Rangefinder Magazine
October 2005

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Richard Nortnik Jr. by Peter Kotsinadelis

From New York to Honolulu, from North America to Europe, if you have driven on the highway or taken the public subway in many of the metropolitan areas, you have most likely seen the work of Rich Nortnik Jr. Educated in the fine arts, Nortnik is considered one of the foremost experts in Photoshop and a master of illustration. As senior designer/ illustrator for the Shaw Group, one of the world’s largest engineering and construction companies, he has used his talents to design artwork that ranges from the 2nd Avenue Subway project in New York City to advertising illustration for Oahu’s Trans 2K public transportation project. Nortnik has won more awards in the last five years than most people win in a lifetime, many of which include the title “Photoshop Guru.”

When you look at the artwork of Rich Nortnik, you would never imagine that such an exceptional computer graphics artist once considered the computer a “cheater’s” tool. “When I started as a designer and illustrator 15 years ago, I used oils and pencils. I never thought to use a desktop computer for art. I thought it was cheating.” But in the mid-1990s Rich was first introduced to Photoshop 2.0 when visiting a post-production firm. “I watched this artist use an airbrush tool in Photoshop to paint in his line-art drawings. From that day I was hooked!” After this, Nortnik began scanning his lineart illustration into the computer and used a stylus pen to color them in Photoshop. “I became Adobe crazy—I ate, slept, and drank Photoshop.”

When you look at Nortnik’s artwork, you can see what many refer to as photo-realistic art. The work shows the influence of Salvador Dali, an artist Nortnik admires and studied while earning his Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts at the University of Northern Colorado. He attributes the quality of the realism in his renderings to a clear understanding of perspective and to a creative ability that seems to run in the family. Several family members are also artists, including Nortnik’s younger brother. The creativity goes back several generations. His paternal grandfather was an exceptional illustrator, and his maternal grandfather was an inventor who actually invented a radio alarm clock years before they became popular. Nortnik’s artwork for various projects, including media covers and illustration for construction and engineering projects, is what basically pays his bills, but his personal creations are intriguing as well. Many are truly works of art. But what motivates him to create? “Usually if the project is for me, it’s a subject I feel very strongly about,” he says. For example, about his image “Florida 2004 Stamps,” Nortnik says, “I wanted to put together a piece for the victims of all the hurricanes in Florida. This image ended up with 90 or more layers. I don’t like to flatten because at the end, I might want to go back and change something.

achieve a cartoon-like feeling in a dark, smoky bar with neon lights. Another was a poster of Felix Nelson (a band member of Big Electric Cat, whom Nortnik wanted to highlight), and the last was a fun picture of the band that he gave a traditional drawing style to. Using Kai’s Power Tools’ KPT Effects, which Nortnik regards as “awesome,” he achieved just the right lighting effects.

Those who use Photoshop can only imagine the amount of time it took to learn and apply the program to create such impressive images. “Even though I was anti-computer early on, when I did start with Photoshop, I realized you had to be just as creative to use computer-based graphics, and sometimes more so.” Nortnik also uses Adobe Illustrator, a program he is equally at home with, and other programs, such as Corel Painter, when he needs to modify or add special effects.

The image “Color Theory II,” is an extremely complex image that reveals Nortnik’s intuitive prowess with these programs. He explains, “I wanted to experiment with many shades of color, so I started out with a set of Pantone swatches. I used different color modes on each layer to see what kind of color response I could achieve. Then I added different shapes to give it interest. I have always been taught that a good illustration should always carry a large amount of different shaped angles. It gives the eye an exciting mix to look at. I added a 3D piece to a layer that communicates how many directions color can flow and mix together. To spike the interest of the piece, I strategically placed the text. I created a multilayered backdrop for the composition that gives it the ‘Photoshop meaning’ of basic color theory. By experimenting with the thousands of different effects that Photoshop has to offer and layering them on top of one another, you can create visually stimulating art from a simple concept like color theory.

See these pieces and much more of Rich Nortnik’s artwork at www.richnortnikjr.com/.