One of the great qualities of the online graphic design community is the willingness of its members to share tips, tricks and support to the community. It’s one of the principles on which CreativeFan is founded, and it leads to the overall enrichment of the community.
Over the past few years, perhaps no one has been more prolific in contributing to the design community than Nik Ainley. Between writing for Advanced Photoshop, ComputerArts, PSDTUTS and others, Nik not only offers an inspirational model of graphic design and digital art experimentation, he also shares his expertise and experimental results. So, in this interview, Nik will share some of his insights, workflows and inspiration with you.
- Your Name: Nik Ainley
- Your Age: 28
- Location (City or Country): UK
- Your website or portfolio: www.shinybinary.com
- Software you use: Photoshop, Illustrator, 3DS Max
Thanks for taking the time to interview with us. First off, could you tell us a little about yourself?
I’m a freelance digital illustrator and have been for almost 4 years now. I mostly do commissioned work for advertising or editorial clients, but still spend a lot of time experimenting with personal work. I’m always trying to learn new techniques and software as a large amount of my work comes from experiments with techniques I don’t really understand.
101 Ideas
How did you get started with digital art?
I first started when I got hold of a copy of Photoshop at university and was addicted right from the start. I spent several years just playing around with it in my spare time, slowly learning about it and digital art in general. I think the first copy I had was version 5.5, so there was also a lot of time spent trying out the new features of each new release. Nowadays Photoshop is a much more rounded package so there is less difference between new versions.
Are you a member of any art groups? If so, why did you join, and why those groups in particular?
I’m a member of Depthcore. They were the first and only art group I joined, and I’ve been there for over six years now. I was invited when I was just starting to put my work online for other people to see for the
first time. It was a massive surprise and honour to be asked and I jumped at the chance. Depthcore has been around for almost 10 years now which I think is astonishing considering how quickly things move in the digital
art scene. I think the group’s longevity says a lot of about the commitment of the members and the perception that Depthcore is a leader, not a follower.
Why Not
From a creative standpoint, is it easier to work on personal work or client work?
That’s a tricky one to answer as there are plus points to both. With client work I will generally have a good brief to follow so I know what I’m trying to achieve from the start. I’ll normally get regular feedback to steer me in the right direction, and since the decision of when I a picture is done or not is the client’s I don’t have to worry about that.
Instant
Personal work is generally a lot more fun though. I can do whatever I want, just follow my own instincts and the only person who has to like what I do is me. At the same time I often don’t really know where I want a picture to go and have a lot of trouble deciding when to finish. You can never be quite sure that there isn’t something you can add or change that will improve a picture.
Do you have a favourite work that you’ve done, or something you’re especially proud of? Why that work especially?
I produced two personal images earlier this, Julia and Origins, which are probably the first I’ve done that are not mostly based on Photoshop work. Julia is probably 50% 3D and Origins 85%. Considering I only really started looking at 3D properly at the start of this year they represent a big step forward for me. Previously I have used 3D software for very simple purposes, mostly extruding text to make it 3D, but nothing close to these before.
Julia
Origins
What program do you do the majority of your work in, and why?
For the vast majority of my career I have done most of my work in Photoshop. It is the Swiss army knife or graphics software, and can produce a huge range of styles. You can create graphics in it from scratch, or use it to composite photos into photo realistic manipulations. Every image I do will be finished off in Photoshop, no matter where I started it.
Mystic
Recently I have been moving into 3D work more using 3DS Max as I find the possibilities it provides very exciting. I’m still a relative beginner, but as a lot of my work comes out of experimentation I see a lot of possibilities in it already. I know Photoshop almost too well for that any more.
Where do you see yourself in the future, and how do you feel that you will be growing as an artist?
I’m really quite open towards future possibilities. All I know is that I want to continue trying new things and learning. I don’t want to stand still or just get better at what I already do. 3D and motion are both exciting prospects to me, as well as the possibility of working as part of a team again some day. I see advances in technology providing the power to produce more and more exciting imagery that will make current say work look primitive in comparison. I envy those just starting out for what they will see become possible in coming years.
Lush
Anything else you’d like to say? Any projects you’re working on that you want to draw attention to, or closing thoughts for the readers?
Hope you enjoyed reading it and expect new work to come out soon!
