Igor Lukyanov - Graphic Artist | Illustrator | Portraitist

Drawing of a Lion

2012-01-03T13:44:00.000-08:00

I have recently made a drawing of a lion which, I hope, would be the first drawing of my future wildlife series. I also created a video to show how I was drawing this beautiful big feline.

Drawing of a lion I created for my future wildlife series

Buy this royalty free image in high resolution from 2CO
2CheckOut.com Inc. (Ohio, USA) is an authorized retailer for goods and services provided by Igor Lukyanov.

Watch this video on Youtube

Happy Birthday, Steven Spielberg!

2011-12-18T08:17:00.000-08:00

Today is the birthday of Steven Spielberg, one of the greatest film directors who ever existed. He is one of legendary film directors and screen writes who made Hollywood a real dream factory which unsurpassed creations never stop to excite generations of movie fans from all over the world. I just couldn’t help but draw a portrait of this genius to pay tribute to his talent and accomplishments which let our imagination take flight to the world of dreams and exiting impressions. Happy Birthday, Steven!

Steven Allan Spielberg

Watch this video on Youtube

Pentel Pocket Brush Pen Drawing Videos

2011-12-17T10:58:00.000-08:00

If you follow my blog for a while you might know that the Pentel Pocket Brush Pen is one of my favorite drawing tools which I use almost in each my project either as a main drawing medium or as an auxiliary one. I was lucky to have discovered art supplies from Pentel a year or so ago. Today Pentel products are indispensable in my work as an artist.

Drawing with a Pentel Pocket Brush Pen

Work in Progress Videos

I would like to share a few work in progress videos featuring a Pentel Pocket Brush Pen as a main drawing tool:

Watch this video on Youtube

Military Pin-Up (Custom Gift)

2011-12-16T11:27:00.000-08:00

I would like to show you another custom pin-up poster which was commissioned by a woman whose husband was in the military. This is the second pin-up created by me as a gift for a husband serving in the army. The first one was the Cowgirl pin-up.

A military pin up girl with a rifle

There is nothing more exciting for a soldier who stays far away from home than knowing that he has a beautiful girlfriend / wife waiting for him to return home. A custom pin-up poster is a smart gift given by a wife to her husband to remember that he must get home safe and sound to experience again all that care and delights which only the beloved woman can offer.

Watch this video on Youtube

Click here to see all my custom pin-ups

Portrait of General George S. Patton

2011-12-15T13:43:00.000-08:00

Portrait of General George S. Patton is my other contribution to the Heritage t-shirt series produced by Buffalo and Company.

George Smith Patton, Jr.

Well, the US army has always been one of the most powerful armed forces of the modern world. It is naturally that such military power scares many of those who confronts and hates America openly or covertly. You can hear a lot of hateful words and accusation being said against the USA military activities in today’s world. But laying politics (which is a very dirty business sometimes) aside and leaving nothing but dry facts, one cannot deny that the United States of America have managed to build the most powerful army within a relatively short span of country’s history. And I am sure that whatever other nations think about America and their armed forces, the majority of the US citizens have a lot of reasons to respect and be proud of their military history. George S. Patton had been one of the main contributors to the outstanding development of the United States Army, therefore Buffalo and Company included the General to their Hall of Fame to honor his name and deeds.

Watch this video on Youtube

Portrait of Adam Smith

2011-12-02T13:45:00.000-08:00

Portrait of Adam Smith belongs to the serious of famous men portraits created by me for Buffalo and Company.

Adam Smith (social philosopher and a pioneer of political economy)

Have you ever wondered why the USA remains one of the most economically developed countries in the world? My strong belief is that the reason for a wonderful economical success of the United States was the wisdom of country’s first leaders who were greatly inspired by freedom and who had chosen and adapted economical theories which guaranteed freedom and equality of rights of each American citizen as much as it was possible within the bounds of the active legislation. Therefore it was not surprising that American intellectual leaders noticed and got interested in Adam Smith’s economic theory laid out in his “Wealth of Nations” in which he outlined the ideas of the so-called “laissez faire” philosophy. The phrase laissez faire is French and means "let do", i.e., when applied to Smith’s views, it is of paramount importance for the government not to seek to interfere in people’s economical activity unless it is an illegal business. It is now proved by the history that providing as much freedom for business as possible results in positive economical development of the country due to a sound competition and fair legislation.

Watch this video on Youtube

I do not want to say that Adam Smith’s economic theories are perfect as there is nothing perfect in this world. However one cannot deny that the ideas of Adam Smith laid the foundation of today’s economical success of the United States of America. No wonder that Buffalo and Company chose Adam Smith as one of the greatest men who they and their customers would honor by wearing t-shirts featuring my portrait of this famous economist.

Custom Vector Illustrations for a Chiropractor

2011-11-12T03:41:00.000-08:00

I have recently created a series of custom vector illustrations for a chiropractor from Paris named Fabien. He commissioned me to make 8 illustrations in a peculiar style which looks like old school comics style advertisements. Fabien wanted to print out a big poster incorporating illustrations which would represent real life situations when people are suffering from pain caused by certain pathologies, harmful conditions or injuries which can be effectively treated by an experienced chiropractor like Fabien C-Storz. So if you urgently need help of a manual therapist while in Paris, make sure you contact Fabien for a quick relief or a comprehensive treatment (you can visit his website at www.myosteopathe.com). Meanwhile, let me show you the illustrations I created for him:

Custom Illustrations for a Poster at the Manual Therapist's Room

Sprain

Sinusitis

Digestive disorder

Tendinitis

Stress

Stiff neck (torticollis)

Migraine

Lumbago and sciatica

Related posts:
Motocross vector illustrations

Portrait of John Wayne

2011-10-30T15:04:00.000-07:00

John Wayne was not only an icon symbolizing American values and ideals he was also an actor whose characters in their majority exemplified the universal image of a rugged gentleman whose courage, appearance and actions set standards of masculinity. When Buffalo & Company organized a poll on their Facebook page in which their customers were asked to share their thoughts about what men should be honored for personifying classic values of manhood, it was not surprising that quite a few people voted for John Wayne. As a result I was commissioned to draw a portrait of John Wayne.

John Wayne aka Duke

There are some interesting facts about John Wayne which are especially curious to me as I was born in USSR. According to Wikipedia Joseph Stalin was a fan of John Wayne's movies, although Stalin had ordered to assassinate the actor as John Wayne was an ardent anti-communist with an incredible popularity in the USA. Stalin died before his order could be carried out and his successor personally rescinded the order. Another interesting fact is that there were not many Western movies made in the USA which penetrated the Iron Curtain and were shown in Soviet Union cinemas. However one of Wayne’s movies called “Stagecoach” ran in Soviet cinemas. In USSR the film was shown under the title “The Journey will be Dangerous”. It means that values and ideas depicted in John Wayne’s movies are rather universal and comprehensible not only by Americans.

Watch this video on Youtube

I can only imagine how extremely popular John Wayne was (and still is) in the USA. But there is a fact which tells me a lot about the actor’s popularity. It is a rare thing when a public location is named after an actor. However there are several public places named after John Wayne in the United States among which I can mention John Wayne Airport (Orange County, California) and John Wayne Elementary School (Brooklyn, New York). There is also John Wayne Cancer Institute founded by actor’s son to find the cure for the disease which had taken the movie star away from millions of his fans. Thus the name of John Wayne lives on to keep the memory of the great actor in a special place in American people’s hearts for many generations to come.

Portrait of Hank Williams, Jr.

2011-10-28T08:57:00.000-07:00

Hank Williams, Jr. portrait is the second artwork created for Buffalo & Company’s American Music Legend T-shirt Series.

Hank Williams, Jr. aka Bocephus

I have already told in my blog post dedicated to the portrait of Johnny Cash that country music is probably one of only a few music styles which absorbed the wisdom and philosophy of many generations of American men. Those men had actually built the country which became the home for the world’s most powerful nation for a relatively short period of time. I believe such a stunning success of the American nation was possible because, from its very cradle, the country was ruled by men who appreciated the basic values of manhood passed from generation to generation, including courage and intelligence. But rulers are not the only ones who build a nation as it is impossible to do it without average men and women whose hands and brains play a great role in the prosperity of every country. These average Joes and Janes preserved their experience, both positive and negative, in the form of music. Country music is probably the closest to the hearts of those US people who still honor courage, thirst for adventure and other real men’s values in times when such values are often forgotten.

Watch this video on Youtube

Buffalo & Company has built their brand on honoring classic masculine values through men’s apparel they produce. No wonder they pay special attention to legendary country singers as Johnny Cash and Hank Williams Jr. whose appearance and art express the old spirit of a real man. Unfortunately, being a celebrity, Hank Williams Jr. is not easy to reach in order to get his permission to use his portrait on t-shirts. May be one day Mr. Williams will read this post and watch the video showing how his portrait was created and he might want to contact Buffalo & Company to discuss conditions on which he could allow selling t-shirts featuring his face. I believe he would be pleased to be honored by Buffalo & Company and their customers alongside with the great Johnny Cash, American presidents and other famous men. If one day Buffalo & Company gets his permission I’ll update this post with a picture of a Hank Williams, Jr. t-shirt.

Custom Pin-Up with 3 Cars

2011-10-17T09:10:00.000-07:00

I knew that after I had made a few custom pin-up drawings featuring cars along with actual pin-up girls (see my previous blog posts dedicated to the rat rod pin-up, the Chevrolet pin-up and the pin-up portrait featuring a girl changing a tire on her car) there would be more clients with a particular interest in cars who would commission me to draw personalized pin-ups with automobile theme.

Soon after the posts about my car pin-ups had been published on my blog I was contacted by a guy named Brandon whose business was related to cars. The guy also had a beautiful wife whose beauty he admired even more than cars. He had an idea to commission an artist to create a cool artwork combining two most common passions of a man – a beautiful seductive woman and powerful cars. Well, pin-up is exactly the type of art which purpose is to stimulate men’s passion. So Brandon thought that a personalized pin-up portrait featuring his beloved wife and his favorite cars would be a great and unique gift for his spouse (and for himself, of course), especially if his wife shares his passion for auto & moto. The custom pin-up poster I created for Brandon features his wife with three vehicles – a 2004 lifted Ford Excursion, a 1981 Corvette and a 2011 Corvette Grand Sport.

Custom pin-up portrait featuring Ford and Corvette cars

Brandon also wanted another version of the pin-up incorporating the logo of his business (Auto Adrenaline).

Another version of the pin-up incorporating the Auto Adrenaline logo

I’ve also made a time-lapse video showing the work in progress. The video is set to some cool rock’n’roll tunes to reflect the character of this particular pin-up and to let readers of my blog feel the beat and the passion of the pin-up art in general.

Watch this video on Youtube

As you can see in the video, I used art supplies from Pentel (brushes) to paint some basic parts of the pin-up. these tools are really handy and I try to expand the usage of Pentel brushes as much as possible.

Click here to see all my custom pin-ups

Related posts:
Pin-up with a rat rod
Pin-up artwork with a car
1956 Chevrolet pin-up

Portrait of Harry S. Truman

2011-10-15T10:37:00.000-07:00

Another US president whose portrait I made for Buffalo & Company was Harry S. Truman.

Harry S. Truman (33rd President of the United States)

As you might know from my previous posts, Buffalo & Company advocates classic values of manhood in men’s lifestyle, fashion and character. The company designs clothes with the heritage of men in mind opposing their brand to today’s trends in men’s fashion promoting the image of pretty-boys instead of rugged gentlemen strengthen with the life full of challenges. Buffalo & Company honors men whose courage and resolution, talents and charisma, intelligence and wisdom totally correspond to the classic image of a man. Harry S. Truman can definitely be among those men honored by Buffalo & Company. A president of a country, especially such a big and powerful country as the USA, is the person who faces an enormous number of challenges in his daily life. I cannot even imagine how difficult and tough must be the life of a president whose country is in war as the destiny of the whole nation depends on his decisions. But even if he takes unpopular decisions, the President must be an extraordinary person to lead the nation to the victory and never loose the universal esteem years after.

Watch this video on Youtube

Enhanced Influence of Poster Art Among All Age Groups

2011-10-05T12:32:00.000-07:00

I continue publishing guest posts which topics, I believe, can be interesting for some of my existing clients as well as for future ones. This time I would like to publish an article dealing with porter art. This kind of art may be interesting for those who commission me to create custom pin-up portraits.

You will find a huge number of fans of poster art in your surroundings. Posters are mainly printed or painted that has either typography or graphic constituent. It is an easy and affordable way to get an access to art that inspires you. You can decorate any part of your home, apartment, office, boat house, hotels, restaurants, dorm rooms, café and many other placements with the help of posters. There is a huge collection of posters that include celebrity, movie stars, movie directors, music bands, concerts, educational, different types of sports and players, food, cooking, cartoons, maps and many more to choose from. Just decide what type of poster or a collection of posters you want and then go for it or them. You have to keep in mind all aspects of mounting or placing them and your placements to enhance and enforce the chemistry in-betweens. Pay special attention to frames because frames alleviate the beauty of art. Go for wider frame in case of large posters, if you want that particular piece to be the focal point of any place, and also manage to get proper lighting above or around the framed poster to catch an eye towards it.

