Nico Marlet Gobber and Terrible Terror drawing

Gobber the Belch and Terrible Terror and some little dude, by the amazing character designer of the How to Train Your Dragon franchise, Nicholas 'Nico' Marlet. Nico generously donated this to the Pres Romanillos 'Pres Aide' auction I helped organize in 2010. This was one of several pieces I loved so much that I had to bid on for myself.

Nico started his career in France as an animator and soon transitioned to character design. Most of his career has been at DreamWorks where he's been the primary character designer for the How to Train Your Dragon and Kung Fu Panda franchises. I worked with Nico for years and he's probably the most humble and quiet creative powerhouse I've ever known. Virtually all his work is either in studio archives or given to his closest friends, so having a piece of his original art is pretty special. Even though his work has been featured in multiple 'Art of' books, 99% of his prodigious output has only ever been seen by studio insiders. Here's a taste of his work: https://characterdesignreferences.com/artist-of-the-week-11/nico-marlet