Lukas Eggert’s observational illustrations look at the charming idiosyncrasies of bizarre personalities

Despite currently undergoing a course in communication design, Lukas Eggert’s practice is almost exclusively illustrative. The Stuttgart-based creative tells us that “during my graphic design studies I have gravitated towards image-making,” adding that he found the harmony of both disciplines in poster design. As a result, Lukas’ work combines the best of graphic design and illustration to make work that is refreshing and satisfying.

“My drawings often emerge spontaneously – in a flash of inspiration,” Lukas tells us, explaining that he more often than not has “a clear image in front of my eyes before I finally draw it on the paper.” It comes almost at ease to Lukas; finding his place in compulsion rather than in the desire to study and practice. Regardless of his spontaneity, however, Lukas’ work is remarkably refined. With an obvious eye for graphic design as a backbone of his illustrations, the drawings are simple and almost editorial – although not without heart or expression, quite the opposite. “Often in combination with rich colours or high contrasts in black and white motifs,” Lukas’ pieces are littered with personality, opinion and intrigue.

With a fascination for how people “live and behave,” Lukas acts as a transient observer of the everyday and domestic, drawn to “the idiosyncrasies of bizarre personalities.” It is the wonderfully normal subject matter of Lukas’ work that makes it so exciting – within it we find recognition, whether it’s spotting someone we know, someone we’ve seen or even noticing ourselves. This charming insight into the seemingly mundane, helps us appreciate the lovely affectations and peculiarities that make up the everyday. Amongst these observations of the commonplace is Lukas’ obsession with hands; a recurring theme across his work. “I have a weakness for drawing hands,” Lukas says, explaining “I like them to be thick or strongly shaped, I like hands that show or grab something, I like them doing rough or manual work.”

Found both in his personal life and in his work is a fondness for materials and surfaces, concluding “being outside in nature and looking inside” is the key to understanding his work. Lukas personally best finds inspiration “with a huge backpack on my shoulders and thick boots on my feet or the bike under my butt.”

During a two-week residency in Turin “in conjunction with the Goethe Institute,” Lukas created a series of “balcony scenes to reflect my personal experiences and observations” of being in the heart of Turin. A guest at Print Club Torino, Lukas had the opportunity to hear their expertise and participate in their workshops. “There I dealt extensively with the city and my interpretation of its identity,” he tells us, with his series being exhibited in Turin during Graphic Days in 2019.

Lukas also developed a children’s book alongside his fellow illustrator and friend Carola Wille, entitled Ich und die Basler Orchester – which translates to The Basel Orchestra and I – a brief set by the culture department of the Canton of Basel City in Switzerland. The subject or orchestras was not something Lukas had previously considered, but that is what he finds most refreshing about the illustrative discipline; “for me, one of the best things about being an illustrator is always coming into contact with new topics and exploring them.”

Alongside his illustrations, Lukas also makes music as a form of self-expression, telling us that both music and illustration gives him “the opportunity to make inner moods and emotions visible to the outside world,” and in doing so, allowing his interests to bleed into them – concluding that “when my work makes me laugh, I am happy.”