Elwira Pawlikowska is an Illustrator from Poland who has some of the most popular projects on Behance. She was surrounded by art since childhood. Her genuine interest in making illustrations began when she came contact with fantasy games and books in high school. Read on and get to know more about this inspiring illustrator.
What inspired you to create the “Steampunk Characters” artwork?
It was a commission I made for a polish “steampunk” restaurant. Initial idea of the restaurant’s owner was to have character designs – “brand heroes” which could be used in a promotional short comic stories. “Steampunk” style is very close to me as a combination of technique and rich, historical ornamentation. The Victorian Era can be a great source of inspiration.
Looking at your work is obviously that you have an unbelievable skills in digital art, how do you define your style?
Actually most of all I’m a traditional artist. I use digital technique for purely practical matters – it’s easier to make changes or several versions of designs this way. Probably that’s why my digital drawings look almost like pen/pencil sketches. Old school/vintage style with a touch of melancholy really attracts me and hopefully I also capture it in my works.
Do you see yourself more as an illustrator or as a painter? Why?
I’m more an illustrator because most of my works were made as illustrations for books, magazines, games etc. However I make also drawings/paintings sometimes. Being a painter means making artworks which will be exhibited in galleries and hanged on the walls in customer’s houses for example. Illustrations are only a part of a final (often mass-produced) product. At least that’s how I understand this issue.
Your Red River artwork is one of my favorites, what is the meaning behind of this artwork?
Thank you, I’m really happy that you like it! It’s an illustration made for a short story about biblical plagues (though the action takes place in a near future). One of the plagues was turning river’s water into blood. It’s hard to aptly describe the fragment of the whole story illustrated here, but I’ll try anyway. Scientists found out the way to purify the river, however the red color remained. To prove that the water is harmless they allowed scientist’s daughter to play in it in front of photographers. They aimed to show something cheerful and carefree but in fact it’s really hard to imagine something more grim than a sweet little girl playing in blood-like liquid. That’s the aspect I tried to capture here.
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