Artist Focus 0

Meet the Artist: Nataliya

By Ingram Team · On September 8, 2015

Nataliya (Vector Artist)

Please can you introduce yourself and tell us a little about your background?

I was born in Odessa, beautiful and sunny city in the South of Ukraine. I studied at art school and gained a degree in Theater and Visual Arts at Odessa Theater and Art College. After graduation I’ve been designing clothing for two years. Then I realised I wanted to apply my knowledge in advertising and was working as a designer in an advertising agency for several years. Then I opened my own design studio and for 10 years worked with polygraphy, designing websites and corporate identities. When I started to draw illustrations for different microstocks, I realised that this work gives me an opportunity to express my creativity; I can draw what I want and how I want.

How would you describe your portfolio?

I draw in a simple style. Sometimes I call my portfolio “girly pictures”.

What kind of work have your images appeared in?

Many of my illustrations are used on the different blogs and online articles. This is particularly true for “social networks”, “office life” or “interiors”. I also saw my illustrations being used in logo designs for some companies. My works, such as paper dolls and clothes, are also often used in online games for children.
Where do you get your inspiration from?

Each day brings new inspiration. If you’re open to the world you can find it literally everywhere, in music and nature, you can get it from your family, books, articles, travels and interesting people.

How do you decide which subjects to draw?

I adhere to two principles. The first is monitoring trends in popular illustrations. It often depends on the time of year, on the holidays and new trends. The second is my own preferences. I only work on the themes that are of interest to me. That’s why it is so great to be a stock illustrator – I’m free to choose in what style and themes I want to work.

Do you follow design trends? And if so do you try to reflect them in your work?

I always follow design trends. Firstly, this is my professional interest, and secondly it is always interesting to see how new concepts are displayed in the world around us. For example, the most popular style over the last few years, flat design, is now going through a new transformation and I love to draw illustrations following new trends.

What does a typical workday look like for you?

I don’t paint all day and, actually, I don’t have a full working day. I’m a mother of two and I try to spend a lot of time with my family – my husband, my daughters and my dog. I work on my illustrations about 2-3 hours a day. Sometimes more, sometimes less. This job gives me the opportunity to plan my time without being attached to a rigid schedule.

What is your most popular image?

My most popular illustrations are complex multi-component sets like “Supermarket”, “Urban Set” and “House with many rooms and premises”. It’s a really intense competition now on the stock sites, so many interesting authors, lots of good quality images, so these complex multi-component sets let my portfolio stay competitive.