1. Nyco Rudolph
2. Leif Norman
3. Cara Rudolph

Many artistic careers begins with the classic fork in the road scenario: to give up the dream and settle into a more secure and consistent lifestyle, or to persevere and work harder than ever before towards a goal which may or may not be fulfilled. Winnipeg-based illustrator Nyco Rudolph is barreling head first towards the latter.

“There’s always this fear of ‘is this worth it,’” the charismatic Rudolph, 28, explains. “But you can’t focus on the fear. You have to focus on how badly you want it and how badly you want to get your work out there.”

After cutting his teeth drawing band posters in the punk and metal music scenes of our dear city, Rudolph slowly began branching out into t-shirt designs, simple postcard illustrations and guitar strap graphics. 

Itching to bring more of his own creative visions to paper, Rudoplh now sits on a hefty portfolio of bold, splashy and in-your-face imagery.

“Most of what I do has this inescapable film-noir flare to it,” Rudolph says, a fan of classic films since childhood. “Whether it’s intentional or not it always seems to have a way of creeping into whatever I’m doing.”

This love of cinema has lead Rudolph to such opportunities as designing promo material for the beloved Lebowskipalooza and showing work at WILDMINDS B-Movie FilmFest. 

Rudolph has also exhibited at Comic Con, a fitting setting for his off-the-wall, low-brow and often humorous illustrations.

Up next, Rudolph hopes to pen a graphic novel as a way of developing a narrative for his cohesive collection of work.

“I’ve always wanted to make comics,” Rudolph states. “It’s such a big dream for any illustrator.”

To view Nyco Rudolph’s work, visit www.nycorudolph.com.

Part of the series: The Uniter 30

Published in Volume 69, Number 15 of The Uniter (January 7, 2015)