Vintage pin-up posters can be a great example of poster art

Original and antique posters are precious, quite praiseworthy and valuable, especially the ones before the period of 1950s. The prodigy of antique posters of art and images has full-fledged in the previous ten years. The original ones are usually available at the heritage auction arcades and galleries and are accessible auctions. Auction arcades are more reliable and a good way to acquire original posters because there are unlimited supply of reproduced and replica posters. The differences between the original and replica are obvious if noticed keenly. If you ever get the chance to touch the original one, you will find its surface a bit rough and dull while replica will have a smooth silky surface and shine. Search for your full consent about the reputation of the dealer, if you want to invest your fortune in antique poster, whether you are buying it online or in person. If he is dealing in general posters then maybe he is selling replica.

It is very important for the safety and maintenance of your posters. Bring it to a specialized conservator who will engage in precautionary measures to decelerate the unavoidable decaying process. Prevent them from heat and water because they will accelerate the deterioration process.

Andrew Jackson Portrait

2011-10-04T10:05:00.000-07:00

My next portrait created for Buffalo & Company and their Heritage t-shirt series features Andrew Jackson, the 7th president of the United States.

Andrew Jackson, aka Old Hickory

Andrew Jackson t-shirt by Buffalo and Company

Well, Andrew Jackson is far from being the most favorite president for the Americans as he is widely criticized for his support of slavery and the Indian removal policy. However, I believe, nobody can deny Andrew Jackson’s big role in laying an important brick in the foundation of today’s American democracy and one of the most effective political systems. Just read the Wikipedia article on Andrew Jackson to get convinced that some of reforms started by the 7th president of the USA were of considerable importance and wisdom for today’s free and democratic society of the United States.

Watch this video on Youtube

Roosevelt and His Rough Riders

2011-09-15T08:30:00.000-07:00

I’ve been recently involved in a number of projects for Buffalo and Company. I am going to show you the results of my work in this and a few next posts. Today I want to show a stylized image of Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Riders based on the famous photograph of the 1st United States Volunteer Cavalry regiment, also known as the Rough Riders, made by photographer William Dinwiddie.

The reference picture of Roosevelt's Rough Riders

The drawing was to be placed on pocket t-shirts produced by Buffalo & Company to honor brave men and express company’s concern over today’s extensive feminization of men’s fashion. Drawing all soldiers on the reference picture too thoroughly would be time consuming and expensive but I thought that using my signature drawing technique (cross-hatching) could result in a somewhat sketchy but rather cool looking image of Roosevelt and the Rough Riders. This stylized image, I believe, is perfect for a tee.

Roosevelt and his Rough Riders (drawing by Igor Lukyanov)

And again I learned an interesting story from the United States history. It’s kinda cool how the Rough Riders regiment had been gathered. It had been formed of volunteers who were cowboys, American Indians, college athletes, ranchers, gold or mining prospectors, hunters, gamblers, former military men etc. Only the strongest and the most capable men had been selected to join the regiment. This story reminds me of Hollywood movies about selecting the most talented, capable and brave soldiers to accomplish the most impossible military missions.

Roosevelt's Rough Riders t-shirt by Buffalo and Company

I think that the image of Theodore Roosevelt and his Rough Riders is the perfect choice to use as a symbol of genuine masculinity reflected in character, deeds and fashion.

Watch this video on Youtube

General Stonewall Jackson Portrait

2011-09-02T09:49:00.000-07:00

I keep on working closely with Buffalo and Company to create custom portraits for their Heritage t-shirt series. It is fun to draw portraits of famous people and learn more about the history of the Unites States of America at the same time. One of the latest portraits drawn by me for Buffalo and Company was the portrait of an American Civil War general Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson.

Portrait of Stonewall Jackson

Portrait of Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson

Stonewall Jackson is probably a very controversial personality in the eyes of many Americans as he was one of confederate commanders along with General Robert E. Lee whose portrait I have already drawn for Buffalo and Company. But what really amazes me about the United States is that there were enough wise people to organize the Lost Cause movement purposed to reconcile and unite societies of the American South and North. As a result Americans can freely honor soldiers and leaders of both belligerents today. And this is not what can be often seen in countries where civil wars occurred.

Watch this video on Youtube

Stonewall Jackson T-Shirt

Stonewall Jackson t-shirt by Buffalo and Company

Cowgirl Pin-Up

2011-08-12T12:37:00.000-07:00

Cowgirl pin-up is probably the most American custom pin-up I have created so far. This drawing had been commissioned by a woman named Sarah as a gift for her husband who was a military contractor in the Middle East.

Personalized cowgirl pin-up

If you look back to the history of pin-up art, you will notice that paintings of pin-up girls became extremely popular during World War 2 when they were source material for American nose art – a painting on the fuselage of a military aircraft. Paintings of beautiful pin-up girls reminded soldiers about their most important goal of getting back home safe and sound to meet again their wives or girlfriends. What else can be more stimulating and exciting for a young trooper than thinking about the beloved woman waiting for him somewhere far away? Pin-up nose art was a kind of a representation of woman’s grace and beauty so much missed by soldiers fighting overseas. This art can also be regarded as a symbol of peace and joy of life which, for men, is usually built upon comfort and delights only the woman can offer.

Watch this video on Youtube

Thoughts about the history of pin-up helped me realize that my personalized pin-up drawings could be a perfect gift idea for wives and girlfriends wishing to surprise their men in the army and to get them something to keep their moral and spirits high in tough times of military service.

Sarah’s cowgirl pin-up gift was even wiser than that. Cowboy / cowgirl culture is one of well-known symbols of America. Therefore the pin-up not only evokes tender feelings in Sarah’s husband’s heart for his beautiful wife but also stimulates his patriotic ardor and love for his motherland. Furthermore Sarah and her husband, living in North Carolina, seem to be big fans of cowboys / cowgirls style of life. They even have a horse trailer which they promised to decorate with the pin-up by turning it into a vinyl sticker (and I am very much honored). So, by giving a custom cowgirl pin-up portrait of herself to her husband, Sarah made him appreciate even more her beauty, their country and the way of life they enjoy together. Isn’t it a wonderful gift?

Click here to see all my custom pin-ups

Pentel Art Supplies in Action

2011-08-06T12:18:00.001-07:00

This is not for the first time that I write about art supplies from Pentel, however I will never stop commending this company for their products as long as I use their art supplies (especially brush pens) either as main or auxiliary tools almost for every my project. In fact, Pentel brushes allowed me to reach the higher level of drawing experience by providing me with more control over each line of my artwork. I have created a special video to demonstrate how I draw with Pentel art supplies. The video features color brushes from, an Aquash brush, a pocket brush pen and an outline marker from Pentel. The video would be especially useful for fellow artists and craftsmen to discover new possibilities Pentel art supplies can offer to make their work easier and more efficient with even more impressive results.

Watch this video on Youtube

Related posts:
Pentel Pocket Brush Pen drawing videos

Let Banner Stands Do the Talking for You

2011-08-06T12:18:00.000-07:00

I have a lot of people who commission me to create various kinds of artworks for both personal and business use. In most cases images created by me end up to be printed on paper or clothing, engraved on wood and plastic, stamped on leather, embroidered, tattooed etc. These seem to be very complicated procedures for an average customer of mine. I am sure a lot of people do not even know about some of the above-mentioned services and opportunities they offer. That is why I decided to make my blog a little bit more useful for my customers by accepting guest posts dealing with different types of services related to printing or other methods of turning digital images into palpable art. Today’s post is about banner stands.

It’s a cliché to say that a picture is worth a thousand words, but it’s a cliché for a reason, the reason being that it has more than a grain of truth to it. When it comes to attracting the attention of would be customers, or conveying the maximum amount of information to interested parties in a high impact, low cost, deeply flexible manner, than banner stands are the medium you’re looking for.

Examples of banner stands

Banner stands take the form of full colour high quality prints on a massive variety of backgrounds and materials and in as wide a range of shapes, sizes and formats as there are ideas in your head. It could be that you want a 48 or 96 sheet poster, either front lit or back lit for preference, and wall mounted or free standing. Once you’ve made that decision you can opt for an image printed on a specialised material which precisely suits the needs of your situation. For example, you may wish to post a large image in a position where high winds will be a problem; high on the side of a building perhaps, or in a large open space. In a placing such as this, wind resistance is a key consideration, and an image printed on a flexible mesh will reduce this problem to the minimum, without compromising the integrity of the image, by allowing the wind to pass through the banner. Alternatively, it could be that the clarity and quality of the visual image is your over-riding concern. Perhaps you deal in fine arts, or fashionable designer products which need to be displayed to the best effect. For banner stands such as these the banners will be printed onto fabrics or textiles such as knitted polyester or canvas, materials which can capture the finest detail and richest colour whilst still allowing the image to be reproduced to a size which will create maximum impact.

So, whether you’re displaying at a trade fair, attempting to capture passing trade in a busy thoroughfare or setting up a permanent but flexible visual display within a retail space, banner stands will offer the perfect solution no matter what the product, business or circumstances. Make the choice between the sizes, shapes, materials, colours and formats which best suit your needs and then sit back and watch the image do the work of a thousand words.

Pin-Up with a 1956 Chevrolet Car

2011-07-23T09:10:00.000-07:00

Today I want to show you another custom pin-up portrait created by me. This time the drawing features a vintage 1956 Chevrolet car along with a pin-up girl.

Custom 1956 Chevrolet Pin-Up

Custom artwork featuring a pin-up girl and a 1956 Chevrolet car

As you might have noticed pin-up girls often go with hot rods or classic cars on photographs and drawings. I believe there are at least two reasons why pin-up girls and retro cars seem to be inseparable.

First, pin-up artists, while creating a product of pop art mostly targeting men, are prone to combine two most exiting objects of men’s dreams – a hot girl and a great car. No doubt, this detonating mixture drives men crazy as there is nothing else which can elevate man’s self-esteem higher than conquering a woman's heart and owing a cool-looking automobile. Having both a woman and a car makes men feel good and happy.

Women and cars have always been men's most passionate desires

Cars became a popular subject of pin-up artworks due to the fact that classic pin-up pictures are, in fact, products made in the USA and later popularized all over the world by means of the dream factory called Hollywood. I believe in 1950s more people could afford a car in the USA than anywhere in the world. An affordable car of decent quality and appealing design became a symbol of the strong economy of the United States. Mass production of automobiles and comparatively high purchasing power of Americans made it easier for even average US citizens to buy a car. And that is why cars were added to the list of any self-respecting man’s desires along with attractive women. This resulted in introducing cars into the art of pin-up which the main purpose is to stimulate men’s most basic desires.

Secondly, there is nothing as good as a classic car from 1950-s to help preserve the atmosphere of the golden age of pin-up. The woman’s beauty has being a subject of many kinds of arts throughout the human history. So drawing a pretty woman alone is not always enough. However there are a few ways to impart the “feeling of the epoch” to a drawing or a painting. These ways include imitating famous pin-up painters’ style and adding some clothing and objects easily attributed to the targeted period of history. The appearance of cars has been ever-changing just like fashion and many car models are associated with the years of their production. Therefore vintage cars like a 1956 Chevrolet can be perfect objects for modern pin-up artworks if a pin-up artist or his/her customer wishes to leave a mark of those years when pin-up art was at the top of its popularity.

Work Progress Video

I offer you to check out the video below if you think it might be interested to watch how I draw my custom pin-up portraits. I hope you will enjoy the video and its background music which creates the atmosphere of 50s. By the way, among other art supplies I used Pentel brush pens again to create this artwork.

Watch this video on Youtube

Click here to see all my custom pin-ups

Related posts:
Rat rod pin-up
Pin-up portrait featuring 3 cars
Custom pin-up artwork with a car

Johnny Cash Portrait

2011-07-11T13:21:00.000-07:00

The portrait of Johnny Cash is the first artwork created for Buffalo & Company and their American Music Legend T-shirt Series. I’ve been working with Buffalo & Company for around a year creating artworks reflecting the essence of the company’s business and their mission of creating clothing for real men to oppose themselves to today’s men’s fashion which seems to have lost the idea of classic masculinity.

Portrait of Johnny Cash

I love working with Buffalo & Company because they honor a lot of great men whose deeds have made history of the USA and, in a certain extent, influenced the history of the entire world. With Buffalo and Company I’ve been extending my knowledge about American presidents along with other brave, smart and wise men such as John Muir, Ernest Shackleton and others. Now it seems that I will learn more about some famous American singers and composers whose art and philosophy perfectly fits to the image of real men honoring and taking proud of their manhood.

Watch this video on Youtube

Johnny Cash entered both the Country Music Hall of Fame and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In fact, rock and roll and country music have common roots stretching almost 300 years back to the times when men were fulfilling their main mission of exploring new lands, hunting, fighting and protecting their families on the daily basis. Those men were strengthened by constant danger and challenges they faced while confronting nature and foes. Their physical labor and the role of providers and protectors made those men accustomed to pain, blood, sweat and dirt. Such way of life was reflected both in songs and men’s fashion. Men’s clothing used to be as practical as possible. The clothing was robust, comfortable and purposed to withstand harsh conditions of travel, hunting, fighting and hard labor. Today, when there is hardly any unexplored spot on the Earth and a lot of people have to spend more time staying in cities than in the open country, therefore quite a number of men feel a natural need and even urge to escape from crowded urban areas and indulge themselves in the most ancient activities of the mankind – fishing, hunting, exploring unknown territories. I believe that every man has a kind of a call of the wild in his heard that makes him long for the thrill of adventures. This is exactly for such men that Buffalo and Company produces its clothing.

