An Interview With N8 Van Dyke

This summer, I was honored to interview San Francisco illustrator, Nate Van Dyke. When I had agreed to write the piece for Four G’s Magazine some time before, I had never seen his work. Well, I had, I just didn’t know it yet. About a week before our scheduled interview, I started doing my homework—some extensive Internet research—trying to familiarize myself with his pieces and determine what this artist is all about.

What I found out was that I had most definitely seen his work before. He had worked with big brands and advertising agencies I was familiar with, and had been interviewed by many magazines, including Juxtapoz. This research was supposed to better prepare me and perfect my questions, but instead it just made me incredibly nervous. I was no longer interviewing Nate Van Dyke the artist; I was interviewing Nate Van Dyke the genius.

When we arrived at the bar he suggested to meet at in the Haight, I started to relax a bit. “If he wants to do the interview in a bar, he must be pretty chill,” I thought to myself. And he was. We sat down with a pitcher of beer, questions loaded, and recorder on. My left hand worked furiously writing copious notes, as I conversed with a brilliant illustrator. My nerves quickly faded as Nate began talking. For someone who draws some truly crazy stuff, he was very considerate and just genuinely really nice.

After the interview, he invited us back to see his house and studio. I was in awe; his art was everywhere and it was amazing to see the originals in real life. Like a giant nerd, I snapped as many photos as I could with my phone. The experience was one I will never forget and the article was extremely inspiring to write. Issue 3 of Four G’s Magazine comes out sometime in November and my piece N8 Van Dyke, the Man Behind the Chimp will be featured. Please check back for more information.

Below is a parting gift Nate left me in my notebook.