Chris Nielsen Interview

On: May 14th, 2008

Chris Nielsen is a digital illustrator from Southern California. I was first introduced to his work in an Illustrator Wow Book. His work is awesome. He creates photorealistic illustrations using flat vector shapes. His motorcycle portraits have incredible shiny chrome details.

In the interview you'll learn more about Chris. He gives us more information on his artwork, tips on taking reference photography, and we are given a glimpse into his working method. Let's discover this vector artist.

1. Welcome to AiBURN! Please introduce yourself? Give us a brief bio? Tell us where you're from? And how you got started in the field?

Hey Sean, thanks for letting me "brag" about my work. First off, let me introduce myself here... My name is Chris Nielsen. I am a digital illustrator/graphic designer from southern California.

I have a BFA Degree in Graphic Design which I received from Cal State Fullerton in 1992. After a few years working at a Design Agency, I got burned out and wanted to focus on the thing I loved most which was drawing, NOT design. So, I quit and went back to school to get my Master's Degree in Illustration.

When I was getting near the end of my studies for my MA Degree, one of my instructors asked me if I would help him teach his computer graphics illustration course. Soon after that, I was pretty much teaching it for him! So, at the end of the semester, he asked me if I wanted to try teaching... And, of course, since I hate talking in front of people, I thought it sounded like a real dream job for me. Just kidding... but, seriously, I tried it out and it honestly made me a much better artist in my own right as a result.

2. How would you describe your work? Your style? Your approach to illustration?

I describe my visual style as "Stylized Realism". I focus on very intricate, detailed portraits of custom motorcycles and choppers. I work exclusively in Adobe Illustrator. In my work, I focus on depicting objects through the use of multiple shapes to depict details.

In my Illustrator work, I use NO GRADIENTS... NO FILTERS... and NO PHOTOGRAPHY in the final artwork that you see in my portraits. It is all done with shapes, flat colors and lots of attention to surface details and lighting. Fun stuff...

You will also notice in my later works that I now make the deliberate decision to leave my portraits in an "Unfinished" state. For a while, people would mistake my work for photography and that was beginning to bug me! I was being too realistic. So, I decided to leave the images in a sort of "Work in Progress" manner. That way, there would no way that anyone would take these for simple photographs any more. And, it worked!

For me, I like the whole "Incomplete IS Complete" approach. It kind of gives the viewer a look into the working process of my art.

I use my final portrait images for magazine work (like covers) and for application books. My work has been featured in the Illustrator CS2 and CS3 WOW! Books by Sharon Steuer. I was also shown in the Illustrator CS2 Gone Wild Book by David Karlins.

I also produce my portraits as Limited-Edition Giclee Prints. I keep them down to an edition of ONLY 20 Signed/Numbered Prints. I don't sign other work... that would take away from the rarity of my signature on the Limited-Edition Prints for collectors.

3. Could you tell us about your career? Favorite art pieces you worked on? Any current or future artwork you'd like to share with us?

My career? Well, like I mentioned before... I am a computer graphics instructor. I am an adjunct professor at four colleges here in southern California. I teach classes in Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe InDesign and beginning Web Design. I am also now incorporating a bit of Corel Painter into my digital illustration classes as well. But, just a little bit, since I am still learning that application myself. Illustrator is my baby!

In addition to all the teaching I do, I am also a freelance illustrator (I do a lot of technical drawing work). I am also the Creative Director for a Motorcycle and Outlaw Kulture Magazine called ChopperHead, which is available at all Barnes & Noble stores across the United States!

As for my favorite piece that I have worked on, I would have to say it is a toss-up between the RED CHROME portrait (since that was the very first motorcycle portrait I did in Illustrator, so I learned a lot in the process) and the CHINGON portrait of a bike designed and built by Matt Hotch from Fullerton, CA. I just love the way I caught all the reflections and colors in that bike. It really is one of my favorites to look at. After all, after working on a portrait for so long, once it is finished, it is about that last thing on earth I want to keep looking at. Not so for the CHINGON Portrait.

