Illustrate Omaha | collecting creatives

By Tony Montgomery
Illustration by Nate Voss ⓒ 2009

If you haven’t heard of Nate Voss you are really been missing out. Nate is an amazingly wickedly talented professional Illustrator and Graphic Designer based out of Omaha, Ne.

Nate, along with Donovan Beery host a unique graphic design podcast called “The Reflex Blue Show” at 36point.com that features great guests, advice, events and much more. They are well-respected in the national design community, having interviewed many highly successful designers and covering a spectrum of design subjects.

Illustrate Omaha is happy to spotlight Nate and ask him about his life as an illustrator. Enjoy!

Spotlight: Nate Voss
Illustrator & Graphic Designer

Location: Extremely West Omaha (distance, not posh-ness)
Education: BFA in Visual Communication & Design
from University of Nebraska, Kearney in 2001
Employment: Self-fulfilled
Website(s):
Work: http://www.vossome.com/nate.html
Blog: http://www.vossome.com
Comic: http://www.1ptrule.com

How did you realize you wanted to be an illustrator?

Growing up all I ever did was draw and read comic books, so I knew then. Like a lot of illustrators I know, I was the “art” guy in high school. But I lost my nerve and went to college for graphic design instead, because I heard that was how artists made money with a day job. After 7 years in design and advertising, which I don’t regret, it was really more about remembering that I wanted to be an illustrator in the first place, and the awesome feeling of getting paid to do the thing you love to do the most. But I definitely had to re-teach myself how to draw. For a while I’d look at old stuff from college and even high school and be jealous of my past self because I felt like I couldn’t do it that well anymore. After a year and a half on my own, and drawing everyday, I finally feel like I’m back where I belong.
I might be even be getting a little bit better!

How would you describe your style or approach to illustration?

I like to call it “Illustration for people who understand fun,” but if I had to try to coin a term on the spot, I’d call it Hot Graphic Comic Toons, which sounds sexual but isn’t. Maybe I should keep trying…

What is the best advice you’ve ever received?

“You have to be willing to fail in order to succeed.” I have no idea who said that to me, but it’s my mantra every time I get nervous about doing something new, or putting my work out there for people to see.

What is your best way to break out of a creative rut?

I know so many designers and illustrators who are more talented than me, whose work I always find inspiring (if not outright intimidating) that it’s never too hard for me to find something that kick starts my engine. If I’m really in a rut, I’m a sucker for making-of’s and behind-the-scenes for movies, video games and comic books, especially for mammoth creative endeavors (such as Peter Jackson’sLord of the Rings or Jeff Smith’s Bone). Watching people struggle and go through the roller-coaster of creating these amazing works is a great way to remind yourself that Rome wasn’t built in a day, and that even the most awe-inspiring things start from somewhere, in someone’s imagination, and that these people aren’t supermen. They’re regular people like you and me. That kind of thought always lights a fire under me to get off my duff and strive for something amazing.

Where do you draw inspiration for your work?

Is it cliché to say “everywhere?” Yes, it probably is. Toys, movies, animation, video games, novels. Anything that lets your imagination run wild. I find I read almost no comic books today, but there are a great many web comics I read on a regular basis. But I also look at other fields — like web design, logo design, motion graphics, opening or end credits to movies that are particularly well-done, or a DVD package that is really cool. Sometimes I’ll see a great pattern on something in a random store and remember it for later or see a really cool T-shirt somewhere that I can’t forget. Or, you know, to be perfectly honest, sometimes the clouds in the sky just look really nice and make me imagine little characters running around in them.

So, yeah, basically everywhere.

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Illustrate Omaha thanks Nate Voss for all of his great work in the design community and for allowing us to spotlight him.

This entry was posted on 07/22/09 at 9:22 am and is filed under General, Spotlight. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site.