Hello fellow illustrators and graphic designers and welcome to another blog. Throughout the connections course, I have interviewed quite a few illustrators and graphic designers. Andres Lozano, a Spanish illustrator living in the UK. Lozano is known for his playful and humorous illustrations, with personal style surrounding colour. Thank you Andres Lozano for this email correspondence, it has been very insightful and interesting to read. If you are interested in contacting Andres Lozano, here is his website.
1) Who inspired you to become an illustrator?
AL: “No one in particular but the publications published by Nobrow books in their first years of activity, especially Nobrow magazine where really influential.”
2) What was it like illustrating the life earth ocean book with wide eyed publishers ? Did you approach them or did they approach you? ‘
Al: “I’ve worked with Wide Eyed in numerous books including those series you mention and it’s always been a great working experience, I think our first contact was a meeting set up with my agents”
3) What other materials would you consider working with in the future?
AL: “I don’t really limit myself to specific materials, so anything is possible.”
4) How did you get approached by newspaper and magazine companies? was there a particular piece in your portfolio they particularly liked?
AL: “It really depends, sometimes I approach a particular art director and sometimes it is the other way around, often they will have one or several examples from my portfolio that they liked.”
5) What do you hope people will take away from your illustrations ?
AL:”I hope people will connect with them and feel immersed in the world I’m trying to create.”
6) How do you deal with difficult clients?
AL: “My agents at Folio really help, but sometimes you just have to stand for yourself. It’s rare but I’ve had cases where I’ve cancelled a project If the client was being too difficult.”
7) I really enjoy ancient and material world. What inspired you to create these illustrations? What experiences did you gain from creating them?
AL: “I think you are referring to a few spreads off “Human World”, a book I illustrated for Wide Eyed Books. It was quite an intense project as it was a lot of work and not a lot of time but pushing your own limits is always interesting.”
8) What art medium do you prefer working in ?
AL: “For illustration I work mostly digitally or ink on paper.”
9) Which project or influences has been important with developing your personal style? How long did it take to find your personal style?
AL: “I don’t really believe in the concept of personal style, I think that If you create enough work, through time your own personality and influences will start to show and materialize into a unique perspective.”
10) Which project has been the most rewarding and which one was the most challenging?
AL: “I couldn’t really tell you any specific one, it’s always rewarding when the client trusts you and let’s you try new things.”
11) What do you like about creating and designing book covers? Did you always want to create book covers from the beginning of your illustration career?
AL: “I haven’t really done many book covers unless you include the ones for books I’ve also illustrated in full, in those cases I try to encapsulate the content and style of the book.”
12) Colour seems quite important in your illustrations. How do you decide the colour placement?
AL: ” I tend to work with a limited palette that then I overlay to create new colors.”
13) What is the best advice you have learnt over the years, that helped with your illustration career? I couldn’t tell you any specific piece of advice but in general I find harsh, honest criticism to be really helpful, although sometimes a bit painful too.
14) When did you decide to become an illustrator?
AL “In my second year of university, I wanted to make comics before that but I found illustration was a better fit for me.”
15) How long does it usually take to create murals? Which has been your favourite mural to create?
AL “It really depends on the size, but for example the one I created for the “Hat Weekend” in Sao Joao de Madeira in Portugal, which might be my favourite, took around 5 days.”
16) What advice would you give to future illustrators?
AL “Don’t worry too much about style and try to create work that is uniquely yours by drawing a lot and embracing the things that connect with you. I find that when you start as an artist there’s a tendency to leave behind all the things that you enjoyed growing up and inspired you to become an artist in the first place and instead take on a more edgy or “interesting” persona, this is natural and happens to everyone but the faster you accept your inner kid and embrace the things that make you who you are the better your work will be and the more you’ll grow as an artist.”
AL
Jess's Illustrations discussions 