BORNONAREMOTERUSSIANPENINSULA,NATALIKAYUROVA
BRINGSARUSTICMAGICTOHERDIGITALPAINTING
DRAWING FROM
THE SOUL
READER INTERVIEW DRAWING FROM THE SOUL
OUR READER
All article images © Natali KayurovaNATALI KAYUROVA
advancedphotoshop.co.uk/
user/SantellaN
atali Kayurova’s digital art is founded on
her early childhood memories of growing
up in the incredible landscapes of Eastern
Russia. Kayurova has been trying to
re-capture the astonishing scenes of her first home
ever since, and in doing so has introduced a
breathtaking sense of wonder and magical charm
into her digital paintings.HOW DID YOU BECOME AN ARTIST?
My story began in a world completely different from our
modern one. When I was born, 22 years ago, the stars
formed a big letter N in the sky so my parents called
me Natali. When I was a child, I was surrounded by
marvellous mountains, geysers and valleys, there was
always an endless sky above my head, which I felt like I
might drown in. The name of this tiny planet was
Kamchatka [an Eastern Russian peninsula]. My family
moved to the big city where the concrete jungle
atmosphere was drastically different from the sense offreedom, lightness and infinite space around me in
Kamchatka. And only by drawing was I able to return
myself into that world. Since then I found myself
attracted by the world of art. Gradually I began to draw
portraits, still life and simple landscapes.
I often visited some plein air sessions with a
professional artist. When I asked her how she drew,
she wasn’t able to explain a thing, so she let me
watch the process. I realised that one of the key
factors for learning is watching. So I would watch
the way she handled the paper and the way she
drew the lines. I started to do my own sketches,
which got better and better over time, and after a
while, the artist joined me in plein air sessions just
to watch the process of my work.HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR STYLE?
I like oil paintings because you can feel the texture of
the picture and see every line made by an artist. In the
sphere of digital art, generally, it is uncommon, so IDog Fin: “Now I’m not doing freelance,
I drew a series of personal works that tell [a story] about the beautiful world
in which I lived,” says Kayurova