Nick Volkert

UX/UI Designer / Illustrator

Greater Chicago, IL

Valentine's Day Shark|View Work

Hard work and belly laughs

Introduction

My name is Nick Volkert, an artist and creative living in Northwest Chicagoland.

I'm a classically trained illustrator and painter, receiving a BFA in Illustration and an MFA in Painting from Northern Illinois University. I currently illustrate digitally, converting pen and ink illustrations to prints and tee designs.

In my off-hours I like to paint, create comics, attend way too many concerts, play drums, and, in addition I’m a diehard White Sox fan.

I have a lot of comics, illustrations and art to view, hope you find something you like!

Love is in the air

Valentines Day Designs

Just some sweet, love-filled designs for all the couples out there!

A shark dressed as a cherb peeks out of the water to spread some lovin.

Created: February, 2015 | Role: Illustrator

FACT: Cupid Sharks are just here to spread some loving for Valentines Day to all the hopeless romantics! (And also probably eat you).

Captain Pancake is dressed like a cherub and is holding a bow and arrow and a box of chocolates in the shape of a heart

Created: February 5th, 2019 | Role: Illustrator

Captain Pancake is ready to fill someone's heart with love as Cupid Cakes!

A shark peeks out of the water covered in kisses and wearing an arrow through its head headpiece.

Created: February, 2015 | Role: Illustrator

Fact: Sharks love LOVE, Valentine's Day, chocolates, flower and candy. And also those headbands with the arrows thorugh 'em. The best!

From Ireland with LOVE

St Patrick's Day Designs

Just a few designs filled with the luck of the Irish!

Captain Pancake is decked out in St Patricks day gear and is clicking his heels

Created: March 14th, 2019 | Role: Illustrator

Captain Pancake is in his green gear for St Patrick's Day!

A shark is dressed as a leprechan by a pot of gold.

Created: May, 2015 | Role: Illustrator

Beware: Sharks are now guarding pots of gold under rainbows.

A shark dressed in green for St Patrick's Day.

Created: April 10th, 2020 | Role: Illustrator

St Pat's came and went, but the sharks still celebrated the hell out of it.

Pen, Ink, and Cintiq!

Illustration

I love making personal works that I use as a vehicle to explore to constantly learn the programs I use on my day to day, and push my artistic abilities.

A jar full of bones and skulls trots by for Halloween.

Created: Ocotber 16th, 2022 | Role: Illustrator

Skull jam is definitely a pretty grim form of jam, but hey, it's full of calcium!

A jar full of candy corn trots by while carrying a large ear of actual corn, while wearing bib overalls and a straw hat!

Created: October 15th, 2022 | Role: Illustrator

Corn jam is probably the lesser known of the jams, but still down home and as Midwestern as they come!

A figure with a head of a jack o'lantern is behind a group of jack o'lanters set up as a drum set.

Created: September 24th, 2022 | Role: Illustrator

Solos, mad steady beats, The Pumpkin Drummer has your back to keep the spooky tunes moving along in perfect time!

A chicken is at the wheel of a monster truck with a chicken mascot on the hood.

Created: September 17th, 2022 | Role: Illustrator

SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY. Are you ready for some gritty four-wheel monster truck action then the NEW chicken monster truck is ready and rearing to get down and dirty in the MUD. Who needs a whole seat when you only need the EDGE.

A chicago-style hot dog is riding on a skateboard while wearing a stocking cap and giving a peace sign to the viewer.

Created: September 9th, 2022 | Role: Illustrator

Hey-hey, what do you say? It's a Chicago-style hot dog catching some of that windy-city wind and going for a cruise on it's skateboard to check out the Chicago skyline!

The lady shark of the North Pole is making cookies and other baked goods for Christmas!

Created: September 1st, 2022 | Role: Illustrator

FACT: Mrs Claus Shark is a mean mean cookie baking machine and a great host in the waters of the North Pole.

This shark is breaching the surface to destroy and assume the identities of any snowmen that might end up in the ocean!

Created: August 21st, 2022 | Role: Illustrator

FACT: Shark love to destroy any snowmen that might end up in the ocean and assume their jolly identities!

A shark peeks out of the water, surrounded by an assortment of cookies and gifts, dressed as Jolly St Nick!

Created: August 2nd, 2022 | Role: Illustrator

FACT: Sharks love to get dressed up, deliver presents, and eat cookies when it's Christmastime as Jolly St Nick!

A happy quarter of a watermelon skates by with some white sunglasses.

Created: July 20th, 2022 | Role: Illustrator

You're cool, but are you sunglasses watermelon on a skateboard cool? Maybe. I'm not that cool, that's for sure.

Join the Danger Huskie Danger Team

Danger Huskie

Vector works that a fun, cute, scary, and a bit dangerous!

