Introducing "Nosorog" a self-published zine full of nonsense and silliness, inspired by the works of Mervyn Peake, Edward Gorey and other fine gentlemen and illustrated by your humble servant. Here is a feature on "Nosorog" kindly written by Matt Witt of the wonderful Creature mag
I've received some good news and wonderful packages since I last blogged!
The talented Emmi ofDear Fashionsent me a copy of this beautifully-made journal (my collages are on the cover and inside! very proud :) This exclusive little book is not to be missed by fashion enthusiasts. It makes a very interesting read, besides being a feast for the eyes, as it is filled with beautiful illustrations and photographs! If you want a copy, you can buy one hereand keep updated about other fashion news on facebook!
Another lovely publication called "Drawing The Pictures" I received was from Gerlin of Coincidental HappeningsThe zine is devoted solely to cinema and features artworks of the favourite movies of contributors along with their writings. A little treasure full of illustrated movie recommendations! To buy one, please click here! :)
This year has been filled up to the brim with everything, which included the good, the sad, the happy and the unusual.
This year my granny Eugenia passed away. It was a very sad moment, a very sad fortnight. But if you come to think of it, what is a sad moment against a long and happy life? Nothing! Sad moments pass and go and what I remember about my granny is not the way she passed away but the time she was with us. And of course, I believe in reincarnation!
Now here are some of the nice things that happened in 2012 in an almost chronological order:
The first was the wonderful Secret7s project and Florence Welch choosing my artwork to accompany her "Only if for a Night" single.
Next was fantastic news from the extremely talented artist and a very dear to me person, Kaspian Shore ,
who invited me to join PRISMA Artists Collective and of course we've already had some great shows in the UK and the US.
I made my own facebook page
which at first seemed like a strange idea, but eventually developed into a source of motivation and inspiration for me. Thank you so much for keeping me company there! x
This year I've also had some great commissions related to music (it's always a treat!) One of them was designing a beautiful Moth Rah EP
I can't but mention my trip to Firenze... where at first I nearly experienced a Stendhal syndrome)) (or rather gelato syndrome)) I'm definitely coming back to Italy again. and again, and again!
Quite recently I've come back from London, from World Travel Market and of course enjoyed the company of my friends, met new wonderful people and tasted the best cakes in the city! I couldn't miss
out on The Twelfe Night at the Apollo, which was the funniest thing this year so far, thanks to Mark Rylance. I can't remember laughing as much (except the not so rare moments at work, when my students make me giggle for the rest of the lesson))
There was a trip to The Natural History museum and I realised with relief that I'm no longer scared of the model of blue whale in there.
Me and Alvaro Tapia Hidalgo did a portrait swap this year, too, which was great as Alvaro is one of my favourite artists and I'd love to do it again..)
I was happy to collaborate with some fantastic magazines like Lionheart Mag , New Empress Film Magazine, Storygraph literary magazine, Dear Fashion and others.
I finally produced my own limited prints, thanks to my dear friend, who is also an extremely talented harpsichord master, Huw Saunders
Hmm.. what else.. at last I watched "The Hobbit" and thoroughly enjoyed it, I discovered Johnny Flynn and got fantastic support from his friends and fans online (thank you Rebecca!x), I ate lots and lots of cheese scones and met some great people and talked about fantastic things. Next year I promise to work even more, to make even more people laugh and laugh myself, to make a zine, eat more often
be more serious in particular circumstances
spend more time drawing
be nice and never let frustrating thoughts keep in my mind for more than 2 secs.
Good day to you! I can't believe how long it's been since my last post. I'm very pleased that some of my blog readers have noticed my absence and casually reminded me of the necessity to re-appear in the virtual world which is my humble blog. How can I keep them waiting any longer? What have I been up to all this? Why are my sentences so long and boring? These and other questions will be answered if you have the patience to read this post till the end.
So firstly, I've been working on my favourite commissions: album covers, which I will share with you later. If there's one thing I love to draw most of all it is art based on music.
Secondly, I got my huge portion of insp
iration from my recent trip to London, where I attended The World Travel Market for work purposes... and a couple of plays for entertainment, of course."The Twelfth Night" at the Apollo was an absolute treat. I could hardly resist sketching at the theatre, it was so inspiring just being there (the lights didn't go out completely) but of course i couldn't keep my eyes off the great Mark Rylance as Olivia. Johnny Flynn was in it, too and he's been providing the soundtrack for my November so far. I simply can't stop listening to his songs. Here's him:
Wait! Stephen Fry was in "Twelfth Night" as well. Here's a humble portrait of the man:
I can actually go on and on about my trip, meeting some of my friends, not meeting the others, getting to know a wonderfully talented singer, whose first EP I've just designed, taking long walks and enjoying all the Christmas fuss, but time is money, and I don't have either.
