ABOUT: Nuff Pillz

Nuff is one of DSM's versatile artists. With his many variations in character, cartoons, and lettering, he is, in my opinion, one of the most creative guys in the Dutch 228 community. I hope to see more of The Pill in the future. This is his story.

Let's start off with a beer. What beer would you say is your favorite?
Oh, that's a great way to start this thing off. I am a bit of a beer geek. I love to go to little pubs where they have a ton of different kinds of beers. Let me think... I guess I would start with a Delirium.

Where did your journey in art begin?
I always loved art. My parents took me to all sorts of museums as a child, and that continues until now. I still go to a lot of museums and have a love for modern art and street art. Street art tours are a great way to discover unknown cities, and I love museums where the art is free to interpret. I admire artists that dare to discover boundaries. I love to discover new artists and love to collect some of their work when I can.

I enjoy the creativity with the character you have. Can you tell us about the background and how your character started?
Thank you for that! Well, it started as some kind of joke, to be honest. I went on a street art tour in my own city and discovered that stickers are a big part of the street art community as well. I played with the thought of slapping my own city with stickers, just for the fun of hearing people talk about it. My character started very simply. I couldn't draw for the life of me, but I didn’t really care. I think the first post on my Insta page shows how it started. The design for my character was just the first thing that came to mind: a little pill with X-es as eyes.

What inspired you to become an artist, and how did you develop your artistic skills?
I think it was a way for me to relax. Just putting on some music and drawing a little. It was a sort of unwinding after a hard working day. The more I drew, the more creative I got. I always see flaws in my drawings but see them as learning points to make the next drawing better. Collaborating with other artists makes me push even harder. I love to work with all sorts of artists and different styles just to learn from them myself.

If you had to describe your artistic style, what would you say?
I don’t really know. I have a cartoonish character. I push myself to get creative with the basic character I have. I guess it's a clean and simple character. So simple, it’s hard to draw in collabs.

How did you wind up in the sticker scene?
When I set up the Insta page for Nuff, it was sort of a rabbit hole really. Tanukie was the first one to approach me. I think I did the first couple of trades and digital collabs with him. He opened the sticker world for me. At that time, I drew a lot on vinyls. After a while, I got asked to join DSM. There, I met a lot of great new artists, such as you. At that time, Dok.One introduced me to 228 labels. He gave me the first set of labels to draw on and taught me the ways of the 228 community. Once I drew on the 228 labels, I never wanted to go back to vinyls. 228 labels draw awesome. You taught me about alcohol markers. That helped me progress a lot.

Can you share some of your favorite or most significant artistic projects or pieces you've created?
Sure. A lot of the work I added to this interview are pieces I am very proud of, either because they are cool collabs or because they show my huge progress. It’s a world of difference when you see my first character. Some of the added work has been included in the 228 magazines, which made me especially proud. It's weird when your doodles get valued by the community.

What do you like the most about what you do?
I love being creative with others. Collabs make me push my creativity and skills, and they make me learn. But basically, it’s a great way to empty my head after a workday.

Are there any artists you look up to?
Oh man, there are so many great artists in the community, it’s hard to name just a few because I learn from all the collabs I do. But some of the artists I admire for their creativity and skill are:

• Octolus
• Levink
• High Ranking Cult
• Abysl_Grysl

As far as it goes for productivity and being a binding factor for the community, I want to give a big up to Dok One.

Everyone has their way of working. How do you approach the creative process, from conceptualization to completion?
Well, I always try to match the theme. That’s always a starting point for me. Then I get to sketching. I try to make my pill fit the theme. This is a bit of a hard part because of the limited possibilities a pill has. My character has no arms or legs to work with. Eventually, I find a way I like my character. Then I outline with pen, start filling in my character, do some shading, and finally, create a clean outline. I think I spend the most time setting up the idea. Sometimes it takes ages to jump on a collab just because I need to think about them. Once in a while, I browse my pile of collabs and see if ideas pop up for them. If they do, I sketch it up. If they don’t, I set one or two aside and think about them a lot until I get a nice idea. This process sometimes takes me weeks.

How do you stay motivated and overcome creative blocks or challenges in your work?
This is a good question. I experience my creativity in waves. There are periods when I am super creative and productive. Other times, I’m just not. There are times when I just don’t want to draw. Then after a period, I make myself draw again, starting with something simple or picking a really cool collab. It makes me happy to finish them, and that gives me a motivation boost. It’s weird sometimes. I found out that pressure to collab kills my creativity. This is why I try to keep my collab list small, or at least let people know I work slowly and it takes me a while to send something back. It takes the pressure off the trade for me. This makes me way more creative and happy.

Not every art is for everyone. How do you handle critiques or feedback on your work, both positive and negative?
I don’t really experience a lot of negativity. The sticker collab community is a dope community where a lot of awesome people want to make dope art with each other. I find that people are willing to give constructive feedback and help you develop your skills. I love this a lot about the community. I think you receive what you give, so I try to be as kind as I can be to everyone. As far as toxic comments or drama go, I try to stay far from it. I block people when I don’t like them or just ignore them.

The thing I like most in an artist is progress. What are your long-term artistic goals, and where do you see your art career heading in the future?
I don’t really know. I just want to improve my skills. I love to look back at my work and see how much I have progressed. I still have a lot to learn. In the upcoming time, I want to challenge myself more in drawing backgrounds. I am harsh on myself for the ones I draw, never really happy with them, which is why I sometimes avoid doing it. So I guess my goals are making dope and detailed backgrounds. As far as an artistic career goes, I think it will just be an awesome hobby and a good way to keep me relaxed.

Some artists feel they have a deeper meaning regarding their artwork. Does your art have a deeper meaning to you?
Nah, not really to be honest. It’s just a weird little character I like to draw.

Do you have anything else you would like to share with the world?
I want to thank you for this interview. I love the ways you put your creativity to work. You have a great skill set which I look up to. Keep on using it in all the different ways you do.