Expressive Line & Character: Illustrated Portraits by Piotr Lesniak

Polish illustrator Piotr Lesniak creates powerful illustrated portraits where dense line work, expressive shading and confident composition come together to capture both likeness and character. We first featured his work back in 2014, and revisiting his portfolio today, it is clear how consistent and assured his visual language has remained over the years.

Piotr describes himself as an illustrator and portraitist. His images are crafted through intricate, layered strokes that give faces weight, texture and presence. Across both black-and-white and full-color works, he balances realism with interpretation, emphasizing distinctive features while bringing a strong personal style to each depiction.

While he has explored other mediums such as sculpture, medaling, glass and mixed media, digital illustration has always been his primary focus. Over the course of his career, his portraits have appeared in an impressive range of publications, including The Times, Vogue, GQ, The Financial Times, Time, Vanity Fair and many others across Europe, the US and Asia.

You can discover more of his work on Behance and Instagram.

More illustrations via Behance