Polish illustrator Marcin Wolski's idea was to portray the eastern European environment in a somewhat oniric and surrealistic way. He wants the nature in his pieces to be alive and play a very important role. So his goal is to try to tell some story in his illustrations.
In this series of illustrations I wanted to create an environment inspired by the region where I live but with a little fantastic feeling. I am inspired by lonely and abandoned machinery and places, that you can stumble upon while wandering around. I really love the aesthetics that those places have, because they remind you of some kind of story that's behind them.
- Marcin Wolski
First I start with paper and pen sketches to establish composition and choose which one would work best. Then I do another amount of sketches directly in Photoshop, but this time I focus more on color and value. This is a crucial point in my process because when you proceed to the next step there's no coming back (unless you want to start everything over;) ). When I am happy with one of the sketches I start to render high resolution piece with all the details and layers, and this takes a long time.
- Marcin Wolski
I did this piece in 2014 and I've learnt a lot since then. I've learnt that I need more focus on color and value which are the crucial components of every image and always work together. I have learnt that color is relative and depends on another color in your piece, so it is a good idea to focus on them as a whole. If something doesn't work in your piece it's probably not because of one particular color – it's probably because the relationship between them is wrong. These are the things that help you work smarter with your illustrations, but there is so much more that I need to learn, and this is something that truly fascinates me.
- Marcin Wolski
About Marcin Wolski
Marcin Wolski, a graphic designer and illustrator. Lives and works in Sopot, Poland. Several years of experience as a graphic designer for various creative agencies. Now involved in web and editorial design projects as well as various illustrative work.