Greetings and salutations, Nick. Been keeping busy? That's a dumb question, huh?

     Hey Dave, it's always great to talk with you.  Yes, I am staying very busy and loving it. I have found myself wishing that there where 2 or 3 of me. In publishing I have been working a lot for a young company called "The Evil Nerd Empire"   They are a wonderful company, run by a young man named Jeremy Needle.  He has me working on a book that involves 16 black and white paintings and a color cover as well.  The book is called "Darc Karnivale".  It is a collection of 16 horror stories by the best horror writers in the world. One of your stories is in it as well.  When this book comes out, not only do you get some awesome stories, you get a collection of new work from me. I can hardly wait to see it when it is done.

     In the film business, one of my biggest clients is Viper Productions.  They are the folks that made the "Mental Scars" movie and I am in the process of doing a Graphic Novel for them, based on the movie. I am also doing a large variety of other work for them as well.  They where so impressed with the way I wrote the Graphic Novel version of "Mental Scars" that I am going to co-write the sequel with Richard Myles.  I will also be doing a Graphic Novel for it as well, and all the other art that goes with a movie, including Posters, storyboards, logos ect.

     I just love working in the Movie business. It is a dream come true for me. I grew up on the old classic horror movies from Universal, Hammer, Castle, and the fellows that brought us all those B classics over at American International. Maybe 20 years from now, some young person will be talking about their influences and mention Viper productions and myself.  Now that would be awesome.

      So between Viper Productions and The Evil Nerds, my plate stays full. But I do find time to do other things as well, including Comic book covers, cd covers, logos, book covers and portraits here and there.

I am really thrilled to have you here with us. You are by far one of the best graphic arists I've ever seen. What prompted your interest in art?

        Ah Dave, you flatter me.  That was a fine compliment and I appreciate it very much. Now, that is a question, and a good one.  I don't think anyone interviewing me has ever asked that one before, and I will do my best to answer it for you and the readers.

     As long as I can remember I have loved horror movies and to be scared.  The earliest movie I can remember watching was the original "The Day the Earth Stood Still" I think I was about 5 and Gort scared me half to death, but I wanted more. So all through my childhood, I watched every horror or science fiction movie I could see.  I recall my Stepfather taking me to all night horror movies at the local drive in, and on friday nights I would sneak back up out of bed to see Shock Theater at midnight after my mom would pass out.

     My room was covered with Monster posters, models of the Universal Monsters and Pages I would take from my favorite magazine "Famous Monsters of Filmland"  And now, 40 years later, my studio is decorated just like my bedroom of old.  The funny thing is that I didn't take an interest in art until I was in the Army. I grew up in North Carolina and back in those day, the schools where very small and didn't offer classes in art,  but they did have classes in creative writing, which is probably the main reason I wanted to be a writer when I was young.  Isn't it funny how things come back around. I started out wanting to be a writer and because of my art career, that has become a reality for me.

     Now there has been other things that have inspired me for good or bad as well.  I mean folks ask me where I get the idea's for some of the "Monsters" I draw and paint.  A lot of times, that just simply comes from the story or book I am doing the illustration for. Other times it comes from the news.  When I see the horrible things done by disturbed people,  I can see an image of them as a "Monster" and usually that will show up in painting or sketch later on.

      Sometimes i get images from really messed up nightmares I have, but back to the original question. My interest in art is a passion. My first true love.  I can't explain why or how, it just happens.  It is who I am.  From 1995 to 2000 I walked away from it. I couldn't really get jobs doing the type of work I wanted to do unless I moved to New York or California, and back during those days, that was just to high of a mountain for me.  So i packed all my studio up, and started installing carpet and tried to kill myself drinking.

      But in 2000 a young man introduced me to the internet and how It opened the world up. I realized that I didn't have to be in New York or Hollywood to get published anymore.  So, I started unpacking my studio and back to work I went. That was a rough year though. It took me months to get my skills back to where they once where when I had quit.  But I didn't look back.  I started doing a ton of work for small press publishing and being put in the limelight for it.

     

It's great have you on board for the film doc, too. Where did you first meet up with Rich and Mischa over at Viper productions? They are great guys, aren't they?

    I am thrilled that you wanted me to be part of "Kings Of Scream..The Blood Brothers" and very flattered as well. I mean to be named a "King of Scream" along with the other amazingly talented people in the film making business.  I consider it to be quite an honor.  What really surprised me though was the amount of time it took to film me for a 8 minute segment of the movie. We did 3 separate shoots, on 3 different days. Karyn Ruffin probably shot 4 to 5 hours of film just to get the 8 minutes. I can hardly wait to see it.  She is giving me all the footage and I am going to make a "Blopper" dvd for the fans.  That should be fun, considering how many times I put my foot in my mouth or couldn't get the words out.

    I meet Richard and Mischa through their make-up artist Michael Jones.  We are friends on Facebook and he really likes my work, so when he heard that they needed an artist, he brought my name up to them.  They checked out my work and the rest is history, or history in the making.

    The 2 of them are just awesome and make a heck of a team. That is one of the reasons I am so thrilled to be part of the team.  Richard and Mischa are movers and shakers and I firmly believe that Viper Productions will be one of the top movie making companies of the future, as well as distributors of movies.  The funny thing is that they are out of North Carolina, about 3 hours away from where I use to live.  But I had to move to Michigan to meet them! It's so funny how things work out.

   

What do you think of the old Frank Miller and Max brooks art? Some feel as though their work was unsurpassed.

        Now when you say the name Frank Miller, we are talking about a legend. The man is one of my favorite comic artist.  His style and technique are so highly recognized and there is no one like him. He's one heck of a writer as well. Sin City just blew me away, and the movie is awesome as well.

       I've only seen a little bit of works from Max Brooks, but what I have seen is incredible.  Like Miller, his work is very unique and exciting.  Both artist are one of a kind, and no one could or will surpass them.  But that is the mark of a great talent.  For instance, there is only one Frank Frazetta.  There has been tons of artist that have tried to copy him, Boris Vallejo being one and probably one of the very few that actually went on to have a real career in the business. 

But that is because Boris finally found his own "voice" as an artist, and what a voice that is.  The man is a legend in his own right.

      What we have to hope for is that an artist will be true to their own voice and they will make their  mark to be known as one of a kind.  In that light there will be artist out there that set new standards and give us art that will take our breath away.

This may sound crazy, but here goes; as an artist, a lot of  your  work tends to lean toward the macabre - do you ever come up with any ideas for stories? Ever consider writing fiction?

      No, that doesn't sound crazy to me and is a another very good question.  Life has made me who I am.  Cheryl is always telling me that I am the sweetest man she has ever known, but inside of me there is this very dark presence. It has come from the real horrors that I have experienced first hand.  My "Parents" where both monsters to the truest sense of the word, and exposed me to horrors a child should never have see or experience, and allowed other "Family" members do the same to me.  So I grew up in a very dark and messed up environment. That is probably the reason I loved horror movies so much at a young age.  I could relate to terror and understood it way to well. Through the years this darkness has remained and is just part of who I am.

     As I mentioned earlier, I wanted to be a writer long before I became an Artist, and I am always writing stories in my mind.  Every single Picture that I create has a story to go with it.  Some of these I will write as screenplays now that I work in the movie business and have an outlet for them. Don't be surprised to see me make some movies down the road. I already have a distributor for them, and that's half the battle already won.

Do you mainly provide artwork for publishers and film companies, or do you plan to branch out into other areas as well?

        I would have to say that working for movies and publishers are my two favorite art jobs.  But I do enjoy other types of work as well. For Instance, I love to do Portraits and Logos. I also love new challenges.  For Instance, I am going to be doing a comic book cover in a couple of weeks, and the main reason I agreed to do it was because it has to be done in a old pulp style and I've always wanted to sink my teeth into something like that.

        As an Artist and a Man, I strive to grow and be better and learn all I can. Thats what makes me want to live and get up every morning with a smile on my face and ready to get to work.

Anything exciting on the horizon for Nick? I know...another dumb question!

          Well, to be honest, everything on the horizon is exciting, but to tell you what that is, then I don't know. It seems that i have reached a point where things come to me now.  I have to turn down a lot of work because I just don't have the time to do it all, and I really wish I could do it all..  But by being able to pick and choose what I do,  I have a tendency to pick things that really excite my creativity and pay the bills in a nice way.

       I'm really looking forward to a time when Cheryl and me can take a few vacations each year and do some really exciting things like travel to other countries.  I really want to visit the British Isles and Peru.

Any last words before you go? Any good advice to aspiring artists?

       First I would really like to thank all the people out there that have made this life possible to me. Daniel Horne, Todd Lockwood, Dave Byron, Viper Productions,  my true  one and only love Cheryl, and the 1000's of fans that have really taken me and my art in.

       To the aspiring artist out there. Work hard, very hard. Learn all you can about what you want to do. Read books, take classes, sketch in your sketch book like your life depended on it, and never give up on your dream.  Have patience and learn to take constructive criticism when given to you.

       Thank you Dave for wanting to interview me and share it in your book. Its always a pleasure to work with you in any way.  Peace and Blessings everyone.