Weekly Mini Interview - Nicholas Di Genova

Name: Nicholas Di Genova
Medium(s): Pen and ink, ballpoint pen, animation paint
Where You Live: Toronto

What is inspiring to you? 
Same stuff as always I guess, monster movies, old Victorian scientific illustration, David Attenborough.

How do you keep distractions at bay when you’re trying to work on your art?
I leave my laptop at home. I also put a giant piece of paper above my drawing table with the date of my next show, how many pieces I need to have for it, and how many pieces I have done. That usually scares me enough to keep focused.

Is there anything weird you collect?
I wouldn’t say this is particularly weird, but I have a small collection of antique inkwells, nib holders, nibs, and empty ink jars. I don’t collect them anymore though, now I just collect money so I can try to make my minimum payments on my student loan and visa every month.

What is one responsibility no one should ever give you?
Ordering food on the telephone, I get really nervous and mess up and we get the wrong food. I used to take orders at my dad’s pizzeria back in high school, so I don’t know why it stresses me out so much.

Tell me one thing about yourself that you never told anyone.
Part of me wishes that instead of becoming an artist, I trained to be a UFC fighter. I know it’s stupid, and that I probably wouldn’t be very good at it, but I don’t know, I think about it all the time. Back in 1994 my dad and I rented the first UFC video from Jumbo video and watched it together, and I was really into it, and he encouraged me to take boxing, but I was too shy. So yeah, my big secret is that I wish I was a UFC fighter, it sounds so pathetic when I write it down…

If you could choose one fictional character to be friends with, who would it be and why?
Maybe the Flash, cause he could help me out in the studio and get tons of shit done when I have a deadline looming…

*For more info on Nicholas, visit his website.