If you know one thing about GiGi and I, it’s that we LOVE our fandom art. We have MORE prints than we can possibly display…that is until we get ourselves an HQ with TONS of wall space 😉
We are always keeping our eyes out for the truly exceptional.
It only took following artist Nick Comparone for a day for us to realize that his work was just that. His hand cut, layered, stencil art is what caught our eye.
Being HUGE Tolkien fans, Nick’s latest installment of LOTR/Hobbit portraits peaked our curiosity enough to ask him a few questions…and he was kind enough to answer them.
WGGs: How did you choose the layered stencil as your art form?
At the end of my college career I was doing very little physical fine art and also working at a design firm on a computer all day. I wanted to make work by hand again and stencils were a medium that would allow me to still create a lot of variations on a theme which I enjoyed from working digitally. From there the layers increased over the years as I continued to add more depth to my stencil pieces.
WGGs: The intricate detail is evident, how long does it generally take to complete a piece?
It really depends on the piece and the size. My gallery paintings, at the least, usually settle around 40 hours. Those range from 12×16″ to 24×36”. My smaller book page paintings I’ll paint in a day. I added them to my body of work as an affordable option for buyers who wanted original art.
WGGs: Can you share a little bit about the process of both choosing the subject of your design as well as the text behind it?
Most of my work is dictated by gallery shows, licensed work or commissions but as far as the process… I try to encapsulate the whole of what I feel is the character, because I really only have one shot in a portrait painting to capture that or a specific memorable moment. The book page paintings are mostly adaptations, so they are painted on to their respective books. I do try to choose specific pages also, or even get requests for certain pages by buyers.
WGGs: Do you have a piece from your current collection that is your favorite in regards to how it turned out?
As far as the Lord of the Rings paintings, I’m pretty satisfied with how the Frodo turned out. Maybe it was just nice to have a break from cutting multiple layers of beards, but I enjoyed tackling the rendering of his cloak’s clasp in negative space.
WGGs: Are you able to share a DREAM piece…as in one you can’t stop thinking about but haven’t created yet?
I always have Twin Peaks on the back of my mind and spend enough time talking about it that I should have made a piece by now. There’s just so much material and also some amazing artwork already created for that show—one of these days I’ll muster myself up to it.
I (CC) have to say that the eyes are what get me first. With both Bilbo and Frodo, I can see both innocence and resilience, Thorin’s intensity/strength, Gandalf’s uncertainty and Saruman’s evil. It all gives me chills!
We couldn’t be more thrilled to share this with you all!
To purchase your own piece of this amazing art, visit
http://designanddestroy.storenvy.com
there is a very good chance you can see progress photos of whatever he happens to be working on currently.
We hope you enjoyed this artist feature and that you will GO, LIKE & FOLLOW our friend Nick Comparone and that you tag us in any purchases you make so we can see what you added to your collection!
Happy Art Walking
~CC
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Thank YOU SO MUCH for sharing your art with us Nick and for taking the time to let us in on a bit of your process. You are truly talented and we wish you the utmost success in this field!!
We Geek Girls 