We recently connected with Nimleth and have shared our conversation below.
Nimleth, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?
When the epidemy of COVID stroke, I was a professional drummer on tour with a metal band, in Eastern Europe. Painting had always been a meaningful hobby to me at that time but I was only focusing my career on touring. I managed to come back home at my parent’s house in the countryside in extremis one day before the complete lockdown.
I felt quite uncertain about my music career at this time. When would we tour again? Would live shows ever be the same?
Looking at the old drumheads I had used all those years touring, I thought “What if I brought my two passions together : drumming and painting ? » I was stuck at home, with no canvas and loads of time to experiment… and so I started painting on my drumheads.
The circle shape made me feel more free than regular square shaped canvas and the semi-transparent texture made me develop some unique brush techniques. As I presented my paintings on social media, people got instantly super enthusiastic about them and even asked me to buy my painted drumheads. This is how my art business started!
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I am NIMLETH, a dark fantasy & metal art traditional painter and illustrator who transforms drumheads into full paintings.
With a professional drummer background and medieval litterature and gothic calligraphic studies, my art takes root from traditionnal painting and explores a unique brushing technique on drumhead canvas. Painting portraits of famous metal artists, famous movie scenes and classic horror creatures, I create art for people who love dark fantasy universes, metal bands and pagan culture. Inspired by the gothic figures of Gustave Doré and the modern fantasy of John Howe, my style is defined by red and fire tones and impressionist backgrounds as in Soulages.
My business model is based on two main activities: my art boutique (b to c) and my graphic design services (b to b).
In my art boutique, I sell original paintings as well as prints which offers a wide range of prices. People can order them internationally from my Etsy shop. My fans like the fact that they can own a high quality, signed and numbered print of their favourite painting at home. I also paint comissioned painting of metal bands, fantasy characters, etc.
I also offer graphic design services for rock bands, electronic pop artists and companies. My goal is to understand my client’s art, and make their music stand out by the visual creation. I create visual universes by mixing digital design tools with traditional acrylic painting. This combination of technique allows me to be super flexible to satisfy my clients specific needs while preserving my organic personal style.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is the process of making my visions come to life. I love every moment of transforming an idea in your head into a physical piece of art.
Art also makes me meet other passionate people ! Feeding each other’s artistic visions is as thrilling as enriching!
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
Building an audience takes time and dedication. I have been building my social media presence for about 10 years. At 20 years old, I started posting my drumming videos online, sometimes reaching 40k views on YouTube. People were following me for my drumming skills. After the covid lockdown, I bet on the fact that I could retarget this audience to my paintings, as drumheads canvas represented sort of the link between my playing and my painting… And I was right ! The transition went smoothly and even if my paintings were new to them, those fans were already attached to my personality.
Beyond social media, I also do a lot of exhibitions, mostly at metal festivals. I believe meeting people in person is essential to developp an authentic audience.
My first advice would be to seriously focus on targetting your audience. I have worked hard on structuring my project around a potential niche.
And, one last advice, I LOVE talking to people and I’m always curious about their background and what they do and like. I try to be careful and caring with everyone because that’s what art means to me: curiosity, kidness and discoveries!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.nimleth.com
- Instagram: nimleth.art
- Facebook: https://ms-my.facebook.com/Nimleth
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/fannythemlin
Image Credits
Nimleth 8 Path Studio