“A Day in the Life” with Toronto Visual Artist Nick Flook

Nick Flook, better known as “Flooko” is an immensely talented painter whose artistic journey began in early childhood. From a young age, Flooko felt a deep connection to art and music, considering them his true passions in life. His obsession with painting started at the tender age of 4, and now at 37, he continues to create art tirelessly. As a child, Flooko was captivated by the darker fantasy art prevalent in 80s movies. This fascination, along with the emergence of 3D computer animation in the 90s, ignited his imagination and solidified his desire to become a professional artist. Flooko’s work beautifully reflects the nostalgic imagery of his childhood, infusing it into every creation.

In his teens he ventured into 3D visual effects, creating stunning visuals for movies with his friends. Fuelled by his passion for 3D animation, Flook taught himself the craft through online tutorials and experimenting. He pursued Media Arts at Sheridan College in Oakville, Canada. Ultimately, Flook became a freelance Visual Effects artist in Toronto, working on a wide range of projects in television, commercials, and movies for nearly 15 years, with a special focus on 3d work. Meanwhile the recognition of Flooko’s paintings on platforms like Reddit, consistently making the front page, led to a rapidly growing following. This success prompted him to leave the VFX film industry and dedicate himself to painting full-time, a decision he continues to embrace. Throughout his career, Flooko has achieved significant milestones, including creating tour poster art for renowned certified platinum bands like PRIMUS and publishing his first artbook, “Flooko Selected Works Volume 1.” In his spare time, he releases instrumental guitar albums on Spotify. Nick Flook’s artistic journey is a testament to his unwavering dedication, passion, and the enduring power of creative expression.

Nick Flook
This is a cropped version of one of my latest paintings called “Disconnected”. I wanted to make something that really captures the original vibes I was going for when I started this whole thing. The lonely, contemplating astronaut. This is a cropped version. The original is vertical. This painting has quickly become sort of an “OFFICIAL” Flooko image. Used in banners and profile photos.
Nick Flook
A rare photo of me, hard at work in my “creation station” here in Little Italy.
“Going Back” Is an old fan-favourite acrylic painting of mine. A theme I really enjoy is being “mindful”. I often find myself thinking way too much about everything. Zoning out in my own little world. This painting is from 2020.
“Gone Fishing”. This is one of my first MAJOR viral paintings. For a while, this one was all over the internet and was a huge success on sites like Reddit. Very unique at the time as I was the only one doing this whole astronaut thing. It has since spiralled into quite the trend. This is a cropped version of the larger vertical original. I love space, and I love fishing. Once again with my classic signature blue and red theme. I always found it to be very dramatic and nice in the eyes.
“Pinball Wizard” Here’s another fan favourite !! The amount of gaming rooms people have this one hanging in is wild. I grew up with an arcade behind my house in the 90’s and I swear I spent every waking minute there. My grandpa used to work there as a mechanic who fixed the machines, he’d always give me free tokens to use 🙂 I really miss those days, so paintings like this help bring back some nostalgia.
Nick Flook
“Pondside Pondering” Here’s a newer one of mine. This is a cropped version of the original vertical version. Growing up around my grandparents’ farm, I was always surrounded by nature. This was before the internet had totally taken over, so being outside all day wasn’t so uncommon. I remember the fireflies lighting up the ponds and bushes around there like it was yesterday. All my work stems from some sort of childhood memories and nostalgia 🙂
Nick Flook
“World Reborn” is a super old one that I consider one of my classics. I’m a sucker for the beach and always have been. The vastness of lakes and oceans is very awe-inspiring to me. So many mysteries in the water! Always loved how reflective water looked in paintings. This is a theme I continue to do often as I really like painting water. These are also scenes many can relate to which I enjoy.

***

Which ’hood are you in?

Currently in “Litle Italy”. I’ve lived all over this city, but this is my favourite.

What do you do?

I’m a full-time professional artist. Both traditional artwork and digital. I also make guitar-oriented music which I marry with my artwork as well as publish on Spotify.

What are you currently working on?

Currently finishing up my second art book! My first one, “ Flooko’s Selected Works – Vol 1” is a few years old now and I finally had enough paintings to fill another book. It’s always such a proud moment when it’s finished and in your hands, very surreal. Hoping to have it complete within the next couple of months 🙂 Other than that, I still paint almost daily. I have a strong fan base on Instagram that looks forward to these so it keeps me very motivated to continue this never-ending story I have with my Astro character.

Where can we find your work?

I’ve been very fortunate with the reach my art has had around the world. I’ve easily done over a thousand of these paintings now and each one is sold and hanging in every corner of this planet which still just blows my mind. Luckily I do maintain a website of mine where I collect it all into one nice gallery for people to easily check out 🙂 My site is www.flookart.com. I also post daily updates, new artwork, work-in-progress shots and more on my Instagram. I also do many free giveaways on there to thank everyone for all their support. And for the true painting lovers, I do have a YouTube channel where I post full-time lapse videos of these being created which is also just “Flooko”.

 

About Demian Vernieri 672 Articles
Demian is an Argentinian retired musician, avid gamer and editor for the Montréal Guardian, Toronto Guardian, Calgary Guardian and Vancouver Guardian websites.