You Don’t Have to be a Child to Enjoy Gosia Herba’s Illustrations

Gosia Herba is the kind of illustrator your favorite illustrator idolizes. An illustrator and author of children’s books and graphic novels, Herba also works for various publishers, magazines, music labels, and ad agencies, with selected clients like The Washington Post, The World Today, Vanity Fair, and Nature to name a few.

Based in Poland, Herba has attended the National School of Fine Arts in Wrocław and received a diploma in jewelry-making. She later studied Art History at university, zooming in on the history of illustration.

“My studies in art history left me with huge personal art gallery in my head,” she admitted once in an interview with Eye on Design Magazine. “I really appreciate Gothic painting and sacral sculpture, Japanese print art as well as paintings by Balthus, and works by Polish painters Witold Wojtkiewicz and Wojciech Weiss.”

Her work, which includes painting, drawing, graphic designer, and comics, also has traces of Picasso and Matisse. The key to her practice: experimentation. According to Herba, she prefers analog techniques but relies on her computer for the finished product. Her mediums include gouache paint (a favorite of Herba’s), ink, and paper cutouts, but also a graphic tablet.

“Experiments with media are an important stage of my work process,” she explains. “Each technique influences the style and character of the image. My favorite medium is gouache paint. I like its velvet-like color. I also use ink, paper cut-outs, and Ecoline. When working on an illustration for magazines, I often use a graphic tablet.”

Her style, while varied, is very expressive and geometric, often relying on a strong color palette. Follow her Instagram page to see some more of her projects!