“Everything in God’s timing. Do not strike the rock and miss your blessing. Keep your cool and stay diligent in your craft. Don’t worry about what’s going on behind the scenes- Just do the best you can and continue to move forward. No matter what. Stay the course. You’re gonna make it.”
- Nikolas Draper Ivey
Have you ever seen a piece of art that moves you a certain way? That was my initial reaction when I came across Nikolas Draper Ivey’s profile on Instagram of his Feudal Japan Star Wars drawings.
Right then and there, I stopped everything I was doing and looked at all his pictures. His drawings ranged from Star Wars to Disney Characters Re-imagined as Marvel Characters, The Goofy Movie Characters Re-imagined as people to even his own personal projects known as Dream Vesper and Lion.
Looking at his work really made me want to get to know Nikolas. I even befriended him on Facebook randomly one day just to see what would happen and he actually accepted my request! We have had small conversations before but I really wanted to dive deep to know more about Nikolas.
What type of drawings do you do?
I draw illustrations; just wanted to point out that its alot of characters of color. I am not ashamed of that. People have pointed that out. A Lot of comic culture work of art illustrations. A lot of times people hit me up for miscellaneous things like album covers or logos. For the most part it's comics and illustrations.
What got you into drawing? What helped jumpstart it?
Hmmm…. My father could draw; I got in trouble alot for drawing when I was a kid. Drawing has been something I always had a passion for. My mother told me that I was drawing at 2 on her white couch. I had this chalk and wanted to color on the white couch and my mom was like, “NO! Don’t color on the couch with the chalk! And she was right so I took the crayon to it. That didn’t go over too well. Ever since then my parents wanted to get me something to scribble on and it kept going on from there.
How long have you’ve been drawing for?
I've been drawing since 2 but didn’t get serious until 6th grade when I really knew what I wanted to do.
Who's your top five favorite artists? (Ranging from art to music)
Ahh man top 5? Man that’s hard. Hmm art wise? Easily Olivier Coipel. Then lets see, Takeshi Obata, Katsuhiro Otomo, James Harren, Jamie Hewlett, Chase Conley, Sara Pichell. Now music, there’s a wide range. It can go from Hip Hop to to Rock to Orchestral to Classical music. From Video Game Soundtracks too you name it. Almost everything except for Country. I don’t do Country.
On the daily, how many hours do you dedicate your day to drawing?
I would say for hours. Whenever I am not drawing I am eating or sleeping.; probably would just crash on me OR thinking of what to draw. I am like stuck on my feet. Sometimes I have entire days dedicated to where I’ll just be thinking about doing the drawing before I actually do it. Then eventually I’ll finally sit down and say, “let’s do this!” Not sure why I do that because it doesn’t make the process easier. It’s not like I did anything better from that; it’s just this fear. I will just have to get over that then tackle it.
Where has your talents taken you so far? Where else would you want to go?
Ah man.. Places that I would like to go and visit. I’ve already been to Japan. Would love to go back again. Somewhere in Europe; that would be cool. Really would like to see what that’s all about. I've never been to Brazil; I know that there is art seeing there. There’s so much like there’s places in the State that I’ve never been too. LA at some point. I don’t even know where my art is going to take me so far. I've been terrible at predicting what's going to happen to my life, in terms of art. Definitely Africa! There are several of countries that I want to see like Malia at some point. Ethiopia, Nigeria, Eden.
If you don’t mind me asking, what has been the biggest obstacle for you?
My faith. That is the biggest thing because still it’s been developed over time but for me, I have struggled with my faith because I am always trying to….. I got the hard work part; in terms of doubts and acceptance. Questions like, “Am I good enough?”, “Am I gonna get the job?”, and “This?” and “That?”. I pray and I still have doubts. That is something I have to work on. I don’t think I will ever be to that point but I have to work on that.
Role models?
Ahhh maaaan… I don’t wanna sound cheesy but God. I want to be like that in a sense, be how Christ was. Live my life accordingly. On the flip side, I really like Kendrick Lamar and how he sticks to his beliefs and puts that into his music and how outspoken he is about his beliefs. The wisdom I've seen from Michael B Jordan and how he answers questions and do things. It’s things like that that I want to take with me and grow. There’s a lot of Monica artists that I have seen in Japan. There are all very very still in what they do but there’s a weakness in their familiarity. They don’t carry this ego. Maybe it’s the culture but something that I want to keep with me as I grow. Want to get the respect there but also don’t wanna come off as I am full of myself. I'm not someone that strives for that.
Favorite project you’ve worked on and what have you been working on currently?
OOOO! Yeah, I can’t say!
How do you deal with stress and adversity?
Honestly a lot of prayer. A Lot of action. Like not sitting around and just waiting but going out there and you know, giving it your all. Not trying to pray for something and waiting for it to happen but doing both. I mean it’s been rough. Not going to lie; it’s not an easy walk. I am very honest and I always try to do the best I can. If things work out, I am usually like, “Oh, ok!” But I would say God comes first.
Do you have any advice for up in coming artists?
Stay focus, stay driven. That’s my biggest thing I would say pray, getting there, try and study. Try to humble yourself. Really really try and find inner peace. Work hard! Work as hard as you can. It’s one of those things that you have to have go hand in hand with each other. At least in my experience.
Greatest piece of advice?
“Don’t slack off!” Very simple. Don’t half *ss!
I guess you could say Nikolas took his own advice! Recently Nikolas has shared that he has had pleasure doing the album artwork for Marvel’s Black Panther!
Follow Nikolas Draper-Ivey on social media:
Twitter: @NikDraperIvey
Instagram: nikolasdraperivey
Tumblr: http://nikolasdraperivey.tumblr.com/
Facebook: Nikolas A. Draper-Ivey
