Graphic illusionist

 My designs are a combination of photography – photo manipulation, retouching and matte painting – and hand-drawn effects. Depending on the project, I draw more or less, add some vector illustrations or even scan some materials to get some unique artwork in.

My clients include Warner Music UK, Warner Brothers and Odeon Film Studios. I delivered illustrations for the musical Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (above) and a bunch of designs for the band Pendulum, including live tour official posters and the artwork for Immersion (below), their No 1 album.

I’ve been living my dream for 15 years now. I’m proud to say I’m self-taught. At the beginning it was just a hobby, something I was fascinated by – I was excited by experimenting with digital art. I didn’t have a particular plan, but I found some magazines on the internet and started sending my work into competitions. The first time they published my stuff in print I realised someone liked what I had done, and that I had some talent.

At the beginning of my career, the internet was comparatively poor in digital content, so I tried to find inspiration from magazines, books and movies – everything around me. But I never tried to follow any particular artist or style. Evolving in the industry was something intuitive.

When I decided I wanted to work in graphic design, the first job I got was with a small agency. I have been freelance full-time for the past three years, but started freelancing a few years earlier. I think the jobs I’ve appreciated most are those I’ve got as a freelancer. I’m not sure I remember what my first commission was, but I think it was an album cover for one of the local bands in my city, Katowice [in Poland]. The first really big commission was Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. I was really excited about that.

I start and finish my work in Photoshop. First I do some mock-ups with a rough style and composition to see if the artwork is worth the effort. Then I gather the necessary resources, like photographs or drawings. I usually leave some space for things that are hard to assume at the beginning – for the project to evolve naturally – so sometimes the early mock-ups are very different to the end product.

I take inspiration from traditional art. I recently had the chance to check out some paintings at the National Gallery in London. I’m not trying to refer to the classic Masters in my work, but to have in mind how they created their works inspires me to not follow everything I see in contemporary digital art.

I have just finished working on a board game called Show Business, which took me about two months to get done, and some art for Armada Skis. I’m also working on some personal projects that I abandoned for about a year – I always love these experiments. Working digitally allows me to go back some steps during the process, so it gives me more creative power to work with. After 15 years, I still feel that my fascination for digital art is at the core of my career.

Maciej Hajnrich was talking to Ruth Stokes.