Artist to Know: Illustrator Conor Nolan - Inside Art With Michael Rose

Artist to Know: Illustrator Conor Nolan - Inside Art With Michael Rose

 

Pen and ink are foundational tools for many artists to shape their work. For Providence-based illustrator Conor Nolan, they are also some of the implements he uses to craft masterful drawings that describe space, narrative, and unique characters. He is currently the subject of an exhibition titled Sapling, on view in the Main Gallery at AS220 in downtown Providence through March 29. A talented maker whose work recalls the golden age of illustration, Conor Nolan is an artist to know.

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Nolan utilizes both time-tested and contemporary techniques to create his exceptional drawings. In his home studio on the East Side, a jar filled with specially procured Japanese brush pens stands at the ready alongside a tablet that allows him to create and refine images digitally. He has a flat-file packed to the brim with works on paper that show off his inventive and curious mind. There are monographs on artists who inspired him, ranging from Norman Rockwell to Frank Frazetta. This is the space where he created the work featured in his current show at AS220.

 

 

Nolan grew up outside Worcester and attended the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. He remembers making art and drawing from a young age, and has transferred that into a career as a freelance artist. His client list is incredibly varied, and he has made artwork for MTV alongside bands like Phish, The Wu-Tang Clan, and Coheed and Cambria. He has worked with publishers Harper Collins and Dark Horse Comics as well as publications including Vice Magazine, Gawker, and the Globe and Mail. In short, he is a prolific commercial artist who makes his living with his hands.

 

His art has been featured in exhibitions at the historic Society of Illustrators, where his early role model Rockwell was once a member. Additionally, he has shown at the Newark Museum of Art as well as in commercial galleries in Seattle, San Francisco, and New York. He has also amassed a sizable online fanbase for his creative practice and boasts nearly 30,000 Instagram followers.

 

 

Asked about his process and where concepts originate, Nolan says, “Each idea comes from one of two places, either a client has commissioned me to draw their idea, or I'm pulling from my imagination. Most start with one or more sketches, and from there develop a larger drawing with brush and ink, which I'll color digitally.”

 

 

Nolan has created artworks that have found homes on many platforms, from illustrations used in comic books to the packaging for beer. In his show, viewers can see a cross-section of the types of drawings he has created for a variety of purposes. The commonality among them all tends to be his deft use of line. Some of the lines in his drawings are thick and direct while others are suggestive, as if he rendered them with a slight flick of the wrist. There is a lot of nuance in this artist’s work, as well as plenty of imagination and fun too.

 

 

Describing what collaborations mean for his work as an artist, Nolan says, “It means that I'm rarely doing the same thing all the time. I'll have seasons where I'll be doing a lot of packaging illustrations, which will be followed by a new season of graphic novel work, or editorial illustration. I rarely suffer from creative atrophy because something new is always being asked of me, which can have its own pros and cons, respectfully.”

 

 

At AS220, Rhode Islanders can see a collection of work that shows off the rich creative life of this local artist. There are images created in response to well-known content like The Lord of the Rings, or simple sketches executed with ballpoint pens reflecting natural motifs. Some of the drawings in the show are executed on vintage papers from an old scrapbook Nolan found at the former Cellar Stories Bookstore a few blocks away. These pieces have an added depth that comes with the layered quality of their substrate.

 

Reflecting on what he hopes visitors experience when looking at the collection of work he has assembled in the Main Gallery at AS220, Nolan says, “I hope that viewers see an artist who really loves their work, and wants to connect with people on some fundamental level. Whether it's the storytelling, or the mark marking, it's always been my interest to create some invisible handshake between myself and the viewer.”

 

 

Conor Nolan’s impressive exhibition Sapling is on view through March 29, 2025, in the Main Gallery at AS220, located at 115 Empire Street. The gallery is open Thursday and Friday from 1-6 p.m. and Saturday from 12-5 p.m.

 

Learn more about Conor Nolan at www.conornolan.com, or follow him on Instagram via @nolanillsutration.