PIOTR JABŁONSKI
“I have lots of ideas and draw lots of sketches that I never finish”
Piotr likes to keep himself busy
When it’s time to go on a journey to the bleak, outer edges of the universe, where reality fragments into abstract dimensions, then Polish illustrator Piotr Jabłon´ ski is the ideal tour guide. Like a gamekeeper of the grotesque, he conjures up strange, elongated beings to populate those cold and shadowy realms on the darker side of Purgatory.
Yet when you ask him about his highly individual style, Piotr doesn’t mention winged demons, doorways to darkness or the hideous armies of the undead. For him, painting fantasy and sci-fi imagery is all about a constant passion to learn and create. “It’s an evolutionary process,” he explains. “My style is a mix of inspiration, mistakes and the lack of skill to do something better. The final effect is not 100 per cent what I want to achieve. It’s more like I’m trying to catch the image in my head and I’m not quite good enough to turn it into an illustration.”
DARK AND TWISTED WORLDS
Whatever he sees in his head must be incredible, because the artwork that he does manage to visualise is pretty amazing as it is. Many of Piotr’s depictions of dark and twisted worlds have been created for the video games industry. For example, he’s painted a whole array of environments and illustrations for the Dishonored franchise, developed by Arkane Studios and published by Bethesda. Similarly, when Bungie had a book printed that fleshes out the world of Destiny, Piotr was commissioned to illustrate a series of creatures that feature in the game.
Displaying his graphical skills, he creates posters in his unique style for Poland’s Camerimage festival. And
My style mixes inspiration, mistakes and the lack of skill to do something better
another favourite area for him is book illustration.
Early in 2019, Piotr worked on a series of five science fiction illustrations for Centipede Press when the publisher reissued Nova, the 1968 novel by Samuel R Delany. “Whether it’s concept art or an illustration, when you’re commissioned you have to deliver a piece of art. That’s my opinion,” says Piotr. “Nova is a pretty old novel, so I wanted to create illustrations with a retro vibe. I didn’t want to show too much additional detail, I just focused on the characters and the scenes. Samuel liked it, Centipede Press liked it, so I like it too.”
ARCHITECTURE BACKGROUND
Less is more is one of Piotr’s mantras and it has become part of his style thanks to his training in architecture. Born in Bialystok in eastern Poland, Piotr grew up in the nearby town of Choroszcz. When it was time to go to university, the closest thing to art offered at the Bialystok University of Technology was architecture and urban planning. Piotr enrolled on the course, even though he wasn’t all that interested in the subjects. Although there wasn’t as much sketching and conceptual work as he would have liked, supported by his parents and friends he pushed on and completed the course in 2011. Piotr was bored with it at the time, but now when he looks back on his architectural training he appreciates what it’s lent to his art.
“I had to learn about concepts from 30 or 40 years ago; there was nothing new, interesting or innovative,” he says. “But now I look at architecture – both interior design and exteriors – and find it fantastic and inspiring. It’s taken time to fall in love with the subject. I learned a few good things for sure, like minimalism, how architecture and shapes work in open spaces, why the context of the place is so important, and how to connect large and small objects in a composition.”
Study some of Piotr’s images and this appreciation of space and form is easy to detect. He uses physical structures
When you’re commissioned you have to deliver a piece of art. That’s my opinion
to help build drama in his illustrations, and depth to generate atmosphere. It can give his paintings an epic quality which is equally applicable whether he’s depicting a gaming world, or the fantasy setting described in one of Michael Moorcock’s Elric novels – another project that he undertook with Centipede Press.
Growing up, Piotr was always interested in drawing and painting – dinosaurs, monsters, vehicles and more. The Polish painter Zdzisław Beksin´ ski was one of his creative heroes, alongside Frank Frazetta and Simon Bisley. Further inspired by his brother’s Thorgal comics – a series
I have lots of ideas and draw lots of sketches that I never finish, probably because I get bored too quickly
published in Belgium and created by Jean Van Hamme and Grzegorz Rosin´ ski – he started building up his own visual language. This was followed by a teenage passion for hip hop and graffiti.
Traces of the latter are seen in Piotr’s personal series Tomcat, created early in the artist’s career. These fully realised paintings show the adventures of two lonely children in a decaying urban landscape, pursued by cops and accompanied by a giant white graffiti cat, which appears in various poses on the walls behind them. It’s abstract, ominous and funny, all at the same time.
“Tomcat was a spontaneous project that has brought in jobs like the projects I’ve done for Arkane Studios,” says Piotr. “I don’t plan to continue it. I have lots of ideas and draw lots of sketches that I never finish, probably because I get bored too quickly, or don’t want to waste time on something I don’t feel will be good enough.
But personal work is important in my artistic life. It’s like a laboratory, a time to experiment with new tools and different approaches. Maybe nothing will come of it, but maybe something I try now will be useful in a few months or years. It leads you on new paths, and helps you to develop a new style that you might be able to use in the future.”
LESS IS MORE
One new path Piotr would like to explore is animation, and he’d also like to assemble his own art book someday. With a toddler at home, life has been hectic for Piotr lately. Returning to work after taking a three-month break, things are full-on once again and he’s working on new projects. Because they’re all still under NDA, he can’t reveal any more about them right now, but watch this space.
Like many freelancers, Piotr puts most of his energy into the job that’s in front of him. Whether it’s illustration or concept art, his mission is simply to create digital art. Trends come and go quickly with all the digital tools available to artists, and one thing he’s noticed is the temptation to put as much ‘wow factor’ as possible into every image. His approach is quite the opposite. “For me it’s more important to know what elements to remove from your illustrations to make them better. Less is more, in almost every situation,” he says.
Piotr continues: “When I started my adventure in digital painting, my dream was to work in the film industry – make concepts for movies and so on. Today, things have changed a bit. I still have that ambition, but it’s not my main goal. The most important thing for me is the illustration and the satisfaction I get from creating it. I just want to make an image that I’ll be happy with.
“Of course, it’s a perfect deal when big ideas and illustrations come together on projects for big studios. It’s a win-win situation. But today I’m grown up enough to say ‘no’ if I don’t feel good about a project.”
The most important thing is the illustration and the satisfaction I get from creating it