Ninke Naujoks on Loyalty, Compassion, and Spycraft

Thank you so much for agreeing to this interview, Ninke! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?

Sure thing! I’m a graphic storyteller primarily working within comics and illustration. I was born and raised in the Netherlands, though I have also lived in Sweden, Denmark, and Finland. I really enjoy telling stories and drawing art that involves other cultures, languages, and subjects, like folklore and history. I’m also a huge nerd who loves video games, Dungeons and Dragons, and of course reading loads of comics! 

How did you get into making art for comics?

I grew up with French-Belgian comics like Lucky Luke and Astrix as well as the European manga boom of the early 2000s, so comics have always been there for me to read.

On top of that, I have loved drawing from a very young age. Looking back at my drawings from when I was a kid, it’s kind of hilarious to see that I have always been doing comics. I would often include speech bubbles or story sequences of some kind. I just wasn’t self-aware of it until I was a late teen. It was after my media design [classes in] community college that I decided I wanted to press on with making comics my career by studying it at university. I’m still very thankful for having pursued that dream. 

Who are your art heroes? Who inspires you?

The artists that inspire me the most are often ones that I know personally. I have been very lucky to be taught by some of the industry’s most wonderful professionals, [who] I now get to call my colleagues as well as my fellow alumni, whose creative minds I got to exchange with on a daily basis during our studies. That sort of exchange of works and ideas, mutual respect between creatives, and the understanding [of] what it is we do, that’s what inspires me the most.

I do have a few art heroes that I’d like to mention. Namely: Vincent van Gogh, Ivan Bilibin, Leyendecker, and Tom of Finland. Very different styles of work, but all of them inspire me greatly, and I think together they form a nice spectrum of works that I connect to as a person and as a creator.

Are there any artists whose work specifically inspired you in the creation of the art for “A Spy for the People”?

When developing the concept art for the pitch and the character designs for the comic itself, I took inspiration from the works of Leyendecker. The classic sort of clothing style and the “flair” of that era that he depicted so well was very fun for me to work with, and it was something I strongly had in mind for our main character, Fabricio.

For the story, we took some inspiration from the tone and “gags” of noir comics, but visually this didn’t carry too heavily into the comic itself.

I also took a lot of inspiration from the city of Venice. I travelled there a few years ago, and the atmosphere and architecture were very warm and inspiring. My personal photographs from that visit were a great help for reference material, and while using them I enjoyed thinking back to my visit to Italy. 

“A Spy for the People” is about someone who didn’t set out to become a hero, but who ended up being one anyway. If you were to become a hero without meaning to, what do you think you would do to earn the title?

I have always been quite tall (185cm / 6ft) and though that is a normal fact of life to me, it often comes in clutch for those around me who aren’t as tall. I suppose I could become the accidental hero by being the only one to reach up high enough to grab something, or because I can look over a crowd of people and see where we need to go. Though I have to admit it doesn’t feel quite as heroic when I struggle to fit comfortably in an airplane seat!

Tell us about a sidequest that you’ve been on, especially if it relates to making art.

My current main sidequest has been learning the Finnish language, which is a long and arduous journey that I’m going on alongside my main quest, which is my artistic work. The funny thing is that my language learning fuels my art and vice versa.

I’m currently heavily considering keeping a silly comics journal of my Finnish learning process, both to document noteworthy moments and in order to visualize language concepts that I’ll have to learn to remember.

What comic book character do you identify most with, and why?

My pick would probably be a character from one of my all-time favorite comics called Sleepless. It was made by Sarah Vaughn and Leila Del Duca (published by Image Comics). One of the main characters, a knight called Cyrenic, struck a chord for me through the way he is fiercely loyal and fights for what is right, but not through blind loyalty or obedience. Cyrenic chose the paths he thought were wise and stood up for himself, as well as stood by those he cared for. He was proud to be part of the Sleepless Knights, but he didn’t hesitate to go against them when the stakes were at [their] highest. It emulates a lot that I try to live by and how I care for those around me.

Outside of comics, one of the characters I identify with the very most has to be Captain Kirk from the original series of Star Trek. He’s gentle and warm, but respected and decisive. He wants to believe in love and compassion, and he cares deeply for those close to him. He respects his crew, and he is worthy of his title.  

What are you currently reading, listening to, and/or watching?

Reading: Blasfamous – Mirka Andolfos (comic) / Reaper Man – Terry Pratchett (book)
Listening to: I – Gorillaz
Watching: The Apothecary Diaries & various YouTube history essays

Are you working on any other projects right now?

I have a few long-story-format comics in development right now that I’m eager to find a platform and an opportunity for. My ambitions are mainly towards publishing them as graphic novels or crowdfunding them for self-publishing.

Alongside that, I am fiddling with illustrating an oracle deck to be used for divination practices. I personally find a lot of joy out of niche tarot and oracle decks and have always wanted to create one myself.

In the end only time will tell!

Where can our readers find you online?

My website is https://www.ninkenaujoks.com/
And on Instagram and Twitter (X) you can find me @NinekeyArt