INTERVIEW | Iryna Bershadska
14 AIRBRUSH STEP BY STEP 03/19 E
was an old, pretty beat up van on this very parking lot. I
spontaneously thought it’d be great to bring it back to life
with my paintings, which I immediately suggested to the
owner of Moreland Choppers. It ended up that the van ac-
tually belonged to him. He didn’t initially think I was capa-
ble of such a big job and let me down nicely by saying he’d
contact me in three weeks, when the planned shop holiday
was over.Georg: He probably thought he’d never see you again,
right?Iryna: Yep, probably, but I was persistent - and was able to
start up with the job when all was said and done. But I had
to do a whole lot of preparation, including cleaning the
van, sanding, etc. I spent four months on the artwork alone.
The preparations lasted twice as long.Georg: And the result ended up being very convincing. Ter-
rific, I’m very impressed.Iryna: (Laughs) Thank you, the painting shows the shop, as
it was at the beginning, the bus, and also the family mem-
bers. I designed it in direct accordance with Ken’s wishes,
who is the owner of the vehicle.Georg: How do you go about working on such
a complex motif?Iryna: I usually create a draft with watercolors
or acrylics. For less elaborate motifs, I’m good
with a pencil drawing. Here, I can show you my
sketchbook.Georg: Your portfolio is just oozing with stuff. It
looks like you’ve had a lot more ideas than you
could possibly have time to create with your air-
brush.Iryna: Yes, that’s true. Sometimes, like when I’m on the
go and have an idea, I have to run home right away and
make a sketch.Georg: And that each time in color.Iryna: I also do some pinstriping, sometimes only in one or
two colors, i.e. silver and black. I create a pencil sketch first.
I then make my own stencils and cut them out of transpar-
ent paper (not adhesive foil) by hand. That way, I can use
them a second time. But I usually don’t (laughs), because I
don’t copy my own work. When I started up, I had to get
used to the American lacquers. That turned painting details
into quite a new challenge for me. In addition, their smell is
a lot more intense than anything I had known back home. I
have that feeling that they lead to more mist. But now I
know how to work pretty well with it.Georg: So, you’ve gotten used to them in the meantime?Iryna: I’m always happy. But whenever I’m not happy, I look
in the mirror and ask myself “What’s up with you?... No
idea?” Then I end up getting happy again (laughs).Georg: A truly admirable attitude. The first pieces of work
from you I saw were the surfboards you painted. Do you
surf too?Iryna at the beach park
with painted surf boards.
Iryna: “Surfing immediate-
ly became my dream.”14