Country music has absorbed the energy of generations of men who lived and worked closer to nature and had to be strong and brave to be able to take the best of the ever-challenging wilderness. Johnny Cash is one of a few genius artists who not only played the strong men’s music but also developed his peculiar charisma and philosophy which made him worth being called the idol by many of his fans. And I am also proud to contribute to honoring this man by my portrait of Johnny Cash.

Rat Rod Pin-Up (Custom Gift)

2011-06-18T11:45:00.000-07:00

A few months ago I created a custom pin-up portrait featuring a so-called rat rod. The pin-up was made for a woman named Leann from the USA. Wikipedia defines the rat rod car as

“a style of hot rod or custom car that, in most cases, imitates the early hot rods of the 40s, 50s, and 60s. Most rat rods appear "unfinished" with just the bare essentials to be driven.”

When I read the Wikipedia article about rat rots, a thought crossed my mind that a rat rod car can be a perfect symbol of my custom pin-up art representing the very essence of my drawings of this type.

Just as rat rods, my custom pin-up artworks are mostly imitations of old pin-up drawings by well-known pin-up artists. I do believe that even the most perfect imitations and even copies of classic art always lack the spirit of aging and the original authors’ charisma. Just as new wine is never as good as the aged beverage of the same brand, imitations of any classic artworks may look cool but are never as appreciated as the original art of old and popular masters.

Rat rod cars are often assembled from old car parts and frames. They are usually customized in accordance with owner’s desires. The purpose of building a rat rod is creating a low budget alternative of retro hot rods which has the main function of a hot rod car (the ability to race) while retaining a touch of the exciting vintage cars appearance. The same can be said about my custom pin-ups. I take the parts from classic drawings of pin-up girls (postures, clothes, accessories) for my personalized pin-up artworks then I customize images by imitating old pin-ups drawing with my clients’ portraits instead of the original girls’ faces and by adding and/or changing any other desired elements like clothing, hairstyles, props, objects etc. My customized pin-ups serve the same purpose as classic pin-up drawings published in vintage magazines, which is to represent a woman in an appealing and seductive way creating an artwork worth being “pinned up” on a wall to delight the eye of any viewer. My pin-up drawings, although being customized, still have that peculiar look and feel of good old classic pin-ups.

This particular drawing is especially interesting because along with the pin-up girl it features a full-size car. I used color pencils and brush pens from Pentel to make the drawing. For those who love watching an artist at work I recommend watching the drawing progress video below. The video can also be interesting for those who love rock'n'roll and rockabilly music as I have added some cool old tunes which are very likely to warm your heart and make you wanna dance.

Custom Pin-Up Featuring a Rat Rod (image + video)

Pin-up with a rat rod

Watch this video on Youtube

Click here to see all my custom pin-ups

Related posts:
1956 Chevrolet Pin-Up
Custom Pin-Up with a Car

Cowgirl Pin-Up

Pin-up with 3 cars

John F. Kennedy Portrait

2011-06-03T11:43:00.000-07:00

The portrait of John F. Kennedy was another artwork created by me for Buffalo & Company’s Famous Men T-shirt series. John Kennedy is probably one of the most famous US presidents. However, outside the United States this president is mostly known because of being assassinated and all that mystery around his murder. Nevertheless people whose knowledge about John Fitzgerald Kennedy extends beyond his mysterious assassination consider the President Kennedy one of the greatest presidents of the United States even in spite of being the youngest one. JFK actually became a political idol for quite a lot of people even outside of the USA.

Portrait of John Fitzgerald Kennedy

John Fitzgerald Kennedy

John F. Kennedy t-shirt by Buffalo & Company

John F. Kennedy was one of the first presidents to face challenges of the Cold War with the Soviet Union. In this respect JFK’s activity is of special interest to me as I was born in the USSR. It’s great to be able to learn more about this president and listen to his speeches which had been unavailable for average Soviet people. Youtube and Wikipedia provide the access to such information today and I really enjoy the opportunity of getting to know John F. Kennedy’s heritage further. I love how passionate, patriotic and encouraging Kennedy’s speeches were. It seems that he truly believed in what he said and there was a kind of energy in his words that made people believe his promises too. His speeches inspire me greatly, most probably because of lack of politicians of such caliber in my country. That’s why when creating the drawing progress video I included a few famous quotes by President John F. Kennedy to the background music (soundtrack from the movie “JFK”). You can watch the video below.

What I also understood while learning about John F. Kennedy was that rivalry with the USSR had actually had a very positive influence on the USA with respect to technological development, human rights protection and the freedom of speech in the United States. The rivalry between two super powers was like a competition between two businesses compelling to create better products and services to be ahead of the competitor. This competition resulted in the need to protect and cherish the national values Americans are so proud of today such as equal rights of any individual, patriotism and urge towards being the best in any sphere of life. Ideological opposition to the USSR as well as ardent desire of Americans to compete in technological sectors allowed the United States to create a society offering a better life standards and fair rewards for work and skills not only for Americans themselves but also for other people from all over the world willing to assist in further improvement of people’s lives and maintaining values of a democratic society.

Watch this video on Youtube

Colored Pencil Portrait of a Sweet Couple

2011-05-28T03:36:00.000-07:00

I have recently created a colored pencil portrait which can serve as another demonstration of how I use color pencils to make custom artworks.

The portrait was commissioned by a man named Dominic living in the USA and whose girlfriend was in Ukraine (the country where I live too). Thousands of miles dividing this sweet couple prevented Dominic from spending as much time and giving as much attention to his Ukrainian girlfriend as he wished to. Therefore the guy decided to commission me to draw a big portrait of him and his lovely girlfriend in order to remind again about his tender feelings for her and how he was missing the joy of the moments when they were together while his visit to Ukraine. The original portrait was eventually mailed by me to the girl’s address in Ukraine. I’ve made the drawing progress video which background music, I believe, pretty much reflects the feelings of these young people longing for the time when they reunite to experience their sweet romance close to each other’s loving hearts.

Watch this video on Youtube

Family Portrait with a Dragon (Inspired by Fantasy Art)

2011-05-06T11:18:00.000-07:00

I cannot call myself a big fan of fantasy art because I still have more traditional tastes and prefer more realistic art. However trying to be a versatile artist I take on different types of commissions ranging from children’s illustrations to imitation of engravings and portraits of famous people with rather academic look and feel. Fantasy art projects are rare in my schedule and they feel especially surrealistic in comparison with my other drawings but I do not reject opportunities to create such artworks providing that they evoke my interest. Thus, I have recently completed another fantasy art inspired commission which I consider to be by far the most unusual artwork created by me as the this family portrait features a dragon and a medieval castle along with quite extraordinary images of people.

The portrait was commissioned by an Italian guy named Dario who had already commissioned me to draw a portrait of his wife as an elf princess. It seems that Dario has a passion for fantasy art and all kinds of medieval fairy-tale themes. This time he wanted me to make an unusual portrait of his entire family – his wife, baby son and himself. Dario suggested not only quite a peculiar subject of the portrait but also an interesting mixture of media. On the portrait his wife was supposed to be drawn as a fairy with wings with a graphite pencil to make the portrait look soft while he wanted his face to be drawn in ink to give it hard manly lines. The little boy was to be drawn with color pencils to make his portrait brighter and, after all, color pencils are what little boys love to draw with too. What else makes this portrait my most unusual artwork is the drawing of a flying dragon giving a ride to the child and a Romanesque castle in the background.

Dario’s passion for art can be explained by the fact that he used to write about art for a newspaper as a critic. And this is amazing how the guy can see artworks with his trained eye. He wrote some comments on my initial sketch and I understood that he could interpret art even better that an artist. He managed to discover symbolism everywhere in the drawing and not only in objects like the flower in fairy’s hands but also in the composition and geometry of the artwork. Luckily, he was kind enough not to try finding drawbacks in my sketch.

I personally consider such kind of custom art to be an interesting gift for any person and especially for those who have everything and are hard to surprise. Well, who does not dream to be a king in a fairy-tale land owing a huge castle and having a beautiful fairy wife, a strong and brave baby with a pet dragon? A custom portrait is the easiest and most affordable way to touch a seemingly untouchable dream because drawing and painting is the most flexible art when it comes to visual realization of any dream and most incredible fantasies.

Family portrait featuring a flying dragon (image + video)

A happy fairy-tale family with a pet dragon

Watch this video on Youtube

Related posts:
Drawing a family portrait

Custom Pin-Up for an Australian Woman

2011-03-18T14:34:00.000-07:00

I have been recently commissioned to create a custom pin-up portrait for an Australian woman named Tara. She wanted me to draw her as a pin-up girl sitting on a vintage style couch or a chair wearing a sexy black corset and stockings. This pin-up poster was supposed to be a personalized, original gift for her husband.

When I first saw the photos Tara sent me to draw her pin-up from, I immediately told myself that she might be a fan of pin-up art because all – her face, make up , hairstyle and clothing – suggested that this women knew how to use her femininity to blow men’s minds in “pin-up style”. I can imagine how much her husband must appreciate her employing the image of an attractive pin-up girl (I am sure there are a lot of other things he loves her for). The thing is that the key factor of pin-up popularity among men is the fact that pin-up art was created by men for men. You can clearly see it when looking back to the pin-up art history. Most popular pin-up artists were men (just remember popular pin-up posers by Alberto Vargas, George Petty and Gil Elvgren). Undoubtedly, these artists, being men, understood right what normal men are attracted to in a woman. Their talent was not only in drawing pin-up posters technically correct and making realistic seductive pictures, but also in ability to depict an attractive and a bit naughty female without crossing the line into vulgarity and sometimes even bringing in a touch of a cute innocence which entirely conquers men’s hearts. Pin-up influenced a whole generation of men. Its popularity has never faded and will always remain at a decent level, at least as long as men love women (and we all know that their love for women will never end).

Pin-up art is also popular with women as the majority of my clients who commission me for custom pin-ups are women. Well, it’s explained by the fact that classic pin-up art is actually a manual of seduction with iconic images rooted in men’s brains and evoking males’ most private fantasies. And wise women are always aware of the importance of keeping their men attracted to them and maintaining the fire in their men’s hearts.

Now let’s return to the custom pin-up portrait created for Tara. Here is the pin-up I have created along with a work progress video:

Custom pin-up portrait for a woman from Australia

Pin-up for an Australian woman (this image was eventually changed a little)

Watch this video on Youtube

Tara commissioned me not only for a personalized pin-up but she also wanted me to draw more detailed portrait for her which I also would like to show here.

Tara also commissioned me to draw a portrait for her

Watch this video on Youtube

I really hope that my personalized drawings will make a great gift for Tara’s husband and he will love the pin-up image and the portrait of her wife.

Click here to see all my custom pin-ups

Related posts:
Pin-Up Art with a Car
Custom pin-up picture for Cindy

Portrait of George W. Bush

2011-03-12T13:02:00.000-08:00

I continue working for Buffalo and Company and I have been recently commissioned to draw another portrait for the heritage t-shirts series – the portrait of George W. Bush. This is the first portrait for the famous men series depicting a still living president. George Bush has recently left office and his successes and mistakes are still fresh in the American people’s memory. May be that’s why he is a rather controversial personality with a lot of people criticizing him for the Iraq War and other unpopular actions as well as a great number of Americans supporting him for his resoluteness and willingness to protect his country by all means. I am not a U.S. resident and that is why I consider myself far from being competent enough to discuss failures and successes of the President of the United States of America. My job is drawing portraits, but not talking about politics. I can only suggest you reading of what Wikipedia tells about George Walker Bush if you want to learn more about the 43rd President of the United States. In any case, t-shits with the portrait of George Bush are apparently created for those who respect and support Bush. I hope those people will appreciate my George Bush portrait and will proudly wear t-shits with the portrait which are to be released by Buffalo and Company very soon.

George Bush Portrait

George Walker Bush

Cute Stuffed Animals

2011-03-05T11:47:00.000-08:00

I have recently been commissioned to create a few sketches based on a number of pictures of real-life animals to guide the design of cute stuffed animals toys. I was asked to illustrate baby animals from multiple photographs provided by the client. Those animals were a tiger cub, a bunny, a mouse and a marmot. The drawings were to involve my impression of the features most represented in the provided images to create a look that is cute and adorable, favoring on realism but not reproducing each detail of real-life animals. The client wanted the sketches to be suggestive of how a real, cute young animal would look, rather than a cartoon representation. The most important parts of the animals to be drawn were the upper torso, extremities and the head.

Good toys, especially those cute stuffed animals, have always evoked positive and tender emotions in me. I still remember plush toys I used to play in my early childhood. Today, being a father of three kids, I often visit toy shops to buy some cuddly toys for my children to play with. Today the choice of toys of any possible kind is much wider than when I was a kid. However, it’s always only a few soft toys that attract my attention more that dozens of others. And there is more than just a great design and cuteness that make me purchase this or that toy; there is something else – something special and individual which is hard to explain. I think those who create plush stuffed toys must have some kind of intuition to be able to make toys which would appeal both to children and to adults who often buy toys for their kids as a surprise gift, i.e. a child does not choose a toy himself/herself at a shop.