This is the drawing of Morgana I completed in a Starbucks cafe near Liberty store. What I like about UK/Europe is that they never kick you out of the cafe if you sit too long. I'm afraid it's very different in Ukraine. You have to really hurry up, gulp your tea and run, run, run away to leave your seat for another hungry visitor. That's why I spend so much time drawing home, that's my only creative sanctuary.
Now if you want to keep updated more often, my facebook page is the key, I post new work there almost every day and I'm going to have a giveaway once I reach 1000 likes, so join in! You can see other recent work there, too.
Oh, I also designed a T-shirt with FS Fitzgerald's portrait!
In other news, our fantabulous PRISMA artists collective has recently had a "Milk" show at Fine Grime gallery in Bath, UK and is going to have a show in Las Vegas in December (me included)!
Now I'll leave you with a song that has been with me for the last week. Toodle-oo! and a wondeful week to everyone! I missed you, too! x
Daria
Autumn, sweet autumn! I am glad there is that change of seasons which sometimes helps to change minds and moods and is overall a very uplifting time of the year. I have a lot of flowers in my room right now, a lot of music and many pencils which need picking up, i'd be happy in fact if someone invented a pencil-vacuum-cleaner. You know, with all this craziness around, one thing makes me smile: my drawing of Kate Fleetwood is currently on show in WWA Gallery in California and also available to buy. I've always wanted to go to California, especially LA and San Francisco... you know all the movie references... By the way, speaking of the cinema world, I think I watched nearly all existing noir flicks this summer. It's been a summer noir to be honest. And now, I need to sleep.
Hello again! This is going to be a one big post so brace yourselves! I'm having a beautiful July, and although I still can't get to grips with my dear Granny's passing away, I'm trying to spend more time drawing (while I'm on holiday from my regular job) and somehow enjoy the rest of the summer. During this month I've had a couple of commissions from different magazines and zines (more coming up) and I'd love to share some of them with you. This was made for FjordReview, a magazine devoted to dancing and ballet, and the portrait is of Maria Alexandrova in the Swan Lake. I quite enjoyed doing the ballet-related illustration, although my ballet experience is limited to one evening watching Giselle at St. Petersburg Theatre.
Another magazine which I simply adore is Lionheart. I bet you heard me mention it before, it is a pure treasure chest full of wise words, fun, beautiful pictures, art, love and style. For me another reason for loving it so much is that almost on every page I can see an artwork by my familiar fellow illustrators and get acquainted with the work of the new artists, as well. Among contributors to the second issue are of course, the Lionheart Lady herself, Helen Martin, Natasha Thompson (the cover!!), Emma Block, Fritha Strickland , Holly Exley, Abby Wright and many others! I'm very happy to be in the company of these wonderful people. Also, my illustration of Frankie Rose was featured in Amelias Magazine, which I like a lot, and which makes excellent reading on a rainy as well as on a sunny day! Another illustration commission was from The New Empress film magazine, for the article about B-movies and their influence, in particular Wasp Woman! I had to watch this horror flick as well and enjoyed it. It's nice when for your research you just have to sit back and watch the movie for once!
Oh and by the way, I've been selling and adding new original drawings to the shop, and I have also collages for sale this summer. So if you are interested in anything, just leave a comment or contact me via email! :) Hmm.. what else.. I've got these in the post recently, which considerably brightened up my mood! One was 7" vinyl from Secret7s and Florence and the Machine, signed by Florence herself, now my prized possession, another EP from a Russian band Satellite Dreams, for whom I designed a CD sleeve as well. Can I just say? I LOVE making artworks based on songs I like! And the last but definitely the best news so far is my recent trip to the blossoming city of Florence and the beautiful Venice. Well, what can I say? I need to go back and eat the rest of the ice-cream in Italy! love, Daria
The talented Emmi of Dear Fashion sent me a copy of this beautifully-made journal (my collages are on the cover and inside! very proud :) This exclusive little book is not to be missed by fashion enthusiasts. It makes a very interesting read, besides being a feast for the eyes, as it is filled with beautiful illustrations and photographs! If you want a copy, you can buy one here and keep updated about other fashion news on facebook! 
make a zine, eat more often
I'm having a beautiful July, and although I still can't get to grips with my dear Granny's passing away, I'm trying to spend more time drawing (while I'm on holiday from my regular job) and somehow enjoy the rest of the summer. During this month I've had a couple of commissions from different magazines and zines (more coming up) and I'd love to share some of them with you. This was made for FjordReview, a magazine devoted to dancing and ballet, and the portrait is of Maria Alexandrova in the Swan Lake. I quite enjoyed doing the ballet-related illustration, although my ballet experience is limited to one evening watching Giselle at St. Petersburg Theatre.
Also, my illustration of Frankie Rose was featured in Amelias Magazine, which I like a lot, and which makes excellent reading on a rainy as well as on a sunny day!
