Ludwick Hernandez channels his fears into absurdly humorous illustrations
The French illustrator Ludwick Hernandez first studied fine arts at the university, believing that he would eventually become a painter, but gradually his passions turned to illustration. "I didn't grow up in a creative environment at all, my mother was a housekeeper and mine Father worked on construction sites, ”explains Hernandez. "I remember when I was a kid in the doctor's waiting room I was intrigued by a poster for an anti-smoking campaign. It was a bird with human legs and shoes walking on a cigarette. Years later than me When I remembered this picture, I realized it was a Milton Glaser poster. "
Hernandez sees his aesthetic as constantly evolving and he doesn't stick to any particular style. For him it is recurring ideas that make his work personal. "When I look at my drawings after I've made them, I can't help but notice that they often speak to my fears and frustrations," he says. "It's very Freudian, very unconscious."
All images: Ludwick Hernandez
In terms of inspiration, the illustrator says when he started he was intrigued by the work of Tomi Ungerer and Roland Topor. "Even if my drawings don't look like hers at all, there is a strong idea in their work that seems like a slap in the face," says Hernandez.
When he's working on a new image, his process begins in different ways, but a common thread is often a focus on the absurd or the stupid. "Even if there is something deeper at the end of the day, I want there to be both absurdity and depth," he says. Hernandez & # 39; images feel like you've been immersed in a Technicolor dream, when a meaty character surfs a shark, holds a hairdryer in a drawing, and a character manages to lean into a painting, while she smokes in another.
Hernandez says he wants people to mix elements of Monty Python with a bit of David Lynch in his works. It is the surprising combinations of characters in everyday situations, performing unusual actions or being accompanied by unexpected objects and animals that make them so compelling.
The illustrator is represented by the Valerie Oualid agency and his portfolio consists of a mix of editorial assignments for a variety of French magazines and ongoing personal projects. The best part is that Hernandez manages to maintain surrealism in both areas of his practice.
Hernandez used to stick to a fairly strict palette of just one or two colors, but nowadays he likes to experiment a little more, with brilliant pinks, blues, and greens gracing his latest work. "I try to use a little more color and that can be guided by painters I like, like David Hockney, but also by fashion magazines or album covers," says Hernandez. "Inspiration comes from everywhere, but it's often bright colors."
The way Hernandez creates his works has changed over the years as well. “For a long time I worked with felt pen on paper and a lot of linocut, which helped me understand the meaning of empty space,” he says. “I've had a lot of fun with it since I discovered the iPad. It's very fluid, very immediate and very playful. "
@ Ludwickhernandez