[Un]Discovers: Nick DeFina

Here comes our 2nd last wave of 7 Waves Of Illusions and his name is Nick DeFina.  His works have definitely amazed me in many ways and that is why I want to feature him to let more people know about his works. Here are some questions I have for him as an illustrator.

Hey Nick, if you can only choose one person, who has the most influence in your painting style?
The most influential person to me has been Nick Di Genova. That guys stuff is so sick, I have such a great appreciation for his almost microscopic details at times. He totally kills it with the pen and nib. Although he was an OCAD graduate out of the fine art Drawing and Painting program, his work looks very illustrative and right now the way I work is very illustrative also so I can truly identify with his style. I recommend people to check his site out at mediumphobic.com or his blog skeleton hug on blogger.

I just get a chance to take a look at Nick's site and I am blown away by his artworks! To me, your signature piece is definitely the snail with skull shell. How did you come up with this concept?
It was during second year. Every day was so repetitive and mundane I would wake up, go to school paint till late go home and start it over again. I was painting a highly realistic piece at the time for a core painting class in acrylic, I don’t recommend any one try it haha. In this time I was given an additional assignment. I wanted to reflect the feelings I was experiencing in this assignment and I constantly entertained thoughts of working on this painting till the bitter end! And then it came to me, a snail with a skull on its back, it’s basically a “slow death”.

"Slow Death"? That is an interesting explanation and I can easily associate the figure to the feeling. Well, Other than the snail with the skull, what other things do you like to draw?
As of late, plants, mushrooms, coral etc. Ironically enough I found a way to integrate this imagery into my snails and slugs. I look at plants much more differently now than I use to it’s like I’m rediscovering something new kind of. So yea as it stands a lot of plants, mushrooms and coral it could change you never know.

Corals and Mushrooms are definitely 2 of my favorites things on Earth and I think you have blended these elements on our works very well. I also know that you are planning to launch your shirt line soon. What kind of images are you planning to use as the prints and approximately when will you launch it?
Indeed, it’s a “slow” works in the making but I’m spreading the word right now. Hopefully get some paperwork done by the end of the summer. Trademark here and copyright there and have my official business ready to kick off, then finally the silk screening of my shirts. I have made a proto type of one t-shirt design I’ve been showing around. People dig it and it makes me happy. =) I don’t want give too much away but hopefully this picture will give you an idea, enjoy.

I am very excited about your t-shirt business and hope you will have them on sale! So what painting are you working on right now? 
I’m working on a series of snails/slugs black and white. India ink and fine pigment liners so I’m basically having fun and playing with a bunch of techniques this allows me to play and experiment more in such monochromatic way. I’m playing with a lot of plant imagery at the same time so this series is pretty encompassing for the most part.

I am looking forward to see them soon. Last but not least, If you could access to all the places in the world, where would you like to go to get inspiration? Why?
Well at this moment in my life somewhere tropical. I think I can benefit from the amazing range of plant and wild life and I might even get lucky and see amazing snails and slugs while I’m there. So just to name a place I guess somewhere along the equator...Ecuador/Amazon? To see these exotic forms of life up-close would just take my art in a whole new direction!

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Now let's learn about his personal taste in which I have 10 random facts to ask him.

Beetle or Bee?
Bee

Pink or Brown?
Brown

Nature or Urban?
Urban, I know it’s kinda opposite to my work but I love the city.

George Rodrigue or Andy Warhol?
Jean Michel Basquiat, Worked with Warhol but he is just limitless and does not believe in borders.

Baseball or Basketball?
Soccer OMG world cup this year!

Green Lantern or Iron Man?
Strangely enough Ironman was my first ever favourite super hero i use to draw him all the time and then I was introduced to Hal Jordan, (Green Lantern) and I changed teams. But hey Tony Stark (Iron Man) is cool too!

Jay Z or Eminem?
Drake, of course it’s cause he’s from TORONTO!

Day or Night?
Day the sun is just too amazing.

Omelette or Hard Boil Egg?
Hard boiled I guess, you can eat it like an apple.

Dragon or Phoenix?
Dragon! It’s my Chinese zodiac. Interesting ironic fact, I was looking at it on Wikipedia and the Turkish people regard the snail as the embodiment of the Dragon...

I do believe now you have a better understanding about Nick as an artist. From what I know, he is going to have an exhibit sometime this year and I will keep you posted! Thanks so much to Nick for being part of this great lineup and I can't wait to see what he has for us next. All pictures are courtesy of Nick DeFina.