There are at least two reasons why I love this cute stuffed animal sketches project. Firstly, I am extremely happy that I had a chance to contribute with my drawing skills and artistic vision to the creation of cute stuffed toys which are very much likely to become favorite toys for hundreds or thousands of boys and girls to cultivate kindness and love for animals and all living beings in their little hearts. It is always a pleasure to create something good for kids as they are the most grateful people whose smiles are extremely inspiring and encouraging for further creations. Secondly, the project was very interesting while being relatively easy as it required only sketches of cute animals and conveying my artistic vision of young animals adapted for the stuffed toys look without having to elaborate complicated soft toys patterns and without showing toys design features.

Cute Stuffed Tiger Cub Toy

Sketch of a cute baby tiger to guide the design of a plush toy

Cute Stuffed Bunny Toy

This sketch of a cute rabbit will help people create plush toys for kids

Cute Stuffed Mouse Toy

Sketch of a mouse to be used to make a cute stuffed animal toy

Cute Stuffed Marmot Toy

Sketch of a marmot also known as groundhog and woodchuck

I hope the guys who commissioned me know how to make stuffed toys which would appeal children and adults at the same time. Anyway, I am very happy to have participated in this cute stuffed animals project purposed to make kids happier.

Related posts:
Cute panda tattoo
Lion drawing

Artist Tips and Advice: How to Draw from Life

2011-02-21T12:22:00.000-08:00

I have received a few e-mails from amateur artists asking me for tips and advice on how to improve their drawing skills. Being a self-taught artist without academic art education I might be not that good in giving tips and explanations as I would like to be. However, I managed to acquire rich experience throughout years of practicing in creating custom illustrations and portraits of various complexities. I have read quite a few books written by extremely talented artists; I tried to imitate styles of world famous masters of the art of drawing and I faced all those difficulties each aspiring artist faces daily. My experience allowed me to develop my own drawing tactics, methods to overcome difficulties and meet challenges as well as to adapt some classic drawing principles brought to us by most respected artists in the world. It would not be right to keep the information I can offer to young artists seeking for help unrevealed. Therefore I’ve made a decision to share my experience here on my blog to help those who just begin learning to draw. I’ll try to give you the most practical information and explain, as best as I can, what to you can do in order to draw better.

Drawing from Life Tips

In order to create continuous-tone drawings from life I follow three main principles in my work as an artist:

The Relativity Principle:

Do not try to convey real tone intensity, but rather the ratio between different tones intensity, i.e. follow the tones scale;
Draw separate parts of a model evaluating their size and shape in relation with other parts, i.e. draw in proportion;
Follow basic perspective principles.

The Sequence Principle:

Draw "from general to particular", i.e. begin with general outlines and then proceed to smaller elements of the drawing;
Begin shading in the most dark places of your drawing, gradually make shadings more intensive while adding tone to less shaded areas;

The Selectivity Principle:

When drawing a model, focus on the most compositionally important details while omitting and/or smoothing out some minor details;
Do not try to convey the whole tone palette on paper. It's better to select a few shape-generating tones and interpret shapes of the model by means of this chosen set of values (shades which, in relation with each other, create shade and highlight effect in an artwork).

Bison Drawing

2011-02-17T14:20:00.000-08:00

This is another good example of how my artworks shown in previous posts can lead new clients to me. This time I am talking about a bison drawing in the post dedicated to the series of North American wildlife illustrations created by me for Buffalo and Company. The bison illustration had been found by people who also needed original buffalo art to create a cool-looking bison engraving for custom wood urns. Thus they commissioned me to create a new bison drawing for this engraving purpose.

The bison image will be engraved on wooden urns in quite a peculiar and sophisticated way. The engraving company uses a low power industrial laser to “burn” images and wording into soft materials (such as wood & plastic). For the best results with the laser a black and white picture is needed with almost no gray in it. The laser does not interpret gray very well. That is why my style of cross-hatching is ideal for engraving the American buffalo image on urns. The process also requires high resolution pictures with clean edges which can be enlarged without getting pixilated. That’s why I’ve made a rather big drawing to ensure high quality engraving.

After I had created the first bison drawing, a few people asked me which pen I used to draw the animal. Well, I had tried a lot of pens to make pen and ink drawings, but eventually I set my choice on an Axent Autographe 0.5 gel pen. This pen has a convenient design and the diameter of the tip which perfectly suits my drawing requirements. It allows easily control line boldness. This Axent pen along with a few fountain pens is my favorite drawing instrument when it comes to cross-hatching technique.

Drawing a Bison

This is my second bison drawing

Watch this video on Youtube

Personalized Pin-Up Art with a Car

2011-02-15T09:27:00.000-08:00

I am happy to announce that my personalized pin-up art keeps on growing in popularity. Within two last weeks I had several e-mails from people asking for information about my custom pin-up drawings. For the time being I observe that mostly women are interested in having personalized pin-up portraits made for them from their photographs as they are planning ahead to give original, unique and intimate gifts to their boyfriends and husbands on the occasion of future celebration of such special events as birthdays and wedding anniversaries. Well, no doubt, a hand-made traditionally-looking pin-up style portrait of the wife or the girlfriend is definitely an "out of the box" gift idea.

Not only did people ask for information about my personalized pin-up art, I had also got a couple of custom pin-up commissions. In this post I want to show you the result of one of these commissions.

The custom pin-up drawing shown below was created for a lady named Brittany. The woman was looking for a pinup related gift idea for her boyfriend when she stumbled upon my blog to see my custom pin-up pictures which she considered to be the perfect Valentines Day gift. I've got two pictures of her face and two full length pictures because, as Brittany explained, she was curvier than most pinups but she would like that to be seen in the drawing. She wanted her custom pin-up picture to be something with a car, because her boyfriend loved old cars. As a reference she had chosen a classic pin-up of a girl changing the tire of her automobile (you can see this picture here). Since she wanted her legs to be less covered with clothing in the final drawing than on the example she had showed me, I decided to draw her as a pin-up girl wearing a kind of a bathing suit. Below you can see the final pin-up artwork made for Brittany and the work progress video. As you can see I hone my custom pin-up drawing skills and techniques with every new commission. This time I used brush pens from Pentel along with regular lead and color pencils. But the most important is that Brittany absolutely loved her custom pin-up picture.

Custom pin-up art for Brittany

Custom pin-up art created by me from client's photos

Watch this video on Youtube

If you are after a personalized pin-up art created for you or your special ones I would be happy to help you in bringing your ideas to life. Just let me know.

Click here to see all my custom pin-ups

Related posts:
Custom pin-up with three cars
Pin-up with a 1956 Chevrolet car
Rat rod pin-up
Custom Pin-Up for an Australian Woman
Custom pin-up picture for Cindy
Custom pin-up drawing for Susie

Panda Tattoo

2011-02-11T13:15:00.000-08:00

I am really enjoying the fact that my previous commissions, which results I showed in my blog, continue bringing new customers my way. Thus a week ago I was contacted by a lady from Romania whose good friend had found my panda drawings in the Interenet and referred her to me. The woman was about to have a panda bear tattoo done for her and she wanted me to create a cute panda tattoo design. She said pandas were one of her favorite animals and that’s why she had chosen a tattoo depicting this beautiful Chinese bear as her birthday present. She also said that the panda bears looked kind of sad all the time, because of the black spots from the eyes area, but she wanted her panda tattoo to be cute and happy, with an interesting smile. One of her requirements for the drawing stated that the bear’s body position should be unusual and interesting; it could be a playing animal offering a flower. So the picture was supposed to be extremely cute and touching.

I am not a big fan of tattoos as I thing that there is nothing more beautiful than a clean skin. But I could not help drawing such a cute and kind tattoo design. Why not? If this picture makes someone happier, I don’t mind drawing it even if it is a tattoo. I had created a few sketches for the Romanian lady to choose from and I drew the panda she liked most. Traditionally I used Pentel brush pens to make the drawing. Below you can see the final picture.

Drawing a panda tattoo design

Panda tattoo

This is how the panda tattoo looks on skin

Watch this video on Youtube

Cylia

2011-02-08T10:07:00.000-08:00

Cylia, aka Prescillia, is a contemporary French female singer who performs Pop, Soul and R'n'b music. Her songs are influenced by Alicia Keys, Whitney Houston, Christina Aguilera, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin. I have recently drawn a portrait for her and I would like to show you the result here. You can also watch the video below demonstrating how I create the realistic pencil portrait. The portrait is also interesting because it depicts a person with a dark skin. I used music by Cylia in the video background. By the way, you can learn more about the singer on Cylia’s Myspace page.

A pencil portrait for Cylia:

Cylia (a French singer)

Watch this video on Youtube

The Best Tool to Outline Drawings

2011-02-06T08:19:00.000-08:00

Outlining my pencil sketches has been a real pain in the rear lately as I had to use different ballpoint and gel pens in order to trace drawings (I am talking about manual, non-Photoshop outline process, also known as inking). I noticed that line drawings traced with regular, uniform lines have much less expressive and aesthetic-looking outlines than those outlined by means of calligraphic techniques. Using ballpoint pens did not allow me to quickly and effectively create that peculiar calligraphic pressure effect for my outlines. I had to apply a number of strokes or use a few different pens where I wanted lines to vary thickness. However those lines would came out not as clean as I wished them to be and the work would take more time and efforts. Obviously, regular ball pens are not the best tools to create expressive outlines.

The calligraphic pens seemed to be a good way out since they are specially designed to smoothly create thin, bold and angled lines. However calligraphic pens proved to be often unable to provide a necessary line thickness which may be required for certain drawings and I had to employ multiple strokes to make lines bolder which could affect the look of a drawing. Another problem with a calligraphic pen is the difficulty to control pen positions necessary to create lines of various boldness. Mastering a calligraphic pen comprehends a lot of practice. Therefore I began looking for a drawing tool which would allow playing with pressure on paper in order to easily create ultra fine and extra broad lines as well as to vary boldness of the same stroke with a single move. Well, there is only one drawing tool with which such performance can be achieved – a brush. However, when working with a traditional fine brush, one has to constantly dip the brush tip into paint which is not quite convenient for applying long, smooth strokes.

I decided to try how ink brushes used in Chinese calligraphy and painting would work for me in tracing my pencil sketches and creating drawings and illustrations with expressive outlines. Eventually I set my choice on a Pentel Pocket Brush Pen. This brush pen has an efficient design and high quality materials; it is very convenient to work with and, what is also important, Japan's Pentel Corporation has a comparatively large number of dealers all over the world selling brush pens and other art supplies from Pentel. For European artists who are looking for purchasing Pentel Pocket Brush Pens http://www.pentelarts.eu/ is the on-line store to check out for this product (actually this is where I’ve got my brush pens). Pentel brush pens are equipped with cartridges filled with permanent pigment ink which allows the brush pen to combine the best qualities of a traditional brush and a fountain pen (another my favorite must-have drawing tool).

Pentel Pocket Brush Pen

I used to experience a lot of difficulties in regard to outlining initial pencil sketches when creating fashion drawings where I draw a lot of small details for clothing and figurines’ bodies. When tracing my fashion sketches I create quite a number of lines of varying boldness and length. In order to create smooth and aesthetic outlines for my fashion illustrations all I need is a Pentel Pocket Brush Pen. I have been recently commissioned to create a series of line drawings for vintage fashion inspired luggage tags. Each drawing made for this series was traced by a brush pen from Pentel to obtain an expressive outlines and to make the picture look more attractive. Below you can see the results of this work and watch the video showing how I use my Pentel Pocket Brush Pen to outline drawings.

Fashion Drawings Outlined with a Pentel Pocket Brush Pen

These vintage fashion inspired drawings were outlined with a Pentel brush pen

Pentel Pocket Brush Pen allows creating expressive outlines

Watch this video on Youtube

Reviving a Pencil Sketch with Photoshop Coloring

2011-02-04T10:50:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I spent an hour of my time giving a new life to my pencil sketch of a trout once created for a series of hunting and fishing drawings for The Daily Hush company. The sketch was revived by means of coloring with Adobe Photoshop software. Well, coloring with graphic editing software is not 100% manual work which I respect most of all, but sometimes when you need to color a sketch quickly and effectively applying some vivid colors, there is nothing better than Photoshop. Look at the result below. Isn’t it impressive how Adobe Photoshop can make the artist’s life easier and help in creating some stunning images which, if colored manually, would require quite a few hours of work rather than an hour or two of applying digital strokes which you can redo, erase or modify?

Sketch of a Trout Colored with Photoshop

Pencil drawing of a trout

The same drawing colored with Adobe Photoshop

Lewis and Clark Portraits

2011-01-15T13:46:00.000-08:00

It’s always great to visit places you have never seen before. Thirst for discoveries seems to be present in every man’s heart. There is not a great deal of undiscovered spots on earth today. Not a lot of people are lucky to experience adventurous exploration voyages at present. I can imagine how people would be excited to discover lands that are totally unknown to any civilized nation. There is hardly a tiny little island which has not been discovered and described by earlier explorers. But some 200 years ago there were two lucky men who led the first expedition to undiscovered lands of the whole continent stretching before their eyes. These men were Meriwether Lewis and William Clark.

I had never heard about Lewis and Clark before I was commissioned to draw portraits of these explorers. I was amazed to discover fact about Lewis and Clark expedition. They were so lucky to be able to undertake this long voyage up the Missouri River and to be the first to get acquainted with Native American tribes and to discover new animal species and plants.

