Niko Geyer
Niko Geyer is a freelance illustrator and one half of the fantastic team behind the webcomic Fantasy Realms. He agreed to share some examples of his work from the past eleven years, including wonderful homages to Where The Wild Things Are and Avatar: The Last Airbender, which seem timely. You can find more of Niko’s art by following his blog, Twitter, or deviantART portfolio.
Thank you for sharing your inspiring work, Niko!
I read Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings when I was still in elementary school, and the fantastical world of hobbits and elves left its mark. It was then I started scribbling characters from my own stories, and I haven’t been able to shake the allure of the fantasy genre since.
I’m currently working as an illustrator for children’s books, YA novels, and role-playing games. While I enjoy the work, I wish I could buy extra time to give to my personal projects that have been on the back burner for far too long. When the tools of the trade are stowed away, I prefer spending my time adventuring into well-worn novels, watching movies at least two-and-a-half hours long, and searching the sky for Asteroid B-612.
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| Let’s start off with a comparison of the very first CG I ever attempted (with a no-name stylus brand that didn’t even support pressure sensitivity) and one of my most recent digital paintings to date. A little bonus for the people who know my online comic Fantasy Realms – you can see the earliest character designs for the project in the old picture! | |
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These were both commissioned illustrations that tell a story and involve some scenery. The clients were happy in both cases, even though the detail and quality was upped in the newer one – along with my prices. |
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This character dates back to 1998, but for the relaunch of Fantasy Realms I decided he needed a more iconic look. You can see the first version of his redesign above, next to a more recent rendition. |
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| Our comic Fantasy Realms dates back to 1998 (even though it was a game project back then). There have been countless revisions and reboots since then, and the improvements I made as an artist can be observed by comparing all the glaring differences in color, composition, anatomy, perspective, and pretty much everything else. However, I would say the worst part of the 2001 page is actually the script! | ||
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| On the left you can see my first attempt at cel-style coloring. These days I prefer to use a mixture of hard and paint-like styles to get the look I want. I believe it’s a good idea not to lock yourself into one style and experiment; variety is important, especially if you plan to become a freelance illustrator. | |
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| One thing I used to neglect criminally in my pictures is the scenery. I would draw characters and add some filtered background as an afterthought, instead of having them interact with their surroundings. All aspects of an illustration are equally important and should be treated accordingly in my opinion. It’s also interesting to compare the shading in these two images, with no coherent light source in the old one… | |
I use Tumblr as a middle-man in between the micro-blogging on Jaiku and Twitter and the blogs (exactly where I adore WP too). Tumblr is ideal as some type of notebook but I wouldn’t use it as the only way to talk my personal brand.
It’s great to see just how far Niko has evolved in career. He’s really a great artist.
Omigoodness! I love Niko’s art. He’s really come a long way with Fantasy Realms. I came Fantasy Realms a while back and was a fan ever since. By Moon Alone is amazing too.
I love the colors and shade/lighting. Everything looks so natural. Ergh..backgrounds, my nemisis.
I’ve known Niko since those early days, and it was astounding back then to see how he improved with each drawing. In 1998 I can remember his sitting at his computer probably cursing me under his breath teaching me the fundamentals of Photoshop. He’s been a great friend over the years, but we’ve mostly fallen out of contact lately. I’m really unsure why.
I can remember all of the old stuff there. Brings back memories of being on the old #verge channel on EsperNet.
I love how far you have come!!! And seeing mistakes that I make now (I neglect backgrounds too! Eep). Your newer colouring style, with the wonderful washed out colours, is so dreamy and exactly how I picture the light in so many fantasy classics
It’s so cool seeing how others have made the same mistakes that I have along the way.