Medium phobic

December 8, 2010 9:07 PM

“When I was a kid growing up I was obsessed with animals and monsters… I’d draw them everyday, and when I grew up I either wanted to be a zoologist or a monster hunter… When I got a bit older I realized that being a zoologist was less exciting than I had imagined, and that ‘monster hunter’ isn’t even a real job, so I just kept drawing. I pretty much do the exact same thing at 29 years old that I did when I was 9 years old.” Nicholas Di Genova weaves organisms together in pen and ink.

Interview with the artist

Artist's website

Artist's blog

Di Genova previously on Metafilter

(Via We Find Wildness)

posted by emilyd22222 (11 comments total)

I wish I could wallpaper my house with this stuff.
posted by duvatney at 9:23 PM on December 8, 2010

Jesus. From the description in the post, I thought "This guy sounds just like ME!" And then I look at the pictures, which make my drawings look like they were done by someone with hooks for hands.
posted by hermitosis at 9:46 PM on December 8, 2010 [1 favorite]

Reminds me of Dougal Dixon.
posted by nzero at 9:53 PM on December 8, 2010

Frogwhales?
Falconrats?
Zebrasaurus Rex?
A Tortoise with flowers groing out of its shell?

This guy is like a D&D monster factory!
posted by Muttoneer at 9:59 PM on December 8, 2010 [1 favorite]

When I was a kid growing up I was obsessed with animals and monsters… I’d draw them everyday

This was me, too. This is why the platypus is my favourite animal: a duck bill, fur, webbed clawed paws (with a poison sac!), a beaver tail... this is exactly the kind of thing I would have laboured over for an hour at age seven.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 10:29 PM on December 8, 2010

I’d draw them everyday

Every day. Drawing was an everyday occurrence, but it happened every day.
posted by lumensimus at 10:46 PM on December 8, 2010

SOLDIER TRANSPORTER WITH VARIOUS MEMBERS OF THE GOLDEN SWARM
posted by IvoShandor at 10:58 PM on December 8, 2010

"This guy sounds just like ME!"


Yep.
posted by louche mustachio at 12:17 AM on December 9, 2010

Echoes of Luigi Serafini . . . ?
posted by exlotuseater at 6:06 AM on December 9, 2010

Weird. I just bought a booklet of his from the consignment area of Quimby's here in Chicago.
posted by cmoj at 7:25 AM on December 9, 2010

This is really good stuff.

Reminds me a bit of Richard Vander Wende, another creature designer with a knack for creating in the language of nature.

He's best known for his work on Willow, but his haunting creation known as the whark (as well as Riven's other beautiful and creepy flora and fauna) is probably his most affective.
posted by silentpundit at 8:16 AM on December 9, 2010