For those who know nothing about Lewis and Clark (mostly for non-Americans) here is a very short outline and a few facts about the expedition led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. In 1803 president Thomas Jefferson managed to purchase Louisiana from France. This was a territory of 828,000 square miles (2,144,510 square km) of undiscovered land. On Jefferson’s request Congress approved $2,500 budget for the organization of an exploratory expedition to the west along the Missouri River. Thomas Jefferson chose Captain Meriwether Lewis to lead the expedition, and Lewis, in his turn, asked another Army officer, William Clark to be his helper and partner during the trip. The mission of the expedition was to discover new territories of purchased Louisiana, to establish diplomatic relations with Native American tribes living in the area and to find the possibility to reach the Pacific Ocean by water. Lewis and Clark's expedition began on May 21, 1804 and it took two years for explorers to get to the Ocean and to return to the place where the voyage had started (St. Louis, Missouri) on September 23, 1806. During the risky expedition the team of 33 men lost only one member who died of appendicitis. Lewis and Clark discovered a great deal of natural resources, documented more than 100 animals and 170 plants. Furthermore they managed to create a lot of extremely useful maps which later were indispensable while settling the Old West and further expanding the territory of the USA. The expedition established peaceful relations with most of American Indians living along the Missouri River and gathered knowledge about them.

Lewis and Clark were brave and extremely smart men and diplomats. It’s no wonder that Buffalo and Company wanted me to create their portraits for the famous men t-shirts series in order to immortalize the memory of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark for people who honor real men’s courage, style of life and other classic masculine values.

Here are my portraits of Lewis and Clark. You are also welcome to watch the drawing progress video below. In the video I used classic Native American music along with classic European compositions which, very probably, Meriwether Lewis, William Clark and President Jefferson himself loved to listen to.

Portraits of Lewis and Clark

Meriwether Lewis

William Clark

Lewis and Clark

Watch this video on Youtube

Ernest Shackleton Portrait

2011-01-13T01:42:00.000-08:00

Have you ever experienced severe frosts? If you have, you must know that playing with cold is as dangerous as playing with fire. You probably remember how unpleasantly frost bites your nose and painfully pierces your skin with its invisible claws. These sharp hurting pricks do not feel good at all to most of us and they are not something people want to experience over and over. Now imagine how cold it can be in the Antarctic and the Arctic regions where temperature can be as low as record −89.2 °C (−128.6 °F) in Antarctica (the mean annual temperature of the interior being −57°C (−70°F)) and as the Arctic lowest temperature of −68 °C (−90 °F) (average winter temperatures being −40 °C (−40 °F)). It is not a brainer that only a few most brave men can rush into merciless low temperatures attempting to discover and explore the world of eternal snows. Ernest Shackleton was one of those courageous men who challenged severe Antarctic and Arctic frosts.

In fact, Ernest Shackleton was one of the first who undertook a very risky expedition to conquer the South Pole. Although he had not reached the Pole, Shackleton was the first man to attain the latitude of 88°23′S, which was the record at that time, and to make some essential explorations of Antarctic territories. Ernest Shackleton returned several times to Antarctica and explored arctic territories during his life in spite of all the difficulties he experienced in the course of his expeditions. What is the most amazing for me is that a trip to the Antarctic with the equipment of early 1900s was almost as challenging as a voyage to the moon today. Ernest Shackleton was aware of all risks he would face in the realm of deathly frost but it never stopped him from daring to conger the most severe place on our planet. Even his heart disease could not prevent Shackleton from striving to reach unfriendly territories of the Earth’s poles.

The portrait of Ernest Shackleton, a man of outstanding endurance and courage, was drawn by me for the famous men t-shirts series produced by Buffalo and Company.

Portrait of Ernest Shackleton

Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton

Watch this video on Youtube

George Washington Portrait

2011-01-11T14:03:00.000-08:00

George Washington was the first president of the United States and even this fact alone tells a lot about his personality. He had to have outstanding qualities of a leader to be elected as a president in times when almost every man who could be a presidential aspirant had been hardened in wars, long travels, dangerous expeditions and difficult living conditions of new unexplored territories. George Washington was a farmer, a soldier, an explorer and a politician, which means that he was a hard-working, brave and smart person. Washington was a born leader and during his time of presidency he had enough power and respect to make the United States another kingdom with himself as a king, which seems to be natural as Washington was from Europe where most of the countries were ruled by a monarch. However, Washington had chosen another way of governing the country thereby developing the forms and rituals of government that are common in today’s USA and which form the foundation of essential democratic values.

George Washington is another great example of a person who combines courage, leadership qualities and intellectual vigor. No doubt that he must be included into the constellation of great men who were chosen by Buffalo and Company for the heritage t-shirts series.

Portrait of George Washington

George Washington

Watch this video on Youtube

Moose Bull Drawing

2011-01-10T14:18:00.000-08:00

Another great animal drawn by me for the American wildlife t-shirts series is a moose. The moose is the largest extant species in the deer family which makes a special animal. The moose bull is an especially cool looking beast due to its great imposing antlers. I do believe that moose t-shirts produced by Buffalo and Company will be popular among those who honor wildlife of North America.

Bull moose drawing

A moose bull

Watch this video on Youtube

Drawing a Grizzly Bear for the American Wildlife T-Shirts Series

2011-01-09T14:19:00.000-08:00

A grizzly bear is another wild animal I have drawn for the American wildlife t-shirts series produced by Buffalo and Company. The grizzly (aka North American brown bear) is a beautiful and powerful animal highly respected by Native Americans for many centuries, and I hope grizzlies are effectively protected by environmentalists of the United States and Canada today as well. I also hope that Americans wearing grizzly t-shirts will always be reminded of how proud they should be of having such great animals on their land.

Grizzly bear drawing

Grizzly bear

Watch this video on Youtube

Drawing Pheasants for the American Wildlife T-Shirts Series

2011-01-08T08:22:00.000-08:00

Along with the famous men t-shirt series for Buffalo and Company I continue working on the American wildlife t-shirts series for them. Today I would like to introduce you one of the most beautiful birds found in North America – a ringneck pheasant.

Pheasants

Ringneck pheasants drawing

Watch this video on Youtube

Portrait of Thomas Jefferson

2011-01-07T02:22:00.000-08:00

Thomas Jefferson was the third and one of the greatest presidents of the United States. During his presidency the USA purchased Louisiana and started exploration of unknown territories (Wild West), with Lewis and Clark Expedition being the first major expedition to the American Old West. Jefferson also laid down the foundation of today’s democracy and freedom the United States are so proud of. Thomas Jefferson was an extraordinary man whose wisdom, cleverness and talents won him the respect of people of the USA and other nations. Therefore Buffalo and Company could not help having a portrait of Thomas Jefferson for its heritage t-shirts series which had been commissioned from me.

As always I show work progress video along with the portrait itself. When watching this video you can enjoy wonderful music of Arcangelo Corelli – one of Jefferson’s most favorite composers. One of interesting facts about Thomas Jefferson is that he was a passionate music lover and an amateur violinist. I really enjoy when I manage to convey the atmosphere of the époque through music in my videos.

Portrait of Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson

Watch this video on Youtube

Portrait of Winston Churchill

2011-01-05T08:37:00.000-08:00

Sir Winston Churchill is another person who “qualifies” to be among those whose portraits Buffalo and Company has chosen for its "famous men t-shirts series".

Churchill is respected by both American and British people because he led the United Kingdom through the bitter years of the most bloody and awful war which ever occurred. Being the Prime Minister of one of the most powerful European countries - a country that had an advantageous geographical position in regard to military strategy - Churchill was one of the few statesmen who could make a contribution to the victory against a powerful enemy. He was the one whose actions and decisions could change the destiny of the whole of Europe and even the United States. I can only imagine how difficult it is to rule a country during times of war when millions of lives depend on you while any of your decisions can make you a complete loser or a hero in the eyes of future generations. Although there are quite a few people who criticize Winston Churchill for various reasons, what I personally think, being a person born in the former USSR, is that Sir Winston Churchill is worth being respected for his ability to keep his country powerful enough during the war to be able to keep a great part of Europe away from non-democratic regimes after the war. This fact alone makes him a great, brave and wise man who is worth being honored in my opinion.

Portrait of Winston Churchill

Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill

Watch this video on Youtube

Portrait of Ronald Reagan

2011-01-04T09:46:00.000-08:00

I have been recently commissioned to continue creating drawings for the series of famous men t-shirts by Buffalo and Company. This time it’s a portrait of Ronal Reagan – the 40th president of the United States.

If you follow my blog for comparatively long time you might know that Buffalo and Company sells clothing for real man who love traveling and hunting. Buffalo and Company pays tribute to good old masculinity and classic men’s values opposing its fashion to today’s popular tendencies of shifting from a rugged style of brave men hunters and warriors who love adventures to unmanly metrosexual styles of men's apparel.

It’s kinda funny that, being born in USSR, today I draw a portrait of Ronald Reagan – a person who was a big part in working hard to dissolve Soviet Union. Moreover, I draw the picture of Reagan for Americans who honor his deeds in fighting against communism. However, I am not mad at him, because I love living in independent Ukraine now. The concept of communism is too good to be true. USSR stood on the foundation which could not keep nations together for a long time. I am glad we are not hidden under the “Iron Curtain” from the rest of the world today. We still have some residue USSR problems but I hope that future generations of Ukrainians will manage to overcome them.

Portrait of Ronald Reagan

Ronald Reagan

Watch this video on Youtube

John F. Kennedy Portrait

Custom Pin-Up for Cindy

2010-12-24T09:15:00.000-08:00

Some time ago I created a custom pin-up for a woman named Cindy. She wanted a pin-up drawing which would look like a classic pin-up art drawn by Alberto Vargas, but with her face and long blond hair. Cindy wants me to make a series of different pin-ups for her to use as unique and personalized graphic elements for her website created for those who love green living and home made products. This is a woman oriented website where Cindy discusses crafts, gardening, allotments, beauty products, fashion, recycling ideas and many other topics. You can visit her website at http://www.cindyfullerhome.com to see that various pin-up graphics are used throughout the site.

The first custom pin-up created for Cindy was inspired by one of Alberto Vargas' drawings which you can see here:

I did not copy the drawing though. I mean the face is not the only part which makes my pin-up drawing different from Vagras’ artwork. Alberto Vargas, by the way, being the master of pin-up, is very difficult to copy properly, if not impossible. Anyway, I feel better when I do not have to copy other artists’ works having more freedom to bring in at least something which belongs to me. The best thing is that client did not mind these deviations as she loved the result.

Custom Pin-Up Inspired by Alberto Vargas

Personalized pin-up for Cindy

Watch this video on Youtube

Click here to see all my custom pin-ups

Related posts:
Custom Pin-Up for an Australian Woman
Custom Pin-Up for Susie
Personalized pin-up art with a car
Custom Pin-Up Poster (1950s Style)
Personalized Pin-Up Commission
Custom Pin-Up Gift for Christina

Edward John Smith (Titanic Captain)

2010-12-18T13:18:00.000-08:00

I know that name Edward John Smith does not ring a bell for a lot of people. But if you go to Wikipedia and read this man’s bio you understand that a lot of people know him even without remembering his name. Yes, Edward John Smith was the captain of Titanic and died together with this famous ship when RMS Titanic sank in 1912.

Yes Edward John Smith was captain of RMS Titanic and the ship sank. But should we blame or hate Captain Smith for this disaster? Well, everyone has own answer to this question. But it is important to know how uneasy it was to command a ship like Titanic at that time to fully comprehend the situation and possible reasons of the disaster. RMS Titanic was one of the first Olympic-class passenger liners (extremely large ships) and the largest passenger steamship in the world. Therefore she was a unique ship and Edward J. Smith was one of the first captains to command such vessels. Although the ship was designed by the best engineers and equipped with the most advanced technologies available at the time, it was extremely difficult to navigate a huge ship during a long transatlantic voyage without today’s usual satellite navigation systems, advanced weather forecasting and high quality wireless communication systems. Such ship could be entrusted only to the most experienced and skillful captain. Now, imagine how it was to command a ship of a new class, which size could be compared to a small town, with equipment of early 1900s while managing the crew of 860 people and being often involved in small talks and dinners by first class passages of high standing to whom you cannot refuse. I do not believe that any normal person can foresee everything that could happen with the ship in the ocean. In fact, anything could have happened, and even now people who investigate the disaster argue about the real reason of Titanic sinking and failure to avoid the collision with an iceberg (or pack ice according to some alternative theories). I do not believe though that Captain Smith is directly guilty of the disaster as there were too many factors and risks which could be out of his control. Captain Smith was one of the pioneer captains who commanded the world’s biggest passenger liners and the saddest thing about pioneers is that they often get it wrong with new experience as they set their fist steps on an unknown ground without being aware of when and where the ground may fail. They reveal their mistakes for the future generations to learn from. The next Olympic-class liner Britannic built after the loss of Titanic had undergone some important design changes based on the Titanic disaster investigation. It is really sad that innovations making our lives safer cost us thousands of other people’s lives… We are all in God's hands and we must remember that we are all weak people who can control almost nothing in our lives and we can only rely on God’s mercy no matter how big and safe things we try to build.

I’ve recently searched for Edward John Smith in Google to find out that there are only a few photographs of the Titanic cap and all of these pictures are of poor quality. Therefore I could not help drawing a portrait of this brave and experienced captain paying him a tribute which he deserves. I have also made a video showing the drawing progress. I included a wonderful piece of music by Gavin Bryars called “The Sinking of the Titanic” to the video to make it as emotional as possible. I hope you are going to like the video and the portrait.

