Meet Nikkolas Smith: The Artist Who Painted the Soul of Ryan Coogler’s “Black Panther” and “Sinners”

In creating one of the year’s most talked about movie sequences, Sinners filmmaker Ryan Coogler assembled his de facto repertory company including Michael B. Jordan, production designer Hannah Beachler, costume designer Ruth Carter, DP Autumn Durald Arkapaw, composer Ludwig Göransson, and a lesser known member of his team: concept artist Nikkolas Smith. Smith previously worked on Black Panther and Wakanda Forever. For Sinners, Smith contributed painterly pieces devoted to the vampire Remmick and the ecstatic juke scene, celebrating centuries of Black music as Preacher Boy Sammy tears up the joint.

Before joining forces with Coogler, Smith, a Houston native, studied architecture at Hamilton University, and then taught himself to paint digitally on a Wacom tablet via YouTube tutorials in his spare time while employed by Disney as a theme park designer. Smith befriended Coogler at red-carpet events, where he’d share images from his phone. Coogler eventually asked Smith to create concept art for Space Jam 2, which he produced. Smith says, “Sometimes you need your art to get people to say ‘I know what this film is going to look like when it’s done because I can feel it, I can hear it, I can almost smell it.’ You want your concept art to do all of that.”

A self-described “artivist,” Smith has also produced numerous picture books informed by Black culture, including the recent release “The History of We.” Speaking from his home studio in Los Angeles’ Leimert Park neighborhood, Smith drills into the themes that inspired his vivid interpretations of the Ryan Coogler Cinematic Universe.

For Sinners, your concept art conveys the essence of a scene in such a vivid way. How did you approach the now-famous juke sequence?

For years, I’ve been inspired by oil painters, including Ernie Barnes. I actually alluded to [Barnes’ 1976 painting] “The Sugar Shack” when I did art for the Barack and Michelle Obama project, Southside With You.

So when I read the juke scene in Ryan’s script, my mind went straight to “Sugar Shack.” I wanted to have all those elongated limbs so you can almost feel the people dancing, right? And Preacher Boy Sammy has this soulful voice, so that aura had to be the focal point warming the entire piece.

The red, orange, and yellow tones in your palette have a warming effect. How did you picture the characters at this Juke party?

And there are all different types of people fading into the darkness or seen as silhouettes. I even threw in a little bit of an Easter egg where you can see Barack and Michelle Obama in the background, at the table. I also added these sparks that rise into the air, hinting at the way the music has this almost magical power to connect past, present, and future. I wanted it to feel like a snapshot of that moment in time where everything is chill and everyone’s having a great time.

You also pay homage to Sinners‘ charming Irish vampire Remmick. What was your creative brief from Ryan Coogler?

The beautiful thing about Ryan is that he puts so much trust in us, as artists. After I read the script, I expected to be asked specific points, but he asked me, “What parts give you the horror vibe that really stand out?” And I’m like, “You’re asking me? This is your film!” But I told him it’s definitely when we first see Remmick. The script talks about that grin on his face. I wanted to capture that moment in this dark cabin, with a little moonlight coming through the window, where you see Remmick’s bloody smile with a little glint in his eye as he’s coming out of the shadows.

And then there’s Remmick’s mad dancing.

Remmick has a majestic but creepy vibe, so I put him in this almost royal pose, where he’s literally mind-controlling all the people around him. And there are so many layers with Remmick – Irish history, his connection to religion, the connection to music, appropriation, and how he wanted Sammy’s gift. There’s that kind of river dance that Remmick does, so I wanted his feet to have this sense of motion.

Remmick connected with audiences.  How have your fans reacted to this piece?

The cool thing is that when I posted this online, I included Ludwig’s amazing music, and it’s now my most viral TikTok post I’ve ever had.

Michael B. Jordan’s twins, Smoke and Stack, anchor Sinners with a stylish force that you manage to capture in your poster and concept art. What inspired these images?

Shoutout to costume designer Ruth Carter, because she had laid out that they’d have this Chicago gangster look, that Smoke was going to be in blue, Stack in red. Ryan broke down the aspect ratio dimensions, explaining that this would be a super-wide shot, so I wanted to capture the flat Mississippi Delta vibe with a golden hour sunset. Ryan also gave me information about the model of the car, so I just put all that together as a big establishing shot where you get the sense that these are two different characters. I gave Stack that sly fox look and had him rolling a cigarette for his brother, just as he does in the film. For Smoke, I gave him this serious, stoic look. Even though it’s two brothers standing by a car, I wanted to give everything this painterly sense of motion. 

You first worked with Ryan Coogler when he asked you to create concept art for Space Jam 2, which he produced. Then you got involved in Black Panther. How did you prepare?

I got invited by Ryan and [producer] Nate Moore to visit the Black Panther set in Atlanta, where I met Chadwick Boseman. That was life changing. He treated us like royalty. And it was great to see up close what they were creating. Toward the end of the filmmaking, Ryan and Nate had me create this cast and crew gift poster.

The poster conveys a great deal of information in a very dramatic fashion. What were your references?

I wanted it to feel like a classic Drew Struzan or Richard Amsel poster from the eighties with a Mad Max retro vibe, where you have Wakanda, the golden city, in the background, with Nakia next to T’Challa, and then the Dora Milaje, and then the Jabari tribe down below.

Next came Wakanda Forever.

Production designer, Hannah Beachler, shared all this information from her Wakanda bible about the River Tribe and the battles, which we used to flesh things out as concept art. Wakanda is such an emotional film. We were trying to pay homage to Chadwick by showing the Sacred Grove in a way that felt like a very solemn funeral procession and a celebration at the same time.

Featured image: Smoke and Stack from Ryan Cooglers’ Sinners. Courtesy Nikkolas Smith.