Plus, Matt Hotch and his Dad were really cool about letting me come to their shop and take as many reference photos that I needed. They were just the greatest, most down-to-earth people you could meet. And I say that because I have also come across a few real assholes who wouldn't even give me the time of day! Screw them. I am almost set to begin my third portrait of another one of Matt's bikes.

4. Tell us about the apps you use? How integral is Illustrator to your work? Any tips you'd like to share?

I love the whole Adobe Creative Suite of applications, but when it comes to Illustration, it is Adobe Illustrator all the way for me! I was born to work with vectors and the pen tool. Hell, that's why my website is called pentoolart.com.

One tip that I would like to share is... always look around at what other people are doing! Learn from anyone and everyone you can. I would also recommend that you buy a good digital camera for your own reference shots... instead of all this downloading crap from the Internet! Plus, learning to look at lighting and compositions for my illustration work has also made me a much better photographer as well.

And for God's sake, draw what you love to draw... not what you think is going to make the most money necessarily. Put your heart and soul into your work and your process and others will pick up on that. Hopefully, others will love viewing your work as much as you have enjoyed the process of creating it.

5. Could you tell us about your process in making such detailed and realistic vector illustrations? What does your workflow look like?

My process is complicated... First off, start with producing your own reference shots. Don't be afraid to ask someone to move, or in my case, move the motorcycle. Look around at the surrounding environment because that can impact your final shot for the illustration. Don't be afraid to get down and dirty: What I mean by that is, view your subject from all angles... even if that means laying down in the dirt for the right angle.

After I have shot about 100 images, I go home, download them, and then Delete all the ones that don't work for me... which is about 90 of them! Then, I narrow it down to the best shot and I go with that. I clean it up a bit in Photoshop and save it.

From there, I go into Illustrator and import the photo as a reference layer. I always begin with simple, 1pt line strokes to capture the main elements, like a tail pipe. Then, I work more lines on top of that shape, describing the differences in colors and reflective details.

After some of those lines have been made, I then go back and select them, and the tail pipe shape, and use the DIVIDE PATHFINDER to cut the shape down into smaller, more descriptive pieces for coloring later on.

I do this over and over, until I have a big mess on the page. Then, it is time to turn layers on and off and start with the coloring process. My Illustrator files are usually about 500 layers or more when I am done!

6. How is teaching going, and how long have you been doing that? Have you in the past, or are you planning any online instruction, like tutorials?

I started off teaching at Cal State Fullerton in 1998. Wow! This is my 10th year as an instructor! I am currently working on a very detailed series of video tutorials for my students to learn from. I will be recording all my lecture and demo materials this summer and offering them to my students and to others as well on my website. I will be burning a lot of DVDs this summer!

7. What inspires you? Does it all come from photographs of detailed machines, like motorcycles? Or are there places on the web? Or other artists that you find inspirational?

What inspires me to create? Seeing all my students working in the classroom! They inspire me the most. I work with them all day, then I can't wait to get home and get some computer time for myself! I just can't get enough. I love this stuff!

I am also in awe of the designers and builders of the custom bikes that I love to draw... you know, the guys you see on the Discovery Channel's Biker Build-Off and shows like that. They are the real geniuses!!! I will tell you straight out: I have never been on a motorcycle. I don't know how to ride one. I have never owned one! But, I do have a very, very high level of amazement and admiration for the engineering brilliance of all the guys who build these incredible machines. I love to look at all those amazing, little parts because they take on an unusual aesthetic of their own in a composition. Again, really fun stuff to work with.

8. Thank you for participating in this interview! Any final remarks?

YES. A couple final remarks...FIRST: Thanks for taking an interest in my work, Sean! You are the coolest! SECOND: If there are any galleries out there who like my work, let's talk. I would love to have some gallery representation. THIRD: Check out my site and let me know what you really think!