Interview: Maciek Łazowski

(October 2021)

I really like Maciek's illustrations – they're cheeky, funny and remind me a little of those 30s Art Deco ads for Dubonnet you can see on the sides of houses in rural France. We chatted about about putting magical powers to work, coffee and the importance of pencils.

I really liked collaborating with CoffeeLab, a local independent coffee roaster, on a limited coffee series. I illustrated the label and they created a special blend just for me. For a self-proclaimed coffee aficionado, it was very exciting. They also came up with a really crazy taste profile for my coffee - bilberry, grapes and… bubblegum! It was delicious.

At first, I thought that making images appear exactly like I’m picturing them in my head without me having to draw them would be nice. But then again, I quite enjoy the process, so I guess I’d go with invisibility for its prank potential.

I’m a freelance illustrator based in Warsaw, Poland. A lot of my work is aimed at kids - I regularly draw for a Polish children’s magazine „Swierszczyk” and I’ve illustrated a few children’s books. But I also do editorial illustrations, posters, ads and many other things, which keeps the work exciting, if not sometimes overwhelming.

No matter what technique I finally end up going with, whether it’s digital art or collage, I always start a project with pencil doodles in my notebook. So, good ol’ pencil and paper are probably the tools I use the most. That being said, recently I’m having a blast making final sketches on my iPad, using the Procreate app and Apple Pencil.