8UkrainianIllustratorsThatWillAmazeYou
Ukrainian illustrators impress! They receive international awards and recognition, and every year millions of books illustrated by talented Ukrainians are published in the world. Read more about world-famous illustrators from Ukraine below.
Agrafka creative studio is young, but already one of the most recognized in Ukraine. Its illustrators and founders are Romana Romanyshyn and Andriy Lesiv. They often experiment with technique, colour and form in their works, which are a true pleasure for the eye. Within the last few years, Agrafka studio has won numerous awards in Ukraine and abroad. Actually, no surprise!
In 2017, at the Bologna exhibition, a Ukrainian entered the top 75 best illustrators in the world. It was Anna Sarvira! After that, her talent is repeatedly recognized, and Anna’s works travel with exhibitions all over the world. She creates illustrations both for children’s books and social projects. Being a diligent promoter of Ukrainian illustration globally, she also became a co-founder of the Pictoric club of illustrators.
The illustration legend Kost Lavro has been creating unique masterpieces that motivate people to read more for almost 30 years. His classic images of animals are now favourite ones among millions of children. Almost every Ukrainian will recognize the master’s signature on his book’s covers, which you can also find in the USA, Switzerland and France.
The charming inhabitants of the forest called Tukoni were created by Oksana Bula from Lviv. She launched her own series of storybooks about Tukoni animals in 2016. The publication was successfully shown at many world festivals, posted in Google Play and even became a prototype for a computer game.
Oksana Drachkovska collaborates with nine publishers and is known as a nominee for the 55th Bologna Exhibition of Illustrators in 2021. She started as a monumental artist but later focused on children’s books. Oksana calls travel and nature her greatest inspiration when she can discover new countries and people.
Polina Doroshenko’s most famous illustration work is the characters of Lesya Ukrainka’s “Forest Song”. The book entered the world catalogue of children’s books “The White Ravens-2014”. Here is Polina’s victory list: the final of the Italian Silent book contest and the nomination in the list of children’s books of the year by the BBC 2020 award. Polina’s essential credo is a new look at the classics and its rethinking.
If you are a fan of big printed media covers, then Sergiy Maidukov’s illustrations will surely inspire you. Sergiy is working for The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, The Financial Times, Esquire. He was the one who created the Doodle for Ukraine’s Independence Day in 2017 in cooperation with Google. With illustrations for books, events and even buildings, Sergiy Maidukov makes Ukrainian graphics and cubism famous all over the world.
You can watch Vladyslav Yerko’s works literally forever – the longer you look, the more you see. Thanks to him, every reader can feel the atmosphere of the works of Paolo Coelho, as the writer considers Yerko the best illustrator of his own works. And Yerko’s “The Snow Queen” has been given out in many countries around the world: from the UK to South Korea and Australia. Almost every children’s book with colour illustrations by Vladyslav Yerko has won prizes at Ukrainian book fairs and awards.
Eager to know more? Here is a detailed catalogue of talented Ukrainian illustrators. Be aware not to get hypnotized by their fantastic works!
Mariia Skuibyd and Kateryna Danylovych
This list of illustrators does not constitute a ranking.
