Silja Goetz
Silja is a German-born illustrator known for her surreal, elegant mixed-media work.
Her eye-catching signature style has graced countless book covers as well as magazines, ad campaigns and product packaging. Select clients include Harper’s Bazaar Espana, Elle Japan, New York Magazine, Time Magazine, Harper Collins, Penguin Random House, Bloomingdales and Gohar World. Join us for a chat in her delightful green studio in Madrd…
1. How and when did you discover your love for visual art?
I’ve always loved to draw. And then I had a really good art teacher in high school who made us see that art is not something to be shy and respectful about, but something you could make yourself.
2. How did you become a professional illustrator?
I studied communication design and focussed my final year on illustration. After graduation I decided that I’d better leave illustration as a side hustle and took a ‘real’ job designing for magazines. But then I moved to Spain and I couldn’t find an office job, so my side hustle became my main thing. It’s been that way ever since and I’m really grateful it worked out!
3. What are your preferred mediums and why?
I used to combine pencil drawings with Photoshop but, since getting my Ipad and Apple pencil, I’ve switched to Procreate where I can get the same effect without the drag of scanning. The important thing to me is that each line is created by a human hand, with a human brain attached!
4. What are your favorite types of illustration jobs?
The ones that allow me to think for myself and challenge me.
5. What are your favorite subjects to illustrate?
Novels, and books in general, because they are complex and because they may be really important to someone. I also do love packaging. It’s like a book cover for a product!
6. How many book covers have you illustrated?
I’ve been at it for quite some time now, so I really need to check my archives… about 100! But of course that’s not the only thing I do. Just something I particularly love.
7. What is your process when illustrating a book cover?
I usually get a synopsis and some direction from the art director. I try to hone in on a visual that can represent the whole book, or at least its atmosphere. The more freedom I have to invent something by myself, the more ideas I come up with and the more sketches I make. These first drafts, often still in black and white, I send back to the AD, and from there we start a back and forth dialogue of collaboration. Once we have a more refined idea to present, that’s when the authors themselves get to see it and sometimes they send it all into a whole new direction. Usually for book covers one has to be very patient.
8. Where is your studio?
In our apartment, in the center of Madrid, which I share with my husband and daughter. They are both out during most of the day, so I’m here alone, which I love.
9. How long have you lived in Madrid?
I’ve been living here ever since the summer of 2001.
10. What about Madrid inspires you?
The fact that it’s a big city that still manages to feel like a village. There’s always lots of life in the street, lots of things happening at once. And people notice each other, they look you in the eye.
Apart from that, I really appreciate living just a few steps from the Prado museum. I have a membership card, so sometimes I only visit one specific picture, like an old friend.
11. Which picture in the Prado Museum have you visited the most?
“The Triumph of Death” by Pieter Bruegel the Elder. Of course it’s absolutely horrifying but I also find it strangely soothing. Once you’ve looked the Grim Reaper in the empty eye socket, maybe there’s not much that can scare you anymore. And I really love that one couple in the lower right corner that are just so taken up with their music and their love that they do not realize what is going on all around them. Yes, they will also perish, but at least they are happy right up until the last moment. The whole picture is like a scary movie and has so much detail that one can really get lost in that world.
12. Have you ever explored these macabre themes in your own work?
Not really. Usually “death” is not a client favorite and I myself don’t like gore. But actually, not long ago I was asked to do something really gory for a book cover: A hand squeezing a human heart! I didn’t like it much at first, but in the end everybody was happy. As I said, I can draw almost anything, but usually I prefer flowers and birds rather than ripped out hearts!
13. What else has been inspiring you lately?
The Adam Buxton Podcast. The Elis James and John Robins Podcast. A new project by my dear friends, the interior designers from Casa Josephine. The band Nation of Language. And the city of Prague. I’ve just been there on a short holiday.
14. What does a typical work day look like for you?
I start by doing a daily Spelling Bee puzzle to get me in the mood. And then it’s whatever is necessary: researching new projects, doing revisions, writing emails… The most time is spent drawing whilst listening to podcasts.
15. What are the things you have to have in your studio?
A pot of tea. My Macbook. The iPad. Internet. Pencils. A notebook.
16. What do you wish people knew about your work?
That I can create images for really anything, from a japanese novel to a beer campaign.
17. What advice would you give to an illustrator at the beginning of their career?
Fill your portfolio with aspirational pieces. If you do not have any clients yet, imagine them! Do not show your stuff too early, wait until you have a strong range that makes sense as a whole!
18. Thank you for such thoughtful answers! Any parting words?
Thank you for your strong questions! I know I’m very lucky for loving my work, for never getting bored with it, and for learning something new every day.