Kostis Tzortzakakis is a Greek cartoonist and illustrator, and an Architecture graduate of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. “Finding a personal style as an artist has been a challenge for me for many years. My evolution was relatively slow – other creators have found much sooner in their lives what I have just started to slightly perceive at my early thirties. I admire some illustrations from the nineteenth and the twentieth century which may have influenced a lot my views on aesthetics. Despite knowing that I’ll never reach them, I still can’t deny that artists such as Arthur Rackham, Alphonse Mucha, Κlimt, William Russell Flint, Edward Gorey, Sergius Hruby have undoubtedly taken the role of the North on my creativity compass. I would like to illustrate poetry, but our times are anti-poetic. Many illustrators often have few choices, so they work for advertising, producing products to be consumed rather than art. Art should not serve capitalism but on the contrary, it should inspire people to evolve, to appreciate beauty and to search for better ideals in this corrupted – from many aspects – modern world.”
Kostis Tzortzakakis’ refined illustrations
