Tell us a little about your background and how you came to work as a professional illustrator/comic artist?
I am 33 years old. Born in Israel, and currently live in Tel Aviv, with my wife Hilit, and cat Spooky.
I starting drawing since I remember, probably around 3 years old. Since I have a twin brother (Tomer Hanuka) who also likes drawing, we just spent most of the time inventing super heroes together and drawing battles and stuff like that.

After the 3 years mandatory army service I went to art school Emile Cohl in Lyon, France, and stayed there for three years, then moved to Paris for a year.The first graphic novel I illustrated in France with writer Didier Daeninckx, is called “Carton Jaune!”. I did another project with Didier, and then started working with Roger Martin on a western series. In parallel, I worked on adaptations of short stories for Israeli writer and close friend Etgar Keret. Two book published - Streets of Rage and Pizzeria kamikaze. The later was published in Bipolar - an experimental comic book in collaboration with Tomer.

How did you develop your unique style?
Growing up in Israel in the late ‘70 was o.k., we were never hungry and had cool family and friends, but there was something very grey and lifeless in the se-rounding. Maybe it’s the way suburbs are design in Israel, just what you need with no extra. so there was something missing, and in the comics we used to read at these early years there was so much color and magic! people had super powers and amazing clothing - so it was the perfect place to escape to from the grey routine of everyday life…
so comics became like a second language and once I started illustrating professionally it was only natural to use that sort of aesthetics. I do believe that there is something narrative in composing a comic panel that works well with editorial illustration.

Could you take us through your design process from the point you are told the brief to presenting the final work?
it’s pretty much the regular thing - I get the brief/article. sometimes the a.d. has a fixed idea he asks for, and other times I can propose my own take on the concept. normally I send 2-3 sketches and then revisions. eventually a sketch is chosen and I execute it.

I do everything with the Wacom Graphire tablet, and work on a mac g-5 and a 20″ flat screen.

What would you like to be doing the whole time if money was not an issue?
graphic novels.

What single piece of advice would you give to an aspiring illustrator?
being an illustrator is not entirely different than being a traveling salesman. only instead of vacuum cleaners you sell visual metaphors. finding the proper one for each different client is not an easy task, since it’s mostly used where an abstract idea needs to be presented. a good illustration is not only a metaphor of the subject for which it was created, but also a visual combination of form and color that manage, for a brief moment, to have a life of it’s own.

Interview conducted by Nick, thank you Asaf for agreeing to answer my questions.

You can see more of Asaf’s work here, or read his shared (with his twin brother) blog here.

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