NIC RODRIGUEZ
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Welcome to my blog page.
This is a place where I share my thoughts and experiences in many forms. 
A look into the journey of one artist adrift in a vast cosmos.
Thanks for checking in. Enjoy
NR 

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Just trying somethin' different.

6/17/2025

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IP Development

1/21/2025

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Back in 2015 I was approached by a fellow artist about teaming up to help develop an IP for a client. Two other great artists and myself were tasked with creating a stylized world, backstory, and characters all on spec work. I was hopeful so I dug in and did a bunch of development work while only being paid in hope. 

The other artists and myself did some cool work for that project but I am generally hesitant to show my part in that in my portfolio. I recently spent a little time to elevate a few of the pitch pieces because the originals were a great foundation for the skills I have developed since then. I didn't want to leave them unfinished for my current portfolio.  

The first five pieces are the ones I just bumped up a bit, and the rest are a few of the rough concept sketches done during the earliest development process. 

I hope everyone involved in that project are doing well. Enjoy this little slice of history. 

​-NR
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A Vast and Mysterious Cosmos

1/8/2025

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Sometimes a small seed grows a large and fruitful tree.
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Tandy The Teddy

1/7/2025

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Way back in 2010-2011, I was given the opportunity to help develop and illustrate a children's book series for an independent author Chely Schwartz. It was a great learning experience for me, and was the first published work I was credited on. The first two books were done in a blend of watercolor, color pencil, and ink. 

I began developing a digital process for the third book to streamline the process, but had to shift away from the project at that time. I am glad I was able to help get the project going, and to see that the author continued the series. Looking back on the artwork I did for these books is endearing and serves as a great reminder of the many lessons I have learned along this journey as an artist. 

You can still purchase this book series. They are very cute. Visit the link below for more info about them and about the author. 
 
theadventuresoftandytheteddy.com
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​With Love,
-NR
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Swordtember 2024

9/29/2024

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It's that time of year again. This year for Swordtember I decided to go with less magical designs, and more forgeable, or makeable designs. I also did full color renders this year and learned a lot about material rendering. I'm quite happy with the results overall. 

Enjoy.
-NR

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Children of the Wild

3/18/2024

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I have been making concerted effort lately to improve my linework and sketching ability on a Wacom tablet. I have found that the 12"-18" parallax from the tablet to the screen has led me to habits of avoiding doing linework in digital. I tend to default to broader strokes and painting methods instead of beginning with drawing fundamentals and linework. There is a huge difference to me between my line grace with physical mediums and digital. 

In an effort to improve my work and my processes, I have been returning to old sketches and adding to them with new iterations and expanded designs. These sketches are a blend of actual pencil and digital pencil done in Clip Studio Paint. I am hoping to develop the ability to blend the two mediums as seamlessly as I can for various approaches to the design process. 

I think these sets turned out really cool. I love woodland creatures and animal amalgamations. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do, and perhaps they will inspire you in some way. 

Be wise, be well.

-NR 
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Swordtember 2023

9/29/2023

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Ethereal Expressions

5/22/2023

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If we seek to, we grow in many ways. Knowledge expands our perceptions and connects us to greater understanding. Through application of the lessons and repeated attempts at new methods of behavior, we find the wisdom within the lessons.
We look back on what we once were to recognize what we are now. Cultivating what we want and culling what we no longer desire within us. 
Seek out, and center in. Breathe out, then back in again. 
Allow your spirit to blossom and drape you in the petals of the past, to amend the soil of the future. 
The love remains, and so does the pain. 
Go with care. 
Love,
-NR
 
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Paint Studies from Photos.

5/18/2023

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I have been doing fast paint studies from my own photos. One hour each, a single layer, and only one brush. These constraints help keep me flexible in my process, and keeps my hand moving so I don't get into analysis paralysis. I am also learning to push colors to be a bit bolder than the reference I use, and finding ways to display complexity and detail with less work. 
This exercise is also helping me process some of what has happened in the past five years, and gain some orientation as to where I am now. Life throws us seemingly continuous lessons to be learned and maintaining healthy habits to integrate and move forward with these lessons is imperative. 
I encourage people to go outside, get close to nature, examine the way this world is in it's unabused form, appreciate the people (animals included) in your life, and transmute the difficult lessons we are taught into something beautiful. A photo on your phone is enough to record those moment s of divine beauty. 
-NR   
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Ancient Wanderings

12/30/2022

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    Nicholas Rodriguez

    Artist, designer, musician, writer, craftsman, nature geek...
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