Interview with Illustrator Marek Haiduk
Escape From Illustration Island is teaming up with The Creative Finder to bring you the following interview with one of their current Featured Illustrators, Marek Haiduk.
Marek is an Illustrator and Designer from Germany, currently living and working in Vienna.
EFII: Your work features a combination of Illustrative, Design, and collage elements. What inspires this approach?
Marek Haiduk: I like the mix of old versus new, like pictures of old newspapers mixed with bright colours. Certainly the constructivism movement of the 20′s influenced me a lot.
EFII: How would you explain your limited color palettes, and how do you choose your colors for any given piece?
MH: I think the reduction of colors as well as any other elements emphasizes the final output. Overdoing a collage, especially when working digital can happen quickly. As for the colors the client often picks out what’s best for his product.
EFII: How does your creative process differ between commercial and personal work?
MH: When doing personal illustrations, the problem with satisfying the art director plus facing the deadline is gone. Besides this I rarely work on a given topic so it makes the process totaly free. The drawback of personal works is the fact that I spend lots of time on them. it happens that i can’t stop working on a piece so it remains unfinished for a long period of time. that’s the thing with digital works - nothing is really final like working with acrylics and paper only.
EFII: What is your process on the typical project? How much of it is digital vs. analog?
MH: Looking for the right material. Usually this means endless browsing through old magazines and newspapers. The collage itself then is done on the computer as most of my commercial works. It’s easier this way, cause if the client wishes to change the colour scheme or wants to change a specific part of the artwork its way more faster and easier to do this digital. For personal works I perfer a combination of both techniques. I start with an analog piece and finish it on the computer.
EFII: What do you think inspires Art Directors to hire you for their projects?
MH: I cant really say. I guess they are looking for a specific style, and luckily my style matches their wishes (sometimes.)
Special thanks to Marek Haiduk and TAXI + The Creative Finder for making this interview possible. You can view more of Marek’s Illustration work here.
Related Posts:
- Interview with Illustrator Antoine Corbineau
- EFII Podcast Episode 32 – Martin French
- EFII Podcast Episode 26 – Ron English
- EFII Podcast Episode 21 – Josh Cochran
- EFII Podcast Episode 18 – Gary Taxali
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Very interesting interview!
It is always very helpful to understand the thoughts and workflow of other artists.
Greezt
Thanks for your comment. I agree. I love hearing artists talk about their process.
I like the approach of working with a very unique style – and at the same time – being able to listen to the customers needs. It´s not like most other illustrators who say “well, i´m a artist and don´t listen to your ideas. Buy it or leave it”. This makes things easier and all persons involved are happy with the project. And still the output is art.
Your interviews give insight into how artists create their work. It is nice to be able to “look over the shoulder” of the illustrators you interview. Keep up the good work.
–Duncan Long
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Freelance illustrator for HarperCollins, PS Publishing, Pocket Books, Solomon Press, Fort Ross, Asimov’s Science Fiction, and many other publishers and self-publishing authors. See my cover illustrations at: http://DuncanLong.com/art.html