Nick Senin

Tell us a bit about yourself - our readers would like to get to know you!

My name is Nikolai Senin, I am an illustrator from St. Petersburg, Russia.

What got you into illustrating?

I have been drawing since childhood. I actually worked as a designer for a long time and I had to draw often, but mostly they were icons, headers for websites, etc. But not so long ago, I decided to devote myself to illustration completely. At the moment I am working with the wonderful International agency, IllustrationX.

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What work/project are you particularly proud of and why?

All the illustrations are dear to me – I believe strongly that each one has a piece of me and each illustration has its own story and idea. Not all ideas came immediately to me and not all compositions were easily given, but in the end I am pleased with the result.

There is a lot of work behind each illustration. Sometimes, before starting work, I study a topic. I watch documentaries, read articles, watch photos and empathize with the topic I'm working on.

Your illustrations have a great modern take on animal-human relationships with a story. Tell us about how this idea came about, and what made you pursue it.

Since childhood, I really love nature, so this is reflected in my art. The animal world is unique in any part of the world, and I try to pay attention to many species living on our planet. It is important for me that people often think about the environment. Unfortunately, our planet needs our help. I traveled a lot and visited various national parks, which is also reflected in my illustrations. I met wonderful people who care about nature and do everything to popularize ecology in the world.

What's your design process, and what tools do you use for your work?

Often I sketch on paper, then in Photoshop. After that I work in Adobe Illustrator. Pencil and paper are very important for me, but it happens that I immediately sketch in Photoshop. Especially if there is no time.

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Which illustrations got you the most traction? Do you feel like this was your breakthrough?

Hard to tell! Illustrations with big cats, perhaps. Not always a popular illustration is the best work, in my opinion. And it is far from always necessary to work for the public. Each artist has his own way. The first and really popular work on Instagram was a guy on a dinosaur, but I still do not really understand why everyone liked it so much 😊

Do you have advise/ideas you can share? It could be an inspiration for illustrators to get their creative juices flowing.

My advice to any artist: draw as often as possible. Go to museums and draw. Take a walk in the parks and draw. Draw still life’s and landscapes. It is important that you enjoy it. More often draw with a pencil on paper, there is no Ctrl Z or Alt Ctrl Z key, so you need to immediately be in proportion. Try to be more positive and give kindness to this world.

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Would you like to plug in something for the readers? Your website, your store or maybe some tutorials? You can share the links/attachments with us via email.

My website: parkoldesign.com

Insta: https://www.instagram.com/parkol_design/

Profile on IllustrationX: https://www.illustrationx.com/artists/NikolaiSenin