Portrait of Edward John Smith

Edward John Smith

Watch this video on Youtube

Christmas Gift Portrait for Taya

2010-12-07T10:40:00.000-08:00

I have recently created a Christmas gift portrait for Taya Lear. She is a singer in the United States. This is not for the first time that Taya orders a portrait from me.

The portrait was drawn with a graphite pencil. I want to show you the final result and the progress video. By the way I used music by Taya Lear on the background of the video.

Portrait for Taya

Taya and Kevin

Watch this video on Youtube

Last Christmas I made the portrait of her husband’s dog. So I hope she will get back to me by the next Christmas.

Related posts:
Portrait of Emma
Drawing a family portrait
Cylia

Drawing for the US Catfish Association

2010-12-02T09:50:00.000-08:00

My recent post about hunting and fishing drawings has not passed unnoticed as shortly after I had made this most I was contacted by a guy named Paul who belonged to the Brotherhood of Catfishermen. He wanted me to create a custom drawing of catfish for the United States Catfish Association (USCA). The drawing would be used on t-shirts that would be screen printed. It was supposed to be a life-like catfish scene artwork showcasing three species of North American catfish: a blue catfish, a channel catfish and a flathead catfish.

Catfish drawing was created for the United States Catfish Association (their logo is above)

Below I want to show you the final result and the drawing progress video. By the way, the drawing was made with Pentel brush pen.

Catfish drawing

American catfish: blue catfish, channel catfish and flathead catfish

Catfish t-shirt design for USCA

Watch this video on Youtube

USCA is planning to come out with the new catfish t-shirt on January 1, 2011. I wish them good luck and tight lines!

This is how the first catfish t-shirt with my drawing looks like

Custom Pin-Up Gift for Christina

2010-11-25T09:25:00.000-08:00

As I said in my last blog post I had been commissioned to make three custom pin-up drawings. Today I am writing about the second pin-up poster created for Christina. This pin-up was ordered by Christina's husband as a personalized Christmas gift. According to her husband's words Christina "is a fan of the pinup style and would love a custom gift like this".

The man wanted to preserve some peculiarities of his beloved wife's figure in the final drawing. He also showed me a few classic pin-up drawings and photographs which postures could be used for my poster and he wanted me to draw the pin-up with the specific hairstyle:

This hairstyle was chosen for the custom pin-up poster

This classic pin-up photograph was used as a reference for the posture

So I did my best to create a unique custom gift in accordance with my client's wishes and requirements. Here is the final pin-up poster and the video:

Personalized Pin-Up Poster for Christina

Custom pin-up poster for Christina (click to enlarge)

Watch this video on Youtube

Click here to see all my custom pin-ups

Related posts:
Custom Pin-Up for an Australian Woman
Personalized pin-up art with a car
Personalized Pin-Up Commission
Custom Pin-Up Poster (1950s Style)
Custom Pin-Up for Susie
Custom Pin-Up for Cindy

Custom Pin-Up for Susie

2010-11-21T12:45:00.000-08:00

After I had made a post about my last custom pin-up drawing I was approached by three people who wanted to commission me for personalized pin-up art. I am going to dedicate a separate blog post for each individual pin-up project which I am allowed to show.

Today I want to show you a custom pin-up poster created for Susie as she gave me permission to show the result in my blog. I drew her as a sitting pin-up girl wearing a cool black corset and sexy stockings. The poster was drawn with color pencils. The pin-up will be a Christmas present for Susie’s fiancé and I hope he will appreciate this kind of present. As always I want to add the video alongside with the final artwork for you to watch the pin-up drawing process.

Personalized Pin-Up Drawing for Susie

Custom pin-up poster for Susie (drawn from her photo). Click to enlarge.

Watch this video on Youtube

Click here to see all my custom pin-ups

Related posts:
Custom Pin-Up for an Australian Woman
Personalized Pin-Up Commission
Custom Pin-Up Poster (1950s Style)
Custom Pin-Up Gift for Christina
Custom Pin-Up for Cindy
Personalized pin-up art with a car

Pencil Portrait of a British Girl Emma (Christmas Gift)

2010-11-13T13:05:00.000-08:00

Today I want to show you the portrait of a British girl Emma who is the first person to commission me for a portrait to be given to her boyfriend as a Christmas gift. Although I have already created a custom pin-up which is supposed to be a Christmas gift, this particular portrait was my first graphite pencil Christmas gig this year. I had used one of the young girl’s photographs as a reference to make the portrait and here is the final result.

Pencil portrait for Emma

Emma from Great Britain

I have also made the video to make Emma even happier.

Watch this video on Youtube

It is never too early to think about Christmas gifts and especially about the presents for special people. Many have already begun thinking about what to get for their friends, family members, dear and beloved ones for this Xmas. Everyone wants to be original and to give the most unique and meaningful gifts each year. There are two types of gifts: practical gifts and sentimental ones. I must agree that practical gifts are the most popular and thought after. Who does not want to get an iPod, an iPhone, and iPad or other today's popular gadgets and stuff? Well, I am sure there are quite a few people who do not want such presents, but I believe the majority loves gifts which have the practical application. But can one get an expensive gadget or something like that every year for Christmas? What if I wanted to give a person I love something unique, personalized and reminding about me? What if I wanted to make a hint about my feelings to someone who did not know about them yet? What if I wanted my dear person to always remember me and our relationships? Should I get this person something way too practical and owned by thousands of other people? No way… This is when sentimental gifts come in handy.

Sentimental gifts can be anything from a small heart-shaped card to expensive jewelry. What is good about such gifts is that most of them can be a sweet addition to practical gifts. In my case, I offer personalized portraits drawn with pencils or pen & ink from photos in an unusual drawing technique. Portraits are not that boring as simple photographs because an artist can emphasize the beauty of any person's face in a very artistic and creative way. I draw my portraits from photos and people often ask me to use parts of different photographs in the same portrait (e.g. hair style from one photo and a smile from another etc.) which cannot be done properly with any photo editing software. Furthermore, when ordering custom portrait from an artist, your fantasy is less limited than in the case of photography. It does not matter if you want to be drawn as a retro pin-up girl, an elf princess or as whatever character you may think about, a skillful artist can implement your wishes. Unlike photographers, artists can more easily meet the most incredible client fantasy challenges.

I wish marry Christmas to Emma, who was so nice to open my artistic Christmas gift season, and I hope her friend will appreciate such present. And thank you, Emma, for choosing me as your portrait artist!

Related posts:
Christmas gift portrait for Taya

The Elf Princess (Portrait)

2010-11-08T13:56:00.000-08:00

There was a guy from Italy who recently commissioned me the most unique and original portrait I had ever done during my entire artist career. He wanted to make a gift portrait for his wife and I was supposed to draw his wife as an elf princess with those cute pointed ears, a stylish crown and jewelery and a fairy look of this semi-divine mythological being.

It was a pen & ink portrait which I drew with cross-hatching using a regular photograph of the woman as a reference. I was especially pleased to draw this portrait as the Italian guy’s wife was from Ukraine (my Motherland). Ukrainian women are known all over the world for their beauty and I personally consider them as the most beautiful women in the world. I hope that my portrait will be a good gift for my compatriot and it will make her feel like a real princess of the fairy world of elves.

The elf princess portrait from a regular photo (pic + video)

Watch this video on Youtube

Custom Pin-Up Poster (1950s Style)

2010-11-02T13:42:00.000-07:00

Today I would like to tell you about another custom pin-up poster project which I completed a few days ago. There already was a post about my previous custom pin-up drawing from a photo in this blog. Unlike the previous one, today's pin-up was ordered by a lady as an original Christmas gift for her boy-friend. I've received a few photographs to use as references in order to draw a pin-up girl with the client's face. I chose one photo where I thought the face would perfectly suit the image of pin-up.

The woman who ordered the poster wanted to be a sexy nurse on the final drawing. So I offered a few rough sketches of pin-up nurses for her to choose the preferred posture for the final pin-up image.

Pin-Up Posture Options

When the posture was chosen by the client I could proceed with drawing. I used traditional media to create the artwork in order to be more close to classic 1950s pin-up drawing methods. My pin-up illustration was drawn with color pencils on an A3 size paper sheet. The client got a JPEG image file which size and high-resolution would allow creating large and high quality pin-up posters, calendars as well as printing the pin-up picture on t-shirts or other clothing and items using services from Zazzle or CafePress. The woman loved the final result (which you can see below) and I hope this pin-up poster will be a good Christmas gift for her and her man to spice up their holiday evening and to create the long lasting memory of passion moments.

The Final Pin-Up Artwork

Watch this video on Youtube

A personalized pin-up can be a good gift idea to express love and passion. What else other than a retro pin-up can be more playful, sexy, seductive, teasing and yet not vulgar and inexplicit symbol of female beauty? Those good old pin-up images stimulate men's fantasies even today as they were meant to do this in the most modest and cutest available way of seduction in which a woman revealing the natural beauty of her body is still not completely undisguised and keeps some secrets stimulating her man to become worth being allowed to discover more. Being drawn mostly by men artists (such as famous pin-up artists like Alberto Vargas, Al Moore, George Petty, Gil Elvgren), who knew very well what women should possess to make men crazy with love and desire, vintage pin-ups will always remain a symbol of an attractive woman for the majority of men.

Click here to see all my custom pin-ups

Related posts:
Custom Pin-Up for an Australian Woman
Custom Pin-Up for Cindy
Personalized Pin-Up Commission
Custom pin-up for Susie
Custom Pin-Up Gift for Christina

Hunting and Fishing Drawings

2010-10-27T12:53:00.000-07:00

Shortly after I had finished the wildlife illustrations project for Buffalo and Company (if you follow my blog you might remember those drawings of an American buffalo, an elk, a bass, a trout and mallards I had created for Buffalo and Company. If you do not know what I am talking about, please, check out the related links below this post) I was approached by a guy from the USA, who had hunting and fishing business, about possibility to make some drawings for him. The guy was impressed by my wildlife illustrations and wanted something in the same style to create unique designs for his promotional products like t-shirts etc. He had plenty of interesting ideas and I really loved working for him.

I want to show you a few drawings I created for his hunting and fishing company which he was about to bring online. The company is called “The Daily Hush” (coined from “the daily hunt and fish”). You are welcome to visit their website dedicated to hunting and fishing. I do believe that sooner or later the site with an online shop, where you will be able to purchase various hunting and fishing products and accessories as well as t-shirts and other stuff with my drawings and designs exclusively created for "The Daily Hush", will become very popular among fishing and hunting lovers.

Fishing Hooks Logo

Fishing lure flies logo

Fish Circle Design

Trout forming a circle (black and white version)

Trout forming a circle (color version)

Cervine Skulls and Bones Design

Skulls with antlers and bones of a moose, an elk, a mule deer and a white tail deer

Wildlife Sketches

Elk sketch

Trout sketch

Wild goose

Motocross Vector Illustrations

2010-10-08T12:06:00.000-07:00

I want to show you the result of my work for Filter Publications, Inc., the publisher of Racer X Illustrated – a magazine and website in motocross and supercross as well as Road Racer X and Racer X Brand websites. I was asked to create vector illustrations of motorbike riders using as reference some photos supplied by the customer. Making all bikes yellow and depriving racers’ uniforms and bikes of all logos and brand names were among client’s requirements. Guys from Filter Publications, Inc. wanted vector illustrations as the vector format allows scaling images to any size without loss in quality, unlike the bitmap (aka raster) format. Since the drawings were supposed to be used to promote an iPhone motocross game on posters and other printing materials as well as one of the illustrations would be used as an iPhone icon for the game Filter Publications, Inc. needed both very small-sized images as well as extra large ones. Therefore the vector format was the best solution for them.

I never stop being amazed at how brave and skilled professional motorbike racers are. When I see what those fast riders can do with their bikes I the only word I can utter is “Wow!” Motocross, bike races and any other kind of motosports are pretty much tough and dangerous competitions for real men only. Although due to the vector images specificity it is impossible to make vector drawings as expressive and effective as they would be if done in bitmap format, I still hope I have managed to convey a little bit of racers’ courage and sporting blood in my illustrations. Below are shown the low resolution copies of the vector images. I also added simple backgrounds for the bikes to better stand out on the pictures.

Motocross illustrations (bikes and racers)

Drawing a Wolf and a Fox

2010-10-07T10:34:00.000-07:00

I’ve been experimenting with new drawing techniques and tools including those by Pentel and I came up with two drawings of wild animals – a wolf and a fox.

Wolf Drawing

I was supposed to draw a black and tan wolf for one of my clients and I decided to train myself in drawing this animal which I consider one of the most beautifully looking beasts on ink or pencil drawn pictures. I had been thinking about drawing a wolf for a long time before and I did not miss the opportunity to do it now. I preferred to kill two birds with one stone by drawing the animal I wished to draw so much and by experimenting with mixing ink and color pencils. I did not refuse to use my favorite cross-hatching drawing technique to make this wolf’s head drawing though. I have also made a video showing the wolf drawing process.

The wolf drawing is made with a pen and color pencils

Watch this video on Youtube

Fox Drawing

The second animal was a fox, of course. A wolf and a fox are deemed as a natural couple here in Ukraine as they are very common Ukrainian and Russian folktales characters. They are portrayed as their children’s godfather (wolf) and godmother (fox). In folklore the fox is sly while the wolf is naïve and somewhat dull, that is the reason why they are friends and rivals at the same time. Russian and Ukrainian people imbibe those tales with their mothers’ milk, therefore it was unquestionable that if there was a wolf, there should be a fox somewhere around. Thus the next drawing was to be a fox.