A spooky floating ghost looks creepy but comfy with a stocking cap

Created: October 9th, 2022 | Role:

Do ghosts wear stocking caps in Chicago because it's so cold most the year? I would argue that yes, yes they do.

A disembodied hand flies through the air with the gesture of 'the horns'.

Created: October 2nd, 2022 | Role:

A metal fan in life and in DEATH (maybe death metal even). This flying hand with the horns is here to party.

A smiling wiener dog wears a red, white and blue ballcap and a chicago-style hot dog costume.

Created: April 28th, 2022 | Role:

Winning ugly is still winning right? This wiener dog knows that and is repping the colors of the south siders while rocking a sweet Chicago-style hot dog costume

I write jokes too

Comics! (Eventually books)

I used to pay the bills as a cartoonist at the Northern Star during my Undergraduate and Graduate studies at Nothern Illinois Univeristy. I’ve always loved comics and was an illustation major to be a comics illustrator (that old cliché). Nonetheless and when the time allows, I love to write and draw works for my friends and social media followers. Big things in the works!

Mondays are the worst

Monday Comic

Just a weekly comic I started celebrating everyone's least favorite day of the week.

A middle aged Midwesterner learns about not wearing gloves in the cold has tragic repercussions.

Created: February, 2023 | Role: Illustrator

That last cold snap really cashed my hands out to oblivion.

A young man disappears into a hooded sweatshirt with the hood up.

Created: September 5th, 2022 | Role: Illustrator

Fall update of my retreat to hoodies comic earlier this year. Huzzah!

A man embraces the new mustache on his face with some pals from the forest.

Created: September 5th, 2022 | Role: Illustrator

Oh, you all saw Top Gun this Summer too? Sweet, me too.

Comics about a wonderful future gal pal

Dear Future Girlfriend

Another weekly comic that started as a series of smart-assed Facebook posts and grew into a comic!

Dear Future Girlfriend: You go all and bust out all your best smash dancing moves for your favorite genre of music: FALLCORE.

Created: October 8th, 2022 | Role: Illustrator

Aint no smash dancing like the smashing of pumpkins, smash dancing.

Dear Future Girlfriend: You'll make sure I'm not sleeping through my alarm clock with that new Texas Chainsaw Massacare chime.

Created: October 4th, 2022 | Role: Illustrator

You'll make sure I'm up for work on time, albeit with an accelerated heartbeat, during cool weather sleepy season.

Dear Future Girlfriend: If things were to unfortunately fizzle out, we'll always be united in our undying hatred of pants.

Created: July 17th, 2022 | Role: Illustrator

If it doesn't work out, we'll at least have this in common, forever.

A helpful little arachnid

Helpful Spider

Always helpful!

Helpful Spider is at the ready with a flamethrower and an axe in case he needs to keep the New Year in line!

Created: February 2023 | Role: Illustrator

Helpful Spider is on the ready in case things get weird, which they probably will, so yeah.

Helpful Spider is on top of a totebag with a checklist making sure all the back to school supplies are in there!

Created: August 2022 | Role: Illustrator

Helpful Spider is can't believe it's August already either! In any case he's manning your back to school list and making sure you have all your supplies!

Helpful Spider is a safe distance from a bottle rocket on the 4th of July!

Created: July 2022 | Role: Illustrator

Repost! Helpful Spider is here to remind you to have a happy and safe 4th of July!

Comics that are usually on Thursdays, also sometimes funny

The Thursday Treat

Ongoing random comics of various amounts of frames, subject manner, humor on Thursdays, and not about a funner day like Friday.

The Thursday Treat puts you in the drivers seat of a successful trip to the dealership and behind the wheel of a wildy un-aerodynamic taco-shaped car.

Created: September 28th, 2017 | Role: Illustrator

Can the taco not only be a great delivery vehicle for meat, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes and sour cream, but also a wildly un-aerodynamic car? The Thursday Treat definitely knows.

The Thursday Treat supposes a paradigm that a TRex is a drummer and a rocker, and is playing for an up and comic garage band.

Created: July 6th, 2017 | Role: Illustrator

The Thursday Treat tells the tell of a TRex drummer that has a heavy kickdrum style, but lacks a bit on hi-hat and snare rhythms.

A wide variety of helpful tips to stay warm during a cold and frigid winter from The Thursday Treat.

Created: February 5th, 2016 | Role: Illustrator

The Thursday Treat is a well of knowledge and is full of helpful, albeit questionable, tips on keeping yourself warm during a frigid Winter.

You Can at least buy some stickers!

Visit my Shops

Nearly all of my personal work is available as prints, tees, stickers and more. Let me clothe you! (Or maybe let my designs hang out as a sticker on your laptop or print on your livingroom wall).

Reading, it's for your eyeballs!

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