A new piece from international illustration agency Dutch Uncle puts artist Robert Nicol’s work for Bowdoin Magazine in the spotlight as an example of the renewed appeal of hand-drawn illustration.
Artist Robert Nicol provided the cover art for the winter 2026 issue of Bowdoin Magazine and a feature story within.
The article celebrates the personality, texture, and unmistakably human quality of Nicol’s work, calling his recent Bowdoin commission a “masterclass in how textured illustration tells a deep, resonant story.”
Bowdoin’s pages are featured throughout, offering a behind-the-scenes look at Nicol’s creative process—from initial sketches to finished artwork for the magazine’s cover, opening spread, and individual illustrations for the feature, “I Found a Theater,” written by Savannah Horton ’17.
Read the article Hand Drawn Illustration: Why Rob Nicol is a Refreshing Antidote to “Gray Goo” Illustration and the Bowdoin Magazine piece here.
