Design por Andras Preis
How did you become an illustrator?
When I was little, I always told my parents, I wanted to be a »painter without a boss«, so that somehow
worked out I guess. I studied communications design because I only knew I wanted to do something where
I could be visually creative. After an internship and some working in a big advertising agency, I started to
really focus on illustration and I still believe it was a good idea.
How did you develop your style?
In short: It just happened. By the end of my studies I'd decided to really focus on illustration. Except my
thesis I hadn't done a lot of works in that direction and I needed to build a portfolio. So I just started to make
portraits of friends, drawings of animals, working with acrylics, aerosols etc. I've always liked to use some
crosshatching in my drawings, and after a while I started to exaggerate it a bit. I've also analyzed the work
of some other artists I liked and used some ideas and techniques I found there to incorporate them into my
own thing. It's all a neverending process and there's never something like a »final« style. If you compare
my recent pieces with the ones I did straight out of university, you'll know what I mean.
How do you create your illustrations, do you use illustrator and patterns?
This question ismostly directed at the whole hatching thing. I do use Illustrator of course since I'm still
a Graphic Designer, creating logos, writings etc. As far as my illustrations are concerned: Almost everything
you see is done by hand. The hatchings don't consist of patterns, they are real drawings for every single
artwork. I use fineliners, markers, acrylics, aerosols etc. All those single pieces get scanned and put
together in Photoshop. So no, most of my artworks are NOT vectorized...
Do you work for free?
As long as we're not talking about a reliable charity project, no.
Could you design a tattoo for me?
Sorry, but no. Tattoos are one of the most difficult things to do, because people are (understandably) very
nitpicking about the design and so those jobs mostly take a lot longer than you would think. On the other hand
I'd need to work together with your tattoo artist which makes it even more complicated and time-consuming.
Could I use one of your illustrations as tattoo for myself?
As long as it's only for your own private tattoo, you can use whatever want.
Would be great of course to send or post a photo of the result!
I want one of your pieces as a tattoo, could you send me some HighRes file?
Sorry, but no, I don't send out HighRes files for free.
What is your price range/daily rate/hourly rate?
Every job is a bit different, so I can't just give you such kind of definite numbers. If you'd like to work with me and you need an
estimate, please send me an eMail explaining your idea: What exactly do you need, where and when do you wanna use it, do you
need it exclusively etc...
I'm a student looking for an intership, could I work for your company/office/studio?
Sorry, but no. At the moment there's neither the time nor the space for any interns.
Who or what inspires you?
Actually, I get this a lot and it's really not that easy to answer. In the end, everything kind of inspires you. Nature,
the people surrounding you, music, the city, stuff you find on the internet... As far as other artists are concerned,
those are some people I like and follow: Sit, Jacob Bannon, Russ Mills, Alexis Marcou, Sara Blake...
What advice would you give to a young designer/illustrator?
First of all: I really don't think I'm experienced enough to give any kind of »advice«. I can only tell you
what I've tried to do so far: Just be yourself, keep getting inspired, be productive! Don't change for what you
think the »market« wants, just do what you really want to do. And most importantly: Be professional, be nice
and don't behave like an arrogant »artist«.