The fox was drawn while experimenting with drawing supplies which had been kindly presented to me by PentelArts. The main tool used here was a Pentel Pocket Brush Pen which is my favorite drawing tool for creating expressive outlines and strokes. Using those tools, I had to alter my drawing technique and style a little, although the drawing was still comparatively minimalist with a lot of economy of lines. People who had already seen the drawing of the fox said the animal looked fresh, vibrant and alive. I am very much pleased with people’s positive responses to my experimental fox and wolf drawings and I am satisfied with the results of my drawing experiments.

Art supplies from Pentel were used to make this fox drawing

Buy this royalty free artwork from 2CO
2CheckOut.com Inc. (Ohio, USA) is an authorized retailer for goods and services provided by Igor Lukyanov.

I have three little children (two boys and a girl). They are always looking forward to new animal drawings by their father. Every time I produce a good animal drawing I frame the image to give it to my kids who are waiting with anticipation for a new picture to be hung on the wall in their room. They already have a small animal drawings gallery.

Pictures of animals drawn by me on the wall of my children's room

By the way, if you love these drawings of a wolf and a fox, you can purchase high resolution images (digital files) from me to make high quality prints for any purposes. Just let me know if you want them.

Related posts:
My other animal drawings
Lion drawing

Pentel – the Best Drawing Tools Ever

2010-09-24T10:37:00.000-07:00

It seems that my dream of possessing high quality drawing tools has at last come true. I have received a parcel from Germany containing 3,5 kg (almost 8 pounds) of pens, markers and brushes from Pentel. Having opened the parcel, I was so much in awe that I stood motionless for a while contemplating this marvelous treasure I’ve being coveting for a long time since I first discovered Pentel drawing tools. In fact, Pentel art tools are the best I tried so far.

I fell in love with Pentel when I first saw a Pentel pocket brush pen in the Internet. I worked for a web and graphic design company at that time and constantly faced the problem of being unable to easily create a good looking outline for sketches and drawings I made for the company. I used a regular ink pen and had to do a number of strokes to make a pressure sensitive effect for outlines. I thought it would be good to have a kind of a brush with a fine tip allowing me to draw with ink controlling pressure and thus to vary the line thickness as needed to create beautiful looking outlines. I started looking for such drawing tool and this is when I discovered a Pentel pocket brush pen.

Pentel Pocket Brush Pen is a pen with a refillable cartridge containing pigmented ink which feeds a fine brush tip which is the most awesome element of the pen as it allows varying the line thickness in a single stroke. I was very much frustrated to find out that it was almost impossible to buy Pentel products in Ukraine. It seems that Pentel Co. Ltd is not present in the Ukrainian market so far. I was lucky to have a good friend in Berlin, Germany, who was kind enough to purchase and send me my first Pentel brush pen. And I was absolutely amazed at how flexible I became in drawing after I had tried the brush pen. This drawing tool had even exceeded my expectations. All good qualities of the brush pen make it a must have drawing tool for various kinds of drawing “genres” and styles ranging from manga and comics drawing to picturesque landscape paintings.

Using Drawing Tools from Pentel (Video)

Watch this video on Youtube

The first commercial drawings I created with my new Pentel brush pen were cute panda bears drawn for a teacher from the USA William Cunningham. I made a few videos showing how those drawings had been made and uploaded them on Youtube. This is one of those videos:

Drawing a Giant Panda with a Pentel Brush Pen

This cute panda bear was drawn with a Pentel Pocket Brush Pen

Watch this video on Youtube

And this is when my drawings were noticed by guys from PentelArts – an online Pentel store in Europe. They really liked how I used the brush pen in the video and suggested sending me some more brush pens (including color ones) to further experiment with them and experience in full how Pentel tools can simplify work of an artist and make his/her artworks look better and more expressive. Since then Pentel brush pens had become my indispensable drawing tools in almost every drawing I create (just watch videos on my Youtube channel to get convinced).

I had not dared to use color brush pens for some time as I had been waiting for a good drawing commission but I got mostly black & white portraits and illustrations orders. And since I was eager to use them I took those color brush pens with me on my vacation at the Sea of Azov to experiment a little with a marine scenery painting. Here are a couple of sketches I had made using color brush pens from Pentel:

Sketches Drawn with Color Brush Pen from Pentel

A sketch drawn with color Pentel brush pens

Extensive usage of Pentel pocket brush pens and mentioning it in my drawing videos has not left people from PentelArts untouched and I was asked whether I wanted some other drawing supplies from Pentel to experiment with as I used some analogues they had in their product range. And how could I resist such a generous offer if my love for Pentel had begun from the first brush pen? I agreed anticipating my new experience with one of the best drawing tools brand. But what they had sent totally surprised and amazed me! Color and black brush pens, brushes for aquarelle painting, sign pens, outline markers, oil pastels and pastels for drawing on fabric, gel rollers and other drawing tools are now at my disposal. I will definitely try them all and make my best to master drawing with each of these tools. I will make a lot of videos showing performances of pens and brushes from Pentel. And I want to say big THANK YOU to PentelArts for this wonderful gift and for inspiring me to create new artworks fitting the highest quality level of Pentel drawing tools.

Pentel Pocket Brush Pen drawing videos

Drawing a Portrait from an Old Photograph

2010-09-23T09:30:00.000-07:00

Another project commissioned by Andrew Hennigan was a portrait drawn from an old photograph. I was supposed to draw a pen and ink portrait from a small full-length photograph of one of Andrew’s great grandfathers who was born in 1879. The picture itself was taken in about 1900. The man on the photograph was an enthusiastic amateur photographer and I believe that is why this photograph had the best quality among other pictures of Andrew’s great grandfathers. Andrew has a dream of having good portraits of all his great grandparents one day as their vintage photographs are either too small or of bad quality to look good hanging on the wall. I hope that I will be able to help Andrew to bring his dream to life when he finds usable photos of his ancestors whose portraits he would like to have. And I appreciate allowing me to show the original photograph, the final portrait and the drawing video in my blog.

Giving a new life to an old photograph

Watch this video on Youtube

Drawing an Ink Portrait from a Picture

2010-09-18T12:24:00.000-07:00

Today I would like to tell you about my recent portrait assignment. It was another portrait-from-photo commission. The portrait was created for a Communication Consultant Andrew Hennigan, based in Aix en Provence, France, and Stockholm, Sweden. The man teaches people how to communicate properly and professionally. Not many people know that good communication skills are in fact the core of a success almost in any sphere of today’s life beginning from an individual’s private life to big companies’ popularity and recognition in their market niche. Decent communication skills are far from being something people are born with. Actually, I believe there are more people who constantly face annoying and life-ruining problems while communicating with other people than those who are able to speak clearly, convincingly and eloquently. A lot of people cannot verbalize their thoughts, some have fear of public speaking, and others do not like how their voices sound or they are self-conscious about their appearance. Therefore if you experience these or similar problems and want to overcome those difficulties or you just want improvements in your communication abilities, I believe Andrew Hennigan is the man who can be of assistance, especially after I noticed how good he is in expressing his thoughts in multiple languages.

But let’s get back to the portrait. As usually it was an ink portrait drawn using cross-hatching technique on an A4 paper sheet. You are welcome to watch the video below to see the whole drawing process, although I had to speed up the video in order to upload it on Youtube. Andrew was very kind to allow showing the portrait and his photograph I had used as a reference. And I hope he will love the original I sent him and will find a proper usage of the high resolution digital copy of the portrait. Thanks for hiring me, Andrew!

Pen and Ink Portrait Drawn from a Photograph (pic + video)

Watch this video on Youtube

Related posts:
Drawing a Family Portrait
The Elf Princess

Video Report No. 4

2010-09-07T12:11:00.000-07:00

I released my fourth video report showing some of my artworks created during July and August 2010.

Watch this video on Youtube

New American Wildlife Illustrations

2010-09-06T09:30:00.000-07:00

After a relatively short period of time since I had made wildlife illustrations for American Wildlife t-shirts by Buffalo and Company, the guys from Buffalo & Co. got back to me to offer another wildlife illustrations project to expand the series of “Honor Your Wild” t-shirts. I guess the first promotional campaign was a success for Buffalo & Company and people loved their t-shirts for which I had had honor to draw beautiful animals of North America.

This time I was asked to draw male and female turkeys as well as male and female white-tailed deer (aka whitetails). The guys from Buffalo & Company loved my cross-hatching drawing technique, therefore I traditionally used this technique for the new illustrations to match the style which had become a feature of the t-shirts recently released by Buffalo & Company.

I want to show you low resolution copies of wildlife illustrations created for Buffalo and Company as well as videos which I traditionally shoot for those who may be interested in mastering cross-hatching technique or simply like watching an artist drawing.

Turkeys Illustration

Male and female turkeys

Buffalo and Company's turkey t-shirt

Watch this video on Youtube

White-Tailed Deer Illustrations

Whitetail buck

Watch this video on Youtube

Whitetail doe

Watch this video on Youtube

I have always been impressed by how many creative ideas the management of Buffalo and Company has and how enthusiastic and energetic their team is. Being their best go to artist (as they call me), I was asked to help in implementing another their original idea of creating a unique series of American wildlife bow ties. For this purpose I was supposed to turn all wildlife illustrations previously created by me for Buffalo and Company into simplified black and white images, a kind of stencil pictures of animals (a bison, an elk, a brss, a trout, mallards, a male turkey and a male whitetail). And I did so, coz I am always happy to assist in my old clients’ projects and to help to bring their ideas to life. And here is what I came up with black and white American wildlife pics.

Stencil Wildlife Illustrations for Bow Ties

Products with my wildlife illustrations are available at Buffalo & Company on-line store.

Drawing a Family Portrait

2010-08-30T11:30:00.000-07:00

I would like to show you a family portrait that I have recently drawn for one of my clients on the occasion of his anniversary. I was provided with two separate pictures as a reference to draw from (one with the couple and the other with their cute daughter).

I used pen and ink to draw the portrait of this sweet American family using my favorite cross-hatching drawing technique. The portrait was drawn on an A3 size paper sheet. I created a black & white and a color version of the family portrait. The portrait was colored with Adobe Photoshop software. Having been scanned and processed on the PC, the digital version of the portrait had a rather big size and resolution to make large high-quality prints of the portrait. I hope this artwork portraying a happy American family was a good birthday gift.

I also created a video showing how the family portrait had been made. The video might be interesting for those who love to watch an artist working. I was allowed to show these pictures and the video, so here they are:

Family Portrait (pics + video)

Watch this video on Youtube

Another Portrait of Robert E. Lee

2010-08-14T06:30:00.000-07:00

Shortly after I had published my posts about the portraits of famous men created for Buffalo and Company, I was contacted by a man named Charles McDowell who really loved my portrait of Robert E. Lee (please, follow the link below this post to see this portrait). Charles was wondering if I could draw a portrait of General Robert E. Lee for him as well. So, I did. This time I used a painting of Robert E. Lee (not a photo as the first time) as a reference to draw a portrait of the General in my original style. The portrait was drawn with pen and ink on the A4 size paper sheet (8,3 x 11,7 inches / 21 x 29,7 cm.). Charles allowed me to show what I had come up with. So I included the low resolution copy of the portrait here as well as the Youtube video showing how the portrait was made.

Sometimes it’s not easy to find large enough portraits of famous people. Images with big resolution and size are rarely stored in the Internet. Therefore those who look for large portraits turn to such artists like me who are able to create large portraits using even medium-sized photos or paintings available online as references. After scanning, I’ve got a digital copy of the portrait (JPEG file) which I delivered to the client and which size will allow him to make rather large prints of this Robert E. Lee portrait.

My second portrait of Robert E. Lee

Watch this video on Youtube

Portrait of General Stonewall Jackson

Portrait of Ernest Hemingway

2010-07-24T13:36:00.000-07:00

Ernest Hemingway is probably one of the most well-known men whose portraits I drew so far for the series of famous men t-shirts by Buffalo and Company (you can see other famous men portraits I have done and read about this assignment of mine using the corresponding links after this post). A lot of people outside the USA may have not a slightest idea about who Robert E. Lee, John Muir and even Theodore Roosevelt were (these are other famous men I was asked to draw for Buffalo and Company), but I am sure that there are more people all over the world who heard at least something about Ernest Hemingway and his literature legacy. Hemingway definitely “qualifies” to be considered as the model of masculinity. Being extremely smart and intelligent (I believe that the Nobel Prize in Literature can’t be won by any average guy), brave (he had responded to a Red Cross recruitment effort and signed on to be an ambulance driver in Italy during World War I and agreed to become a war journalist during World War II in spite of having been seriously wounded at the time of World War I) and thirsty for adventures (he loved hunting, fishing, traveling), Ernest Hemingway experienced a life saturated with events which had formed the real man’s character. He lived through good and awful times and shared a little bit of his valuable experience in his books. Those belletristic gems show us what it takes to be a man. It’s not easy, that’s why we call such men heroes and pay our tribute to them.

Traditionally, I supply a video along with the portrait. Enjoy!

