When I was eight or so years old, I met Nico Marlet.
I was deep in the How to Train Your Dragon special interest, I was drawing dragons incessantly, and my mom had a friend who, at the time, worked at DreamWorks. So she got us in for a tour of the studio, and I got to go into his office and meet Nico Marlet.
He was a very kind and earnest sort of man and immediately went about showing me all these things he'd worked on and WAS working on (I think this was 2011 or so. HTTYD 2 had not yet been announced, but it was in production, so all this was heavily proprietary). He showed me sketches of all these fantastical new dragon species that would be in the second movie. I believe he mentioned Hiccup's mother in passing.
But what I remember most clearly is this mental image of seeing early concept sketches for Hiccup's glide suit, and Nico eagerly explaining to me, "He is going to fly."
In my head I can still hear that in his voice.
I don't know if he even remembers me, but I remember that little office overflowing with sketches. I was eight then. I didn't understand the scope of what he was doing. I'm twenty-two now and I'm beginning to understand the worlds that he must have been shaping in his mind. I'm beginning to understand the sheer unique power he had to put life behind the eyes of a concept. Even if he never knows, I know I became an artist because of Nico.
Here's to the man who told me without ever meaning to tell me that it was possible to fly.
blakekathryn
2087
annaxmalina
jacobvanloon
turnnoffyourmind
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