Capricorn and Pisces, from Yana’s ongoing Astrology Series.

Yana Moskaluk is a young illustrator from Russia. As a teenage goth living in Siberia, Yana decided to pursue a career in the arts and moved to Moscow to begin work when she was only 19. Yana’s work is dark and playful, and shares many characteristics with that of Aubrey Beardsley; a balance between intricate linework and clean planes of color, the influence of Japanese printmaking and love for the sensual and the grotesque. Coilhouse recently caught up with Yana for a quick Q&A:

Coilhouse: You’re currently in the middle of illustrating a series of Zodiac illustrations. Do you believe that astrology really works?

Yana: Astrology — yes. General horoscopes from magazines — no. This series of illustrations is a commercial work for a magazine, so I’ve started to draw it not on my own.

CH: When you were 19, you moved to Moscow to work at the studio of Artemy Lebedev, a prominent Russian designer. Did you go straight from school to working as a full-time designer? What can you tell us about your day-to-day work life in Russia?

YM: I wanted to work as an illustrator at a full-time job in Moscow to become independent, and I got that job. I had flexible schedule, my working day started after 12 p.m., but sometimes I worked by nights and went home in the morning.There are a lot of cool people, designers and illustrators, and it was very funny. Today I prefer to work at home and I come to the studio just for meeting the clients.

CH: Do you draw on paper, or do you use digital means such as a Wacom tablet? How heavily do you rely on computers, if at all?

YM: I use Wacom and all these digital things for work, but I used to love drawing with watercolours and ink before. I love these materials today too, but use them seldom.

Wolf, by Yana. Small version doesn’t do it justice – see the larger version on Yana’s LJ.

CH: Do you find it difficult to draw a line between commercial work and personal work?

YM: Commercial work is commercial work and personal work is personal work. I can draw what I want in commercial very seldom.

CH: What was your favorite toy as a child?

YM: Coloured pencils I guess, especially the blue ones.

CH: What is city in the world have you never been to, but most want to visit?

YM: Once at my exibition opening my old friend who’s travelling a lot told me that the best city in the world is edinburgh, but I don’t care. :)

CH: You’ve been to Japan before. Any travel tips for someone who’s never been there?

YM: You should visit Kyoto, there is the real Japan, like they used to draw in illustrations. In Tokyo — Shibuya is the most popular place, and I fell in love with a park close to the Budokan Hall. In Tokyo we chose a Japanese freak from the crowd and followed him imperceptibly :). This way we found some interesting shops and streets.

CH: That’s great travel advice for any city. Thanks Yana!

Caption: “I Love Japan”

Yana’s Livejournal: http://ya-ya.livejournal.com
Yana’s Website: http://yaya.design.ru/

Posted by Nadya Lev on October 9th, 2007
Filed under Art, Interview