Portrait of Ernest Hemingway

Ernest Hemingway

Watch this video on Youtube

My other famous men portraits:
Portrait of Theodore Roosevelt
Portrait of John Muir
Portrait of General Robert E. Lee

Portrait of Theodore Roosevelt

2010-07-21T13:35:00.000-07:00

Theodore Roosevelt was among those famous men whose portraits I had drawn for Buffalo and Company (you can see other famous men portraits I have done and read about this assignment of mine using the corresponding links after this post). I have always been amazed at the number of absolutely outstanding US presidents. This is probably one of the reasons why America has turned into the first world’s economy. Teddy Roosevelt is a kind of a president every nation dreams about. He displayed his strong nature from his early life, being a weak and unhealthy child, he did his best to go in for sports and live an active life. Roosevelt’s excellent education and vigor had formed that intelligence which allowed him to become the youngest president in the USA history. Apart from his progressive political activity (which, in fact, does not represent the main interest in our case) Roosevelt was a naturalist, explorer, hunter, author, and soldier. He supported John Muir’s ideas about preservation of American wilderness and creation of national parks. The most interesting fact about Teddy Roosevelt for me is that he refused to run for re-election in 1908 to embark on a safari to Africa and a trip to Europe. It shows how thirsty he was for adventures. Theodore Roosevelt had actually become the model of masculinity for combining those characteristics a real man ought to have. And those characteristics helped him to become one of the greatest presidents of the United States of America.

As a reference I used a picture of Theodore Roosevelt made during his service as a Lieutenant Colonel during the war in Cuba. While I was shooting the video something had happened with my camera and it had shut down 10 minutes before I finished the drawing. But I believe you will love the video anyway.

Portrait of Theodore Roosevelt

Theodore Roosevelt

Watch this video on Youtube

Teddy Roosevelt T-Shirt

And here is how a Theodore Roosevelt t-shirt itself looks like:

Teddy Roosevelt t-shirt

My other famous men portraits:
Roosevelt and his Rough Riders
George Washington portrait
Portrait of Ernest Hemingway
Portrait of John Muir
Portrait of General Robert E. Lee
Portrait of Thomas Jefferson
Portrait of Ronald Reagan
Portrait of Winston Churchill
Portrait of George W. Bush
John F. Kennedy Portrait

Portrait of John Muir

2010-07-19T09:25:00.000-07:00

John Muir is another personality whose portrait I was to draw for the new series of famous men t-shirts by Buffalo and Company (you can see other famous men portraits I have done and read about this assignment of mine using the corresponding links after this post). Muir is evidently one of those wise men who ought to be respected everywhere in the world. He was a naturalist and environmentalist who advocated preservation of wilderness in the United States of America. John Muir’s efforts to protect American nature had led to establishing of Yosemite National Park in California which beauty now mesmerizes around three millions tourists yearly (I wish I could see those ancient forests, great mountains and amazing waterfalls with my own eyes). Muir is also known for his long distance hiking travels, and one of the most popular hiking trails in California was named in his honor (John Muir Trail). I am sure this man led an interesting life full of adventures and contemplation of the beauty of nature. He was kind and talented enough to share a bit of his life with us in his books which never cease to be popular. John Muir described his life and outlook, his hiking trails and his adventures in his fascinating literature legacy.

Luckily, it’s not difficult to find a photo of John Muir in the Internet, so I used one to draw the portrait of John Muir – a great man whose deeds are not to be forgotten by any American. And following my good tradition I have also made a video to show you the process of portrait drawing. I hope you will enjoy it.

Portrait of John Muir

John Muir

Watch this video on Youtube

My other famous men portraits:
Portrait of Ernest Hemingway
Portrait of Theodore Roosevelt
Portrait of General Robert E. Lee
Portrait of Ernest Shackleton
Lewis and Clark Portraits

Famous Men Portraits: Robert E. Lee

2010-07-16T09:21:00.001-07:00

Today’s post is about my new artist commission from Buffalo and Company. This time I was hired to make portraits of famous men for a new series of t-shirts by Buffalo and Company. General Robert E. Lee is one of the men whose portraits I am supposed to draw. So, I’ll start with General Lee, and the others are coming soon in my next blog posts (please, check out corresponding links in the end of this port). Robert E. Lee was a US Civil War general who, despite being commanding the Confederate army (the South) and having surrendered and eventually lost the war, is respected all across the United States for his courage, intelligence and outstanding strategic mind which had made him one of the most honored American generals. Robert E. Lee had enough wisdom to make his contribution to settling up the conflict between North and South of the United States. General Robert E. Lee can be undoubtedly considered to be an icon for those who respect and honor the real man’s heart and soul.

Buffalo and Company has developed a philosophy of preserving and honoring a good old masculinity in men’s clothing and accessories they are manufacturing and selling. They do not forget those times when men were real men whose purpose of life was meeting challenges of nature while traveling and conquering new wild spaces on the Earth to expend civilization and to create better living for human beings; hunting and protecting their families and Motherland. Their clothing itself reflected their virility and readiness for adventures and brave deeds. The apparel they wore used to be comfortable, practical and had that look and feel associated with manhood. Today’s men’s fashion is somehow shifting away from the classic man’s appearance and lacks that peculiar manly spirit. One can often observe those men wearing clothing and haircuts which deprive them of the very look of a male, let alone a brave and ready-for-adventure look. This is not a good tendency as history teaches us that only courageous, smart, wise, purposeful and caring men led nations towards the progress regardless any obstacles, and difficult circumstances. And those guys, as we can see, were proud of being men and did their best to make their appearance correspond to that look which distinguished a strong male protector from a sweet tender female to be protected. That is why by creating a new series of t-shirts with a famous men portraits, guys from Buffalo and Company want once again remind the faces of those who are worth being followed and honored.

I want to demonstrate you not only the completed portrait of Robert E. Lee but also a video I’ve created to show you the process of drawing this American Civil War general's portrait using the cross-hatching technique. I hope you will enjoy watching the video and would be happy to read your comments about the portrait. I would also very much appreciate if you subscribe to my Youtube channel.

Portrait of General Robert E. Lee

Robert E Lee

Watch this video on Youtube

Robert E. Lee Signature T-Shirt

This is how a Robert E. Lee t-shirt by Buffalo and Company looks like

My other famous men portraits:
Other portrait of Robert E. Lee
General Stonewall Jackson Portrait
Portrait of Ernest Hemingway
Portrait of John Muir
Portrait of Theodore Roosevelt

Artist's Video Reort No.3

2010-06-12T05:08:00.000-07:00

I have not been posting in the blog for quite a while. The thing is that not all my clients let me show artworks I’ve done for them. I always ask for permission to show the recent artworks and even offer to link to the client’s website from the blog post if he/she gives me permission. However some of my customers ask me to never show the works anywhere, the others ask to wait for a certain period of time till they publish or print illustrations, t-shirt designs etc. Thus the visitors of this blog will never see some wonderful artworks of mine, which is pity, though some others works are coming soon after I get permissions from the clients who asked to postpone showing artworks created for them.

Today I want to show you my third video report with those artworks which I am allowed to show and which were created during April – May 2010. Enjoy!

Drawing a Sketch a Day

2010-05-03T08:20:00.000-07:00

I decided to create another blog where I will post a daily sketch or a drawing. I hope I will be able to draw at least a rough sketch a day. I will provide no comments about a sketch or drawing I put on the blog. I hope the visitors will enjoy my artworks however rough they were.

Sometimes I love to draw some sketches or doodles spontaneously, or I create some interesting sketches or drawings during my work on some projects and those sketches are intermediate artworks which were not approved by clients or I just used them to find the best possible style of illustrations and to train my hand for the corresponding style. Those sketches and drawings are too rough for this blog where I try to show only the best works. I think creating another blog dedicated to my sketches is the best way to show some of my raw works and I believe that those who love drawing will enjoy following this blog.

So, please, feel free to visit my sketch a day blog and follow it if you like to.

Portrait of a Weeping African Woman with a Child

2010-04-28T10:35:00.000-07:00

Today I want to show you my portrait of a weeping African woman with a child. I created this portrait for a wonderful African fashion and lifestyle magazine – BHF Magazine. This image was supposed to be a protest against a terrible massacre which had taken place in one of the African countries. It’s really sad to know that there are still countries in the world where women are crying over their murdered husbands and children. I wish God may give wisdom and power to those who can bring peace to all countries of Africa and to all other nations which suffer from violence in their country. I heard a lot of awful stories about what was going on in some African countries like Sierra Leone and others but I still cannot totally wrap my head around how it is to live in constant danger and fear. Fortunately people of Ukraine, the country where I live, have forgotten about the war and can enjoy peace now and I wish the same for all the nations of the globe.

This African woman portrait is particularly interesting because I have used very dense and elaborated cross-hatching here. I used 2H and HB pencils to draw the portrait. The original illustration has the resolution of 3300 x 4374 pixels but I hope this low resolution copy (please, click on the picture below to make the image bigger) will let you enjoy this artwork and hopefully will make you think about how wonderful it would have been if this African woman was crying from happiness only.

African woman portrait

Drawing Fashion Illustrations and Sketches

2010-04-23T11:58:00.000-07:00

I had started drawing fashion sketches and illustrations not so long time ago when I worked for a graphic design company, that is before my freelance illustrator and artist career began. When I first created a few fashion illustrations my friends said they loved my drawings and advised me to keep on developing my skills in fashion art. After that I had made a few friends related to fashion design industry on Facebook and they told me my fashion sketches and illustrations were pretty good. So I thought that if even people who are professionals in the industry loved how I had drawn fashion illustrations I should go into this kind of illustrations business, at least fashion drawings should be a part of my artist's portfolio.

Having thought this, I created a blog totally dedicated to my fashion sketches and illustrations. When establishing this blog I was planning to attract some fashion designers or fashion and lifestyle magazine editors who might be interested in original custom illustrations for their advertising or other business purposes. You can check out my blog of a fashion illustrator to take a look at some my sketches and illustrations there. Although I do not have a lot of fashion illustrations so far, I keep on working in this direction to perfection my skills in drawing of fashion. My drawing philosophy is to draw realistic fashion figures with minimal or non deviation from the standard human body proportions. From the technical point some of my fashion drawings look like realistic or semi-realistic portraits. I am aware of abstract and non-realistic fashion sketches and illustrations being extremely popular in the contemporary world of fashion design. A lot of fashion designers use drawings of models with extremely long bodies (especially legs). Such sketches seem to be conventional today, therefore my fashion illustrations are out of the mainstream. I love to draw pretty faces for my female fashion illustrations and a kind of attractive feminine bodies because I want my illustrations and even rough “croquis” (sketches) to look like real women for whom, I hope, fashion designers try to create their apparel. Of course, I also pay special attention to drawing clothing details and models poses. I don’t want to tell that my fashion illustrations are better than others, moreover I am sure I must work a lot to improve my drawings and there are a lot of fashion illustrators from whom I can learn a lot and who, if they see my drawings, can severely criticize my art for its realism or other reasons but I am happy when I create something which is close to my favorite realistic drawing style and the majority of fashion people who I know seem to like what I do. So enough with the words here, you can read more on my fashion illustrator's blog and now let’s move on to a few my fashion sketches and illustrations I want to show you in this post.

Teaching how to draw fashion figures (I love having fun with fashion sketching)

Drawing pretty faces for female fashion models

Fashion sketches

Highly realistic fashion illustrations

Fashion Illustration Video

Drawing Panda Bears with a Pentel Brush Pen

2010-04-11T05:46:00.000-07:00

This is the second time that William Cunningham, a teacher from the USA, asks me to draw pandas for his online classroom. You can learn more about the first project on my post about the panda bears drawing assignment. I used a Faber-Castell 3H pencil and an absolutely wonderful drawing tool provided by PentelArts – a Pentel pocket brush pen which allows creating wonderful and expressive drawings.

This time William wanted me to draw two more panda bears for the website’s menu. Since these panda images will be the links to other pages of the site I decided to make pandas drawings which would correspond to the theme of the pages to which the links point. Thus the first drawing shows the panda coming out from a bush (this is for the “Greening Up My Room” page) the second drawing was a panda reading a book (for the “Student Book Reviews” page). Both pandas turned to be very cute and I believe Mr. Cunningham’s students will love the drawings. And of course, I would never be able to draw so quickly, easy and expressively without a Pentel pocket brush pen.

Panda drawing videos

Final panda drawings

How to Draw a Human Ear

2010-04-08T10:31:00.000-07:00

I have being roaming in the web for some time trying to find out what people want to know about the art of drawing. I understood that a lot of people want to know about how to draw certain parts of human body such as ears, eyes, noses, hands etc. I have found a few tutorials of artists explaining step by step process of drawing of such stuff. Well, I decided to make my own contribution to the how-to-draw information on the Internet. And I decided to begin with the post about how to draw a realistic human ear.

Did you know that ears are one of the most difficult parts of the human body to draw? Very often they are not very much visible on portraits but when it comes to having to draw a highly realistic detailed human ear artists realize that it is not as easy to draw an ear as it might seem. The thing is that a human ear has a comparatively complicated structure. There are not two same pairs of ears in the world as each ear is as identical as a fingerprint. However even a classical form of an ear requires special attention when drawing.

I think that the best way to learn how to draw something is to watch an artist drawing it. That is why I consider any video showing the drawing process to be better than even the best step by step how-to-draw illustrations. Therefore I have made up my mind to make a video clip demonstrating how I draw a human ear. And of course I could not help spicing up my ear drawing with my cross-hatching style.