The Diverse Comic Art Of Nic Klein

There are so many great comics artists out there. However there are only a select few whose works can be considered different. Recently, I had been looking for something original, I wanted to find a comics artist that combined traditional and modern art styles together in a unique way. I stumbled across a comic entitled: Viking. I remember seeing the title on Tom Muller’s website, as he was the one who designed the title/logo. (If you haven’t read the article on Tom Muller, check it out.)

Although the title/logo is beautifully designed it was the art of the comic that caught my attention. I wanted to learn more about the artist, his works, and what other awesome stuff he had done. This week I will be talking about The Diverse Comic Art Of Nic Klein.

Nic Klein was born in Germany. He went to art school in Halifax, NS, Canada and studied painting, printmaking and figure drawing. He later went back to Germany to continue with his schooling this time with a major in Illustration. He has since done work for video games, role playing games, and all sorts of illustration stuff. Growing up he was influenced by Frank Frazetta, Todd McFarlane’s Spawn & Sam Kieth’s Maxx.

Looking at Nic’s work is like looking at the works of multiple artists. He has the ability to change and adapt his style to the story he’s trying to recreate visually. His work takes on different forms from traditional, to gritty, to modern, to contemporary. His panel layout is unique, every panel and page is bursting with full colour and detail, even his black and white work is phenomenal. You could clearly see that his work is much more than just an illustration, there is a lot of thought that goes into every piece. I came across a Nic Klien interview, in the interview he was asked what is his favourite part of the comic book process was, he had this to say:

“hmm, hard to say, sometimes it’s the layout phase, figuring out how to tell the story clearest, that is also the bit that I am weakest at, so it is a challenge, which makes it fun. Other times the actual drawing/painting is great. It all depends on where I am at in the story.”

-Quoted from: http://zero2illo.com/2009/11/an-interview-with-comic-book-artist-nic-klein/

Nic Klein is an amazing comics artist. His style keeps on evolving. He’s experimental and not afraid to try different techniques. If you’re interested in seeing more of Nic’s work visit his website at: http://www.nic-klein.com/  and check out his sketch blog at: http://nicklein.wordpress.com/

If you’re interested in purchasing Nic Klein’s book it’s available through Amazon.com

About the author

Philip Defina wrote 62 articles on this blog.

Philip Defina is the Art Director and co-founder of Septagon Studios Inc. (est. 2003) and Work In Comics (est. 2009) He is a design junkie with a passion for contemporary and graphic arts, photography, and architecture. He`s also a contributing writer for the Septagon Comic Blog with articles that focus on inspiration, art, and productivity. He studied Graphic Design and Advertising Design and quickly became fond of the word KERN.

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