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Nick Noyes is a fine artist from Reno, Nevada, USA, who specializes in painting and illustration.
He creates intricate, expressive, and colorful portraits, utilizing many mediums.


Tell us about yourself and your background.
I am 28 years old, from Reno, Nevada, USA, and I am a self taught painter and illustrator.

Tell us about your work.
I paint portraits. My mediums are spray paints, oil pastels, markers, and pencils. My goal is to consistently create interesting work, and interesting work is the combination of color, form, and expression, and those are what I emphasize in my work.

What is unique about your work?
I am, for better or worse, “married” to my format.
All of my work is on 18”x24” paper, done using the same layered process. I do not title my work. I prefer to not “color” it with any verbage. I number my work, which is–I think–interesting, because if you view them all sequentially, it's obvious what new techniques or styles I was experimenting with and incorporating.

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"My goal is to consistently create interesting work, and interesting work is the combination of color, form, and expression, and those are what I emphasize in my work."

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"I number my work, which is–I think–interesting, because if you view them all sequentially, it's obvious what new techniques or styles I was experimenting with and incorporating."

Nick Noyes

Why is your work a good investment?
I cannot answer why my work is a good investment. I have never been good at selling my work. I like and appreciate when somebody shows interest, or inquires about purchasing a piece, but I am frankly not that great of a salesman.

Tell us about some of your achievements.
I have shown work in Nevada and California.

What are your sources of inspiration?
I feel creatively obligated to refine or develop work each day. Knowing that I have been consistent and busy, and that I have some promising pieces in the works, motivates me in all other facets of my life.

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"Before, it felt almost like a chore to labor with other mediums, but with spray paints I am able to establish the forms quickly and broadly."

What you are you passionate about?
I am passionate about consistently creating new work, adding to my collection, developing my work within my particular modality, and creating an interesting catalog of unique work using new tools and techniques.
 
Share with us the back-story of some of your work.
A huge breakthrough to me was incorporating spray paints into my work. ​Before, it felt almost like a chore to labor with other mediums, but with spray paints I am able to establish the forms quickly and broadly. 
​​I prefer working on paper, and it may seem obvious to most people, but when I discovered on a whim that spray paints do not buckle paper, it opened up a very productive and experimental system for me that allowed me to create more work and not worry so much about wasting material.
​I do not like canvas or brushes, and with spray paints I do not have to use either.  ​

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"Reno's seasons are stark in contrast, and I have always emphasized contrast in my work, probably because of that."

Tell us about your upcoming projects
I'll continue to develop my work and create. I have a few shows I'm going to put work into this year and next year. 
​​I am trying to show more work in California, Oregon, and Washington, but it is proving difficult to make connections. Again, I am not a great salesman.

Tell us about where you are based and how it influences your work
Reno is temperate forest–lush and green–to the west, and high desert–very dry and dusty–on the East side.
​In the winter we get a lot of snow, and in the summer it is what you would expect in the desert. Hot.
Reno's seasons are stark in contrast, and I have always emphasized contrast in my work, probably because of that.

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"I feel very strongly about visual art.
​It is the purest and most accessible form of expression."

​How do you feel about art and its role in the world?
I feel very strongly about visual art. It is the purest and most accessible form of expression. I love music, film, writing, and animation, however, there are barriers to entry in all of those mediums. Any person can scribble in the blank spaces of a phonebook while they wait for an operator. Art is meditative.

How you want your art to affect the viewer?
There are a few people I know who really appreciate my work, and look forward to their thoughts, but, besides that, I am not particularly interested in affecting anybody with my art.


www.noyesranch.wordpress.com

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