Posted by Nate Williams

Chris Sickels, the creative force behind Red Nose Studio, creates an eccentric world we’d all like to visit. Red Nose Studio’s illustrations appear in advertising, magazines, books, newspapers, packaging, character development and animation. His work has been honored by virtually every award institution or annual and has been featured in HOW, Print, Creativity, Communication Arts and 3×3 Magazine. He has twice been honored with the Carol Anthony Grand Prize award from the Society of Illustrators 3-D Salon. Two of his short films, The Red Thread Project and Innards, were selected to screen at the 2005 and 2006 Los Angeles International Short Film Festival. He authored and illustrated The Look Book, and has illustrated the children’s book Here Comes The Garbage Barge released in February 2010.

BFA in Communication Arts with an emphasis in Illustration from The Art Academy of Cincinnati (Ohio) class of 1996

Selected Clients

• Target
• Microsoft
• Time magazine
• New York Times
• Wall Street Journal
• United States Postal Service
• Random House Books
• AARP
• SMFB (Norway)

Speaking Engagements

• HOW design conference in 2008
• ICON 4 (illustration conference) in 2007
• Ringling College of Art
• RISD
• University of Southern Indiana
• Parkland College
• Savannah College of Art and Design
• Taylor University

Top 5 Influences/Inspiration

• being raised on a small family farm in rural Indiana
• the artist Tim Hawkinson
• any good stop-motion animation
• old photos
• Alexander Calder among many others

Top 5 favorite things in life

• date nights with my wife
• wrestling with my kids and reading with my kids
• drawing
• the saturday morning donut breakfast with my kids at the Sweet Shop here in Greenfield
• working on our 1894 house

Top 5 bands/singers

• Devochka
• Cracker
• Johnny Cash
• Tom Waits
• Nick Cave

What are your top 3 favorite web sites?

I dont really have specific websites that I hang out on… but my three most recent books are

• Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig
• Shop Class as Soulcraft by Matthew B. Crawford
• The Education of and Illustrator by Steven Heller and Marshall Arisman

Please describe a typical day?

Well, right now you have to set that question up with sleep deprived nights with our newborn son.
Mornings start off with getting our 5 yr son, 3 yr old daughter and newborn son ready for the day while we try to keep the coffee hot.
I try to be in the studio by 8-9 am. do a few emails while my coffee gets cold. The rest of the day is sketching and building. I dont leave the studio very often unless it is for supplies or material searches. Lunch is with the family and I usually try to romp with the kids a bit before i head back out to the studio. My oldest sometimes comes out in the afternoon and works at his little table here in the studio. After lunch there is another good stretch of time for idea generation and then after 2:30 its best if the work is mostly the doing part of building things and the world gets gets quiet up here. By about 6pm its either time to help with dinner, get that last call in with Magnet Reps, or go to the gym. evenings are quite around here and when deadlines are tight i am back out in the studio for a couple hours before bed.

What is working environment like?

What is your process for coming up with new ideas?

using a thesaurus and dictionary, changing drawing materials and surfaces sometimes helps and there is a quote i have on my wall that says ‘The Best Cure For Writer’s Block Is To Lower Your Standards’ (i am not sure to whom it is credited)

Your work is a mix of art + ___________?

photography, set design, costume tailoring, sculpture, and people watching

What is something new you have noticed or learned recently?

that I need to have more faith and trust in my drawings

Can you suggest 3 artists or illustrators we should check out?

Paolo Ventura
http://www.paoloventura.com/

Frank Kunert
http://www.frank-kunert.de

Tom Haney
http://www.tomhaney.com/

More about CHRIS SICKELS at: Profile / Website / RSS

• http://www.magnetreps.com/
• http://www.rednosestudio.com/
• http://www.rednosestudio.com/rednoseblog/
• http://theartalog.com/wp/

Source: illustrationmundoblog