Scientific illustration

The drawing was made as an commission which i`ve recieved from Finnish scientist Markus Rantala- for his thesis book. 
The title is: the evolutionary psychology of beauty. Markus` homepage you might see here.

 Some sketches =>>

Decoupaged box for drawing tools

Box for my drawing tools is ready :) 

Have been decorating (decoupaging) it for more than 2 weeks. But it was not because of my slowliness or laziness. I just couldn`t find best-fitting pictures and this tiny hanging leather thing with bead :))

On the top of the box is the coat of arms belonging to Northern Ireland, and there`re drawn two my favourite animals- Stag and Lion. 

On both sides there are placed black-and-white crowns, which are supporting the same crown shown on the coat of arms. 

My drawings are in semifinals:)

Both my drawings for contests have reached the semifinals:)

1. the Lord of the Dance (previous article about it)

Actually i (or better to say my `fresh eyes`) see some imperfections in composition and filling with details- yes, already i`m not satisfied with the drawing. But anyway i`m pleased that this work is placed now in `the gallery of best works`

http://citycelebrity.ru//citycelebrity/Post.aspx?PostId=62864

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151861882294546.1073741826.161749069545&type=3

http://vk.com/album-4921329_172616582

2. Contest in the name of A. Chekhov (previous article about it)

Here drawing has also reached semifinal. There`s only one `but`- if you want to know who are winners, you need to come in Summer to Croatia and spent there 4-5 days on Fest before Ceremony of announcing of winners. Or just come to Ceremony only. Anyway you need to travel there :`) Or stay home and get left without prize (or just good spending of time on Fest :D)

Art-contest with topic `Irish culture and dances`

Actually i`ve discovered this contest 1-2 days ago, but the deadline is today. So during these days my head was stuffed with thoughts, ideas what to draw. Thanks to my Irish friend, an idea has finally come in time and got polished to the end :) 

Contest is dedicated to event- in Moskow comes back the dancing show `The Lord of the Dance` with Irish dances. Site announced art-competition with task `to make design, illustration or make a photo which is connected with Irish culture or dances. If you choose dances you can make a work not connected with Ireland` (to be honest, this last position confused me...)  

Drawing is made with black liners, Promarkers, black marker and acrilic paints.

Celtic ornament, celtic crosses (very small though...), round tower, village crossroad dances, national green color- aren`t these are the things which assotiated with Irish culture? 

I even made there a Stalin dancing... accidentally, of course :D

And.... some weird sketches 

Competition in the name of Anton Chekhov

I`ve decided to particepate in contest which is helded in the name of famous Russian writer Anton Chekhov

 This competition generally consists of Writing-, Literature -nominations, but one of them is `Illustration`. So I`ve grabbed opportunity to make couple of drawings based on story `A man in a case` (in the end I`ve discovered that there is only one art needed)

After 15.01.13 it will be clear if my work taken into the next part of competition~
Materials: black liners, promarkers and watercolors.

And this is the extra illustration

Please, leave in comments your opinion and impressions about my works! It is needed for any development :) You can write here even as Anonimous if you think I`ll get upset or angry with your words:)).

Little update: sketches on this topic

John Bauer

Йон Бауэр 

(4 июня 1882 — 20 ноября 1918) 

 John Bauer 

(4 june 1882 - 20 november 1918)

Шведский художник и иллюстратор. Его работы можно встретить издании со сказками «Среди эльфов и троллей» (швед. `Bland tomtar och troll`). Благодаря этим сказкам он стал одним из самых знаменитых художников Швеции.Помимо жанра иллюстрации, он пробовал себя в написании сказочных детских пьес, либретто (для балета `Горный король`. Швед. `Bergakungen`), создавал монументальные фрески. 

Swedish artist and illustrator. His artworks could be met in fairy-tale book `Among elves and trolls` (swedish `Bland tomtar och troll`). Thanks to these fairy-tales he became one of the most famous swedish artists. Apart from illustration genre he also tried himself in writing plays for children, libretto (for ballet `Mountainking`. Swedish `Bergakungen`), created monumental wall-paintings.

