A Quiet Moment...
Vogel and Feathered Tree Serpents...
Priestess...
Illustration is the art of bringing someone else's vision to life.
This may be a character from a book, a scene from a far-off place, or a mythical beast.
The point of an illustration is to show something specific.
When illustrating a book, the words and pictures should work toegether, each adding something new.
Most of Nik's illustration work is of book characters and creatures, intended to bring to life scenes and people from novels and short stories.
Their digital work is done in Clip Studio Paint (though some older work was done in Adobe PhotoShop), beginning with a sketch (often drawn in pencil on paper and then scanned to use as a reference layer). They like to use lots of layers, which can allow the characters and other elements to be separated from the background and used in other ways (stickers, marketing materials, and the like).
Nik's traditional illustrations are mostly done in watercolour, or ink with watercolour added. They like to use coloured inks so the linework belnds in better with the paint, but sometimes a good black line is what's needed.
(digital, cover illustration for A Vision of Air by Nico Silver)
(digital, cover illustration for A Taste of Earth by Nico Silver)
(digital, cover illustration for A Caress of Water by Nico Silver)
(digital, banner illustration for a non-defunct website called Anime Savvy)
(digital, cover illustration for The Coming of the Fairies by Niko Silvester)
(ink and watercolour, character illustration for the Three Realms, Nine Monarchs series by Nico Silver)
(watercolour, illustration for a solo show of fantasy art)
(digital, character illustration for Heart of Outcasts by Nico Silver)
(pen and ink with digital background, illustration for a postcard show