This illustrator has mastered a wide range of visual registerers and grabbed a bag-full of standout commissions in the short time since he left college.
What inspired you to pursue a career in illustration?
I drew all the time as a kid so I always dreamt of working visually. But it wasn't until I went to a comics school in Malmö that I realised illustration could be an actual day-job. Hearing how my dad would groan getting ready for work in the morning was also an impetus to pursue something that I found fun.
How do you develop your concepts?
I try not to get bogged down with high concept and instead prefer to solve problems visually. I don't really know where the ideas come from, but more often than not, the first ones tend to be the best.
What are you working on right now?
I'm working on a graphic novel called Titus Pax, which will be published by Kolik förlag next year. It's an action adventure comic with fighting, car chases, goddesses and talking dogs. I also illustrate a children’s book series called Wrestling Trolls. It's about wrestling trolls.
Tell us a trade secret.
Share your trade secrets and people will share theirs’.
What’s the most recent photo you’ve taken with your phone?
It's of a Tajiki friend, from Frank's Cafe in Peckham, overlooking the London skyline. Nice people and nice rooftops, two great London perks.
What’s your guilty pleasure?
TV comedies. I watch way too many series. If asked, I always recommend Trailer Park Boys.
What’s been your most interesting creative collaboration?
I'm creating Titus Pax with my friend Fabian Göranson. He's also a cartoonist. We both contribute to the script and the art and have designed most of the characters and backgrounds together. He's mainly the writer, and I'm mainly the artist, but sometimes I will drop his background into a final panel. It's really an amalgam of both of our styles and influences, from manga to comics to bandes dessinées.
If you weren’t an illustrator, what would you be?
I wouldn't venture far, I would be a graphic designer so I that I could work with illustrators instead.
If you could meet your eighteen year old self, what piece of professionaladvice would you give him?
Fail more, learn from those mistakes and make more of them. Relax and move forward. That's pretty much it.
janbielecki.com
