Krzysztof Ostrowski
- born 1976
- born in Szczecin
- he works and creates his works in Łódź
- he specializes in comics and animation
“For me, comics is the most natural form of expression, the most favourable medium and – to speak plainly – the greatest passion”.
In 2003, he graduated from design at prof. Małgorzata Garda’s Fashion Design Study at the Faculty of Fabric and Fashion of the Władysław Strzemiński Academy of Fine Arts in Łódź. Since 2018, he has been a PhD in movie arts at the Łódź Film School. He teaches storyboard, concept drawing, comics and the fundamentals of flat animation at the Faculty of Visual Arts of the Academy of Fine Arts in Łódź. He is the author of animations (including for MTV and VIVA and for “Wiedźmin 2: Zabójcy Królów” computer game), video clips (including for Smolik, T.Love), CD covers (including for Myslovitz, Anita Lipnicka and John Porter) and book covers (including for the first edition of “Wojna polsko-ruska pod flagą biało-czerwoną” by Dorota Masłowska).
The most important publications: “Nadzwyczajni. Pantofel panny Hofmokl” (art), story by D. Wojda, Mandragora, 2003; “Plastelina 2”, Kultura Gniewu, 2004; “Nowa Plastelina”, Kultura Gniewu, 2007; “Bez tytułu”, a comic in the Polish- German anthology titled “Chopin New Romantic”, Kultura Gniewu/Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2010; “Imaginary Kingdom” (art), story by J. Eales in the “Zombre” anthology, Borderline Press, 2013; “Narko” (art), story by D. Łukasińska, Krytyka Polityczna, 2016; “Papież i Generał” (art with J. Frąś and P. Truściński), text by M. Miller, Narodowe Centrum Kultury, 2016.
The most important awards and distinctions: Grand Prix of the International Comics Festival in Łódź for “Pantofel panny Hofmokl” (story by D. Wojda), Łódź, 2001; “Drewniany Yach” Special Award for the best video clip at the 10th Festival of Polish Video Clips “Yach Film” for “Uważaj” by CKOD, Gdańsk, 2002; the 1st prize in the Animation category at the 14th Festival of Polish Video Clips “Yach Film” for “Spaliny” by CKOD, Gdańsk, 2006.
Ostrowski is economical with ostensibly careless and hurried strokes. His drawings seem unfinished, overdrawn, with elements which are the most important for the overall message marked clearly. The illustrations are sometimes grotesque, deformed and even revolting in their controlled ugliness; as a result, they come close to the style used in zins or storyboards. At the same time, his strokes, which are sometimes sketchy, are very expressive despite their succinctness: the artist depicts a facial expression with several strokes to give the reader no doubt as to the character’s emotions. When writing about Ostrowski’s comics, it is difficult to refrain from using the terminology which is closer to films or animation. Despite using the word “panel”, it seems more natural to use a “frame” meaning a movie frame, as his comics resemble a series of subsequent scenes of a story, drawn frame after frame. That non-typical style of drawing makes Ostrowski’s characteristic illustrations very dynamic, seeming to be stopped in motion for a moment only.
The artist achieves that effect owing to his experience in animation, from where he has derived his plays with panelling, multiple close-ups and non-typical “cut” images, e.g. panels where a character’s head does not fit. What makes Ostrowski’s drawings stand out particularly from other author’s works is also frequently used diagonal perspective, which creates the effect of dynamics unexpected in comics as well.
Krzysztof Ostrowski Gallery
More information about the artist: kostry.tumblr.com
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