as an artist and what did you learn from it?
Very first job I did was while I was still in High school. It was for the mountain bike legend, Gary Fisher. I did a huge piece that was going to run in magazines but it never got used. That’s probably for the better because I would hate to see it now. I learned that the business side of art is almost more important than the art itself.
I first heard about you on ConceptArt.org about three or four years ago and you’ve been a concept artist for awhile now. How did you get into the world of art, showing galleries, doing illustrations for magazines?
I had no choice but to get into the world of art. It’s the only thing I know how to do. I sort of fell into doing video game concept art, though. I had a show with my buddy, Coro, and he had been doing video games at the time and he got me in the door. Fast forward seven or so years and I’m now at my third video game studio doing concept art. I still maintain my freelance work as well as gallery shows.
As for getting the freelance career and all of that going I used to spend a good deal of time and money at Kinko’s putting together photocopies of my work and sending it out to companies I wanted to work for. It’s much easier now just having a presence on the web. Other than that it’s just a lot of hard work and practice and going for what you want.
You’ve been a successful artist for awhile now. What do you consider your “big break” or defining moment as an artist?
My first big break was when I was 20. I passed on scholarships to some really nice art schools and decided that I just wanted to do it on my own. I was doing construction for 2 years when my art was discovered by a dot com company. It was called Learn2.com and they had instructional tutorials. If you didn’t know how to carve a turkey or change a tire or something you would go onto this site and it would show you. My job was to do the drawings that would go along with the tutorials. It was my first real art job and I made a great deal of money and got a lot of experience out of it. I did that for about 6 months before the dot bombed. I’ve been a full-time artist ever since I put down that tool belt.
You’ve been involved with the Upper Playground circle for awhile now. how did that come about?
Upper Playground has been great to me. They recently sent me to London, Portland and Seattle for solo shows. It’s been an amazing experience. I got hooked up with them years ago when I did that three-man show with Coro and another guy. I had been doing shows around SF and my work was getting a good deal of attention. I was in that show and then I kinda ran off and did other shows afterward. Then, about a year and a half ago I got picked back up by them and just started doing solo shows for them left and right.
You’ve done a couple of solo shows, what did it feel like doing your first solo show? How did you go about preparing for it?
I learned a lot by doing my first solo show. I think I was about 19 years old. It was in a café that I used to go to in San Rafael. It was actually a pretty big café with huge walls. I did all of these pieces and then when I went to hang them they just looked so small and insignificant on the wall. I hadn’t done a lot of big work at the time and didn’t really give that consideration. I was proud and nervous. I’m not very big on being center stage so it can be a little strange for me at openings and whatnot. In the end, that show got it started and took me to where I am now. I’m thankful to them for that. They popped my solo art show cherry.
Preparing for solo shows can be a bit of a head-trip. I try and just purge all of the demons and shit in my head onto paper. It can be a gut wrenching experience in a way but also liberating. I prefer to have a bunch of work already lined up before taking on a show because that way you have a jump-start.
What‘s on your reading list right now? (Books, blogs, magazines)
I always read Juxtapoz Mag to keep up on artists and hear what’s going on in their heads. I’m not really big on reading blogs. I spend too much time on a computer as it is with e-mail and work. There are a couple books I’ve had sitting on my desk begging to be read but I usually just push them aside and draw. I have a one-foot tall stack of comics I haven’t even read yet. It’s bad. I hope I haven’t forgotten how to read.
What is in store for the rest of 2009?
I’ve got a number of really cool things in the works. A lot of it I’m not able to talk about just yet. Aside from that, I’d like to get a show in San Francisco maybe later this year. I got a lot of work and travel done last year with all of the gallery shows and the Sparks Mural Tour. I’d like to find some focus and just lock myself away and not come out until I have a new body of work. The next level of what I have already done. I’ve got some ideas in the head so I’ll just be busy purging those.