Meet Zovska

Zovska is a London-based illustrator originally from Poznań, Poland. Trained in architecture before moving into illustration, her work blends expressive line, bold colour and a fascination for the human body in motion.

Her characters, often distorted, playful and full of personality, sit somewhere between theatre, gesture drawing and graphic storytelling. Influenced by years of ballet training and life-drawing studies, her illustrations explore movement, emotion and the subtle tension between minimal lines and richly textured compositions.

Today she works across editorial illustration, branding and packaging, collaborating with publications such as The Guardian while continuing to develop her distinctive visual language.

You left Poznań for London. What brought you to leave Poland and how has London influenced your work as an illustrator?

I studied Architecture as my undergraduate degree in Poznań, and I think that’s what first sparked my curiosity about other places and cultures. After a while, the urban landscape in Poznań started to feel quite repetitive, and I became interested in discovering different ways of designing and thinking about space. During that time I had the chance to travel between semesters, and after graduating I eventually decided to leave, although it took me a while to find my way to London.

Before moving to the UK in 2019, I worked in Iceland, travelled through Mexico and lived in Madrid. Those places, and the people I met along the way, definitely left their marks on my work. Iceland taught me a lot about colours and textures. In Mexico I became fascinated by ancient Mayan sculptures and masks, especially their shapes and expressions. In Madrid I got my first job as a graphic designer and realised how much there still was to learn.

London felt like the first place where everything came together. It gave me a sense of stability, but also a creative community. Being surrounded by other illustrators pushed me to think more commercially about my work, and it’s where my current illustration style really started to develop.

What does a typical day look like for you? How do you go from pencil sketch to final digital creation?

I start every project, big or small, on paper. I begin with lots of loose, messy sketches. I put together mind maps, browse reference images and create moodboards. It’s quite an intuitive and layered process, with everything happening almost at the same time, moving back and forth between ideas.

When the more interesting directions start to emerge and I’ve planned out the rough composition, I take photos of the sketches and move onto my iPad. From there I continue sketching digitally, assembling and adjusting the different elements while gradually building a coherent composition.

My favourite moment is when everything finally starts to come together. When a very messy sketch slowly turns into something more refined and the image suddenly begins to make sense. It’s especially satisfying with more detailed drawings, like my recent commission for The Guardian or the packaging illustration I created for an apple box.

That part of the process usually happens in Procreate, which is probably one of my favourite tools because it allows me to work very intuitively. That said, nothing quite replaces the feeling of pencil on paper.

Your characters often have grotesque facial expressions and distorted body shapes, frequently portraying women in bold and unconventional ways. Where does this fascination with individuality come from?

I’m fascinated by the human body and I love exploring its shapes in all forms in my drawings. Line and gesture are very important to me. One of the main influences was probably the 14 years I spent in ballet school while growing up. I’ve always loved dancing and being immersed in the theatre world, so being drawn to expressions, gestures and movement feels very natural to me.

My style developed from early pencil and ink drawings focused on light and shadow, through more linear work that abstracted the posture of a body during life-drawing classes at architecture school, to the form it has today.

Finding my style has always been about balancing opposites: minimal and highly detailed, textured and flat, black and white versus beautifully saturated colours. I feel like I’m slowly finding that balance now.

You work on editorial commissions, brand identities and packaging design. How does your approach change depending on the project?

For branding and packaging, I focus much more on the client’s needs and vision, so those projects are very collaborative. Every brand is different, so it’s important for me to really understand what’s required and suggest the best visual solutions. I enjoy the problem-solving aspect a lot because every project brings a new challenge.

Editorial commissions are usually more open. I enjoy the fast pace they require. There’s something very satisfying about generating many different ideas in a short amount of time and then seeing the final illustration printed in a magazine shortly afterwards.

I really like having a mix of both. They challenge me in different ways and keep my practice varied.

What do you enjoy most about creating characters rather than abstract patterns or landscapes?

For me, characters are the most natural way to tell a story. Through them I can show emotions, presence and narrative. They allow me to explore personality, tension, humour and all those small details that make someone feel real and relatable.

It also connects to my interest in movement and the body. I enjoy playing with proportions, exaggerating shapes and pushing things slightly further. Characters give me the freedom to do that, and they naturally become the storytellers within the composition.

Is there a project you're particularly proud of?

One project that stands out for me is Every Apple Clears a Path, an illustration for an apple box that I developed during the 28-day branding illustration challenge organised by Inkygoodness in 2024.

While working on that piece, I experimented with vector illustration and a different way of building compositions. Something about the process simply clicked. It felt like a breakthrough moment where different elements of my style finally started working together.

That illustration gave me a clearer sense of direction for my work afterwards and influenced many of the pieces that followed, including my calendar series.

It was also shortlisted for the World Illustration Awards last year, which was an amazing moment of recognition.

Your favourite spots in London: a restaurant, a café, a shop not to miss?

Clissold Park is probably one of my favourite places in London overall, especially during late spring and summer. It’s a great spot for picnics, dog-watching and sketching outdoors.

I can never pass by Broadway Market without stepping into Artwords Bookshop for a little dose of inspiration. They sell lots of indie magazines and beautiful children’s books.

For food, there’s so many spots which I love, but since Re-leaf is all about colours and lovely design, I’ll recommend one with a cute interior and a delicious pizza - ACE Pizza. A shop not to miss - Nook Shop and Know & Love for all design and illustration lovers 

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You can discover her illustrations in Re-leaf selection.