Interview

Last several months i illustrate blog of norwegian politician Ola Kristian Johansen. So, he decided it is time to make interview with me. When i got to know about his plans, i was both surprised and pleased :) 
Here you can see the original article in Ola Kristian`s blog. 

Your full name?

Starostina Alexandra Sergejevna

Age?

22 years old

Where do you live and with whom?

I`m living in flat (3 sleeping rooms), with my parents,  greatgrandmother, dog and three cats. As you see, company is huge and all the time something  happens here : )

What is your favorite food?

I prefer to eat fruits, vegs, kasha, cheese, fish, simple veg-soups.  And… as almost every girl i also like to eat cookies and cakes : )) Favorite food- is that one which is made by our own hands.

And favorite drink?

Water, green or herbal tea, coffee~

Favorite music?

For my dad is fan of rock-music, I was raised on this since childhood. Lots of old western rock bands I like… Mother gave me love to instrumental classics such as Rimsky- Korsakov,  Grieg, Schubert, Paganini, Bach and so on. My `own` love are Pink Floyd, Nephew, Grinderman, the Myrrors and Rammstein : )

All what I listen gives me kind of inspiration, so I can feel new wave of power and urge to draw or make smth. I guess, everybody can get such feelings while listening to favorite music?

Do you read books?

I read lots of books, especially energized reading was at school. So I have plenty of favorite books for now… But,i guess book which i`ll never forget is Mary Shelley`s `Story of Frankenstein`. I was too impressed with how nice and kind, open-hearted the monster was, and how rude, cruel and blind were people around him. From russian classics i`d name `Karamazovs brothers` (by Dostoyevsky), `Master and Margarita` (by Bulgakov) and collection of poems by Mayakovsky. From not-novels I like V. Zeland`s `Transurfing of Reality` series.

Oh, I can`t name only one favorite book, as i`m almost bookworm! ; )

What education do you have?

Through whole life my education was connected with art and creativity. Art-schools in childhood. At school i was studying in art-oriented class (graduated with silver medal). Not long ago i`ve successfully  graduated from Volgograd state university of architecture and  building construction (and now my speciality is Designer of architectural environment). Also I have additional high education as Translator/ interpreter of professional texts (rus/eng).

Tell me about your interests?

Drawing (now i`m more oriented to illustration); learning languages (across my life have passed english, german, serbian, norwegian, japanese, but for this moment I`ve put my chose on english and norwegian, later i plan to better my german); history of the world, of illustration, design, architecture and so on; getting to know other cultures; I love to get know new things; travelling; being on nature; cooking; watching anime; old things, antiquities; selfimprovement and selfeducation; philosophy of living, transurfing of reality; astronomy, psychology; mystique things, symbolism, theory of esoteric and shamanism;  myths of different countries and epochs.

What are your political views?

Concerning this question…. I can`t see into politics well enough to define any of my own political views.

Do you believe in God?

I`m not religious in common meaning of this notion. Though I believe in several things: 1) Nature`s spirit is in and around everything; 2) every person has power to make, to get what he wants, to change himself or life around him. Only real wish, motivation and correct actions are needed; 3) I believe in small kind mythological nature`s creatures, like elves, trolls and so on : )

Why are you illustrating this blog?

At first steps my goal was only to help Ola Kristian- to make work with blog easier for him (he will not need to search for proper illustrations and waste time for it); to make blog look more individual. But then I understood that it is very good chance for myself to polish my drawing skills, to define my individual style in it. Working with blog, i also get know new things about Norway which are not told in Russia. Letting me to illustrate blog, Ola Kristian helps me to make and collect portfolio, which would be very useful when I find my dreamjob.

What is your dreamjob?

So, here`s favorite topic for my thoughts : ) I want to be illustrator of books , magazines, internet pages and of everything what needs to be decorated or explained with pictures. Part of this dream has already came into reality, thanks to Ola Kristian!

If you`re interested in Alexandra`s work, have some questions or just want to add as a friend, you can find her in Internet:

Facebook

Deviantart  -here you can find her unsorted drawings of different ages and themes;

Behance -this is her portfolio which Alexandra prefers to show to employers;

frank.en.st@yandex.ru – e-mail.