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What do you feel is important in your illustrations?
Particularly in terms of text-related illustrations, I find it important for the image not to just replicate the content 1:1, but instead to exhaust the interpretive playing field in order to let its own ideas flow into the work. Only then do illustrations become rich and thus self-contained. I find it really fantastic when illustrators build in little “treats” that you don't discover until you take a second look. I find that incredibly exciting. And those are the kinds of things that I strive for in my own work.  

What are your favourite techniques and subjects?
I don't have any favourite subjects. As for materials that I use on a regular basis: my paper collection, acrylic paints, and pencils. Whenever I have enough time, I enjoy trying out new techniques. But when it comes to assignments, I've developed a process of mixing analogue drawings with digital finishing processes so as to deal with potential changes, improvements or wishes without running into problems.

Who or what has had a lasting influence on your creative career?
After finishing university, it is difficult to find a way into the professional world and land enough jobs to make ends meet. Suffering from financial stress is definitely a state that has a negative impact on creativity. Taking on a second or third job in order to pay the bills is quite common amongst young illustrators and in the end the real work suffers from this. Thanks to my family, especially my wife, I've always been able to dedicate myself 100% to my art.

Where do you see new opportunities for applying illustration?
Recently, I worked for an American business magazine. I was amazed to see that almost every article was illustrated. And when you think about it, this is highly desirable. It's precisely these supposedly factual, businesslike texts that offer ideal circumstances for an illustrator. Here there's still room for interpretation, extrapolation, abstraction, reduction, metaphor, etc. 
And I think that readers also benefit when “dry” topics are accompanied, perhaps even made comprehensible, by illustrations. With regards to your question, this is exactly where I see more opportunities for illustration. Have no fear, dear editors and publishers!

What was your most interesting project last year?
Definitely the assignment for the magazine Effilee. For their first issue, I had the honour of interpreting the article “Fit through Fat”, about the latest discoveries in fat research, with eight illustrations. And I was given complete freedom in choosing how to approach the topic and selecting the text passages that I wanted to illustrate. An absolute dream job for any illustrator, I think.

www.marcowagner.net