Rob Nemeth Follows Family Tradition

Article By: Amelia “Killer” Rose

when your family lineage is made up of artists, it seems only natural that you would become one, and that is exactly what happened with Rob Nemeth. After years of watching his grandfather, art was always something he just did. Rob was constantly amazed that his grandad could create such beautiful works out of thin air, like magic.

As a kid, Rob would draw inspiration from just about anything; comics, sci-fi movies,

Iron Maiden album covers, etc.

After that, he looked to painters like Frank Frazetta, Jeff Jones, and some comic book illustrators like Kent Williams and George

Pratt. From there it was a rabbit hole effect, learning who his favorites were influenced by, and in turn, being influenced by them himself. Even today, the list of people he looks to for inspiration is still growing.

“When I was young, I wanted to learn to paint, but it’s not like I thought it’d be. You never just get it, and you’re done. There is always another step, a higher gear, something to learn from or somebody better. In that way, it mirrors

riding. There is always something you can do better, a road you have not been down. Always more to learn.”

In high school, he sold his work on the side and then went on to study at an arts college and soon after began hunting illustration jobs. The work was hard, and he ended up spending more time looking for and landing paying gigs than he did painting, and when he was painting, the subjects weren’t things he wanted to paint. After a while, he lost focus and trailed off; then he followed a string of odd jobs. Finally, Rob as a starving artist trying to make a living landed in a motorcycle shop in the 90’s. Fortunately, this turned out to be something he loved, between the bikes, riding, and the great friends (brothers), life was good. During that time, Nemeth quit painting, though was never truly satisfied with this move. Following the disintegration of his personal life and the changes in the motorcycle business, he turned back to art, but this time the motorcycle shop gave him more focus and changed his subject matter. The things he learned on the road became the stories he wanted to paint. For his paintings, Rob’s medium of

choice is oil which, I’ve learned from experience, is not an easy medium to master, though is something that has always felt right to him. When he draws, however, his choice of medium is much more diverse. He uses everything from pencil, pastels, and charcoal to coffee stains and motor-oil from his hands.

Like most artists, his motivation is simple; to learn from his mistakes and see progress in the work he is creating. Figuring out something that had stumped him the day before, spending years improving his skills and being able to finish a painting are all reasons Rob continues to do what he does. When he was younger, one of his heroes told him that he needed to work harder and be more serious about painting. That sort of advice never goes over well, no matter who it’s from, but soon Rob realized that he was right, and it changed him, for the better, as an artist. The other thing that drives him is when someone sees one of his paintings and can connect with it. “Whether they buy it or not, for a time it’s magic to them, the same way my Grandpop’s pictures were magic to me.”

When asked what he feels sets him apart from other artists, he responded that everyone he’s met were different from each other in every possible way, with one beautiful uniting passion, art. As an individual, Rob tries his best to share the stories he has created from his path in life.

Today he spends most of his time painting in a garage called, you guessed it, The Machine Pit. Inside you’ll find a bike lift, an old Mercury, and a shop cat…or five. Rob’s time is spent focusing on his craft and allowing his creations to take him out of his comfort zone to create things he used to only dream of. For the future, the plans are to keep pushing himself to be more productive and consistent with his pieces. Through his painting, Rob has been able to travel the country and meet some fantastic people that he can now call his friends. Moving forward, someday he’d like to see some of his art in new shows and galleries, and eventually have some published illustrations. This year he will begin teaching at a college for the arts, showing that everything does come full circle.

If you’d like to check out more of Rob’s work or order an original/print of one of his incredible paintings, you can check out his Facebook (Machinepit - Rob Nemeth), Instagram (rob_nemeth_ machinepit) or head on over to his website www.machinepit.com.