Karl Kwasny is a freelance illustrator from Brisbane and has worked on all sorts of projects including clothing, swimwear, concert posters, album covers, shop walls, ipod skins, trees and cement mixers. His work often combines comic illustration with a tattoo design aesthetic and hand-drawn typography. Swallows, girls, skeletons and bright, saturated colours often recur in his images. Kwasny mainly works in pencils pen and ink and tries his best to make his computer intervene as little as possible.

Copyright Karl Kwasny

Who are you and where do you come from?
I’m a male human who has existed for twenty-five circles around the sun. Most of all, I like drawing pictures and playing guitar.

How long have you been illustrating and what drew you to it?
Sweet pun. One of the best feelings in the world for me is the satisfaction that accompanies creating something that wasn’t there before. I don’t think that’s what initially appealed to me as a kid, but that’s why I like it now. I’ve been drawing for, as most artists seem to say, “as long as I can remember.”

Copyright Karl Kwasny

What are your weapons of choice when creating?
A “B” mechanical pencil, 0.2 and 0.5 uni-pin pens, watercolour, sable brushes, ink, sometimes blue pencil. Also, various Adobe things for editing and cleaning up.

Can you tell us about your set-up/ studio?
I just work in my bedroom. In my next place I hope to have one additional bedroom that I can use solely as a studio. I don’t really like having my work space in the same room as my bed; it feels lazy.

Copyright Karl Kwasny

Who/ what inspires you and why?
I always find this sort of a difficult question to answer. I’m inspired by art that I like and music that I like, I suppose. I often draw pictures around lyrics that strike me as being especially poignant or evocative.

When starting on an illustration, what process do you follow?
Rough/thumbnail, show client, developed sketch, show client, inked version, show client, coloured version, show client, paid. Personal work is the same except for the “show client” and “paid” elements.

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What’s the biggest lesson you have learnt so far, and how did that come to pass?
I’m hesitant to work for upstart tshirt labels nowadays because of some bad experiences. Also, beware charismatic businessmen who make lofty and unrealistic promises.

If you could work for anyone in the world who would it be and why?
I’ve not thought about this for a while! I don’t think I have any one specific brand or company in mind; I’d just love to do a highly-paid project for a large brand with great exposure where I don’t have to compromise my artistic integrity at all. Haha!

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What else do you get up to besides creating amazing illustrations?
Oh, thanks! Erm, I do things with friends, go to shows. Exciting things like that.

Music wise, who’s in your top 5 right now?
Elliott Smith, Neutral Milk Hotel, The Kills, The Pogues, The Mountain Goats

Copyright Karl Kwasny

What’s in the works for you at the moment and can we expect from you next?
Just normal t-shirty stuff. Also, I’m working on a music project that I hope to have finished by early-mid next year.

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