STUDY TASK 2: Inspiring Illustrators (Olga Demidova)

Olga Demidova

 

Lucy Maud Montgomery's fascination with Prince Edward Island is woven into almost all of her stories. The island was her home and the home of some of her most famous characters, so I would like to make reference to the nature and landscapes of PEI in my illustrations for Emily of New Moon too. These scenes and settings were important to Lucy Maud, so this is something I want to pay attention to myself.

I stumbled across these paintings by Olga Demidova and found them really immersive in their depiction of wilderness and scenery. The artist has illustrated the depth of these detailed worlds through layering (mountains behind trees behind bushes behind flowers), altering scale (rules of perspective - assets farthest away being the smallest and closest to the viewer being the largest). 

I would like to recreate PEI by layering illustrations of nature and houses like Demidova has, capturing the tone of the landscape and Emily's adventures within these landscapes.

I also admire Demidova's use of mark-making to suggest currents, winds and atmosphere. 

I was surprised to learn that these paintings were actually made on Photoshop as I thought that they were gouache paintings so I am quite impressed by the realistic textures she has achieved. I wouldn't have actively searched for 'digital art' as I didn't think it was 'my thing', but this may be something I could experiment with to add more texture and movement in my work.

Demidova's audience is very similar to my intended audience for this project. Her illustrations are aimed at children and exist within the context of children's books and children's magazines. She's also applied her characters and stories to animation.

How does she promote herself?

Olga Demidova is a Russian artist, but captions her artwork in both Russian and English language on social media, making her posts more globally accessible.

What is she inspired by?

She takes inspiration from the Russian landscapes she grew up in.

Her intention is to 'share a moment of happiness with her audience'.