Today we’d like to introduce you to Nick Runge.
Nick, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
In 2004, I was beginning a few college courses when I started to get a few small jobs as a penciler/inker in the comic book industry, after meeting a writer and a few artists who were professionally involved in comics and happened to be living in Colorado. I had a few little paintings and drawings in a local gallery in Fort Collins and one day I went into the gallery and the owner mentioned to me “someone left this business card for you”.
That’s how it all started. I worked in comics and traveled to San Diego every summer for Comic Con, slowly meeting artists and writers and eventually getting more jobs. I couldn’t always keep up with the deadlines for the interiors art though, so I eventually moved onto cover art, which allowed for more time and for the opportunity to paint. I painted more than 100 covers for companies such as IDW, Dark Horse, and many others.
I eventually transitioned into illustration full time and began to develop a skill-set with different mediums, such as acrylics, oils and watercolor. In 2013 I moved to Norther California to work for a small game developer in Cupertino called Quark Games. I worked as a digital painter for a couple years, before I decided to go back to traditional painting and try my hand in the world of fine art full time. In 2015 I began working with oils and watercolor pretty much exclusively and have been focused on portraits and figurative art since then. I live in Los Angeles.
We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
As a portrait/figurative painter, I work from life as well as photography. My art is something close to “abstracted realism”, with an objective of expressing as much of the realistic human element of life as possible through a limited and often simplified approach to the rendering or brushwork, giving an illusion of realism while, at the same time, breaking shapes and form down enough to have a close balance with abstraction.
When I paint I’m alive, When I’m not painting I feel lost, so I suppose I do it to maintain sanity….
But as far as a message or inspiration I’m hoping to pass on to people, I want them to enjoy art for “art’s sake”. I feel that too much emphasis is often put on the subject matter of a painting, while the importance of the composition, values, color and brushwork are overshadowed. I’m not looking to tell a story with my art. That’s why I walked away from illustration. Don’t get me wrong, the person/subject matter has a powerful impact on the art, but to me, it’s more about how they speak to me without using words. How their presence dictates the visual approach to creating an interesting piece, without a specific narrative. I just want to find a way to show people abstract art without stepping completely away from the realistic figure. I guess that’s a contradiction but it feels right. And that’s what’s important. Not why something was created, or the process the artist used to draw/paint it, but how does it make you FEEL when you look at it.
How can artists connect with other artists?
Being an artist is very lonely, but fortunately with the internet we can connect with anyone anywhere in the world. I suggest keeping a good balance between online time and going to physical gallery shows and talking with people. I’m very shy when it comes to that, so it’s not always easy, but it’s definitely worth it in the end. Just reach out. Someone will reach back.
Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
I mainly exhibit my work on line through social media (Instagram, FB, website, etc…) but I’m also represented by Abend Gallery, located in downtown Denver. They mainly represent my oil paintings and they’ve helped me quite a lot over the last couple of years to get more exposure with possible collectors.
People can support my work by checking out my Instagram, where I sell my watercolors and an occasional oil painting.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.nickrungeart.com
- Email: nickvrunge@gmail.com
- Instagram: @nickvrunge
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/nick.runge.56
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