The perfect pictures contribute a unique charm to every single book;
Andrew Ostrovsky's artwork has fulfilled this role for our anthology, "Brechungswellen" (BreakingWaves).
In this interview he explains how his works of art are created.
Fascinated by Artwork
Not long time ago we found the colorful artwork from Andrew Ostrovsky. The artist, that lives now in America, has been fascinated by graphics and art all his life, therefore he has turned his
hobby into a career.
For poetry he has also a special love, that’s why he was willing to provide us his images for our anthology "Brechungswellen” (refraction waves).
At the following interview, Andrew told us how he gets inspirations for his designs.
SternenBlick in an Interview with Andrew Ostrovsky
You have a very large portfolio, if someone click through your website.
When did you start your artistic activities?
Andrew: "Every image in my portfolio was created in last 6 years, yet prior to that for a decade I was working as a commercial graphic designer."
Your pictures play with the digital art facility. What do you like about it?
And did you use sometimes the canvas to get a classical drawing experience?
Andrew: "Most elements of my images are created with a computer. The ability to explore multiple approaches, styles and variations without any additional expense or messiness of traditional media is number one reason to use their digital counterparts. Once in a while I use natural media to generate textures and colors that in their richness and character cannot be created by any software."
The images that you have provided to us for the book "Brechungswellen" (BreakingWaves)
are overflowing in colors and energy, at the same time there is often display of a broken
being (filigree, uncertain or internal duplication) at the center of the pictures.
What was your basic intention behind these series?
Andrew: "Both within myself and around me I see intermingling of what others separate into distinct selves, humans, animals, plants, objects. I believe that we have evolved to feel at home in the world full of spirits, ancestral voices, cultural memories and dreamscapes. "Where do we begin, where do others end?", "We need them to be ourselves", "Those others are true me" and similar notions appear nearly involuntarily in my designs and somewhat surprisingly attract followers to my work."
To be specific, the example of "Butterfly dreams". How long did it take you from
the initial idea to its final completion? What was your inspiration behind it?
Andrew: "The central idea that there is a small number of vividly archetypal symbols suitable for conceptual design occurred long time ago during my initial studies as a designer. Once you start recombining those symbols than human face and butterfly shape come up rather quickly (couple of hours of initial doodling) since what other two images can symbolize imagination any better? After that I would spend another couple of hours on various variations on the theme, trying to find more elegant or novel solutions. The final process of rendering with different color pallets, post-processing, etc., would take additional time, but in general a dozen or more images of that nature can be produced within a couple of days."
Furthermore, your series "Poetry Lines" caught our attention. You described it as "Spirit of Poetry".
What do you understand by Poetry and what role has Poetry in your life?
Andrew: "Poetry probably is the most important of all art forms for me by being so human on one hand (language) and so magical on another (sounds, rhythm, rhyme, imagery, emotion). And by Poetry I understand precisely that – the magic of spiritual and emotional worlds conveyed by means of human language. For better or for worse, poetry, rather than actual people is what provides stability, inspiration and support to me in my day to day existence."
I thank Andrew for the insights into his work. Many of his wonderful pictures and more
information can be found on his website: ags_andrew.prosite.com
