Speaking to Illustrator, Natali Smolova

Natali Smolova is a children’s book illustrator