His first job as a visual artist involved doing portraits at Seattle’s Pike Place Market.
He went on to do posters, book covers, book and magazine illustrations, comics and graphic novels.
Nils began teaching art classes in the 1980s through the University of Washington’s ASUW Experimental College.
He has also taught classes in drawing, painting, cartooning, and other visual arts through Rekindle School, Wonder School of the Arts, Classesandworkshops.com, Shoreline Community College, and Antioch University’s Heritage Institute.
He also teaches courses in writing, acting and filmmaking.