Featured Illustrator Nico Ridge

 

Meet Nico Ridge! Nico is an illustrator (see our new fall banner) and is one of our newer members.     How has being a member of SCBWI benefitted you?

The SCBWI membership has offered me the opportunity to display my work on The Mitten’s website. I hope it may lead to other opportunities to do so in the future and may lead to other networking opportunities.

 

We’d like to get to know you! Tell us about your past creative work in the area of children’s literature or related areas of interest or expertise.

 

My name is Nico Ridge, 32 years old. I’m a self-taught artist who started drawing when I was young. But it wasn’t until I was in my twenties that I started to get serious with art, I’ve been spending time working on improving my drawing skills and started dabbling in painting when I’m not working. I decided to start attending school at KVCC last year and am hoping to make a career through art. I won first place in the KVCC art show for a watercolor painting I did—that’s about as much acclaim as I’ve ever received for my work lol, so that was pretty cool! 

What in your childhood or youth piqued your interest in illustrating? What were some of the major influences that led you to this road?

My uncle Ryan Roxbury is probably my main inspiration. He’s also an artist, mostly working in acrylics. I remember him painting when I was maybe 7 or 8, and ever since then drawing was something I did often. 

Please share anything about your current projects or what’s ahead in your creative work. We’d love to hear about it!

 

I’m planning on doing some artwork soon that highlights political/social struggles that the nation faces. I have a painting that I’ve been working on in starts and fits that would be the first in a series of these works with a couple more kind of planned out …dealing with the justice system, American exceptionalism, class struggle, social solidarity, and the power of corporate interests and big tech exerts on our political system.

 

In our emails you shared some wonderful news you might want to share with our readers. Here's my question: What's new in your life, Nico?

 

My son Evander Robert Blue Ridge was born on the 24^th of September, healthy as can be. Mary, my love, had a short labor, only ten minutes, everything went smoothly. We brought him back to meet his big sister of three, Nyx Lynell Faye Ridge, a couple days later. She was suuuuuper excited to meet her baby bro that she had heard so much about the past 9 months.

 

Thank you, Nico, for letting us get to know you and for designing our fall banner! And congratulations to you, Mary, and Nyx on the birth of Evander!

 

--Isabel Estrada O’Hagin

SCBWI Michigan Outreach Coordinator