Rick Nass Artist Statement:
Illustration or art? As an illustrator, I create images for my clients that tell a story or draw the viewer’s eye to a magazine or product. As an artist, I capture a moment in time with as much detail within the image to again tell a story–more a story I personally wish to tell. Using caricature and humor, my work shows the world as we all know it but in a way that may bring a smile to the viewer by showing a different “reality.”
I have been using colored pencil and acrylic paint applied both by brush and airbrush on Canson Mi-Teintes pastel paper in most of my commercial art career. This paper gave me the textural base I felt comfortable with as I created my own textures with the pencil and paint. For the past several years I have produced my work digitally. I draw with digital pencils and paint with digital brushes and the airbrush on digital papers to create pieces that have the look and feel of my traditional work.
I have always enjoyed drawing and creating independently and collaboratively, helping others tell a story or present a product or service. Working within someone else’s guidelines is a challenge I welcome for I work similarly independently, setting my own guidelines for the piece I am producing. Is my work illustration or art? If I get a smile from the viewer, I have succeeded regardless of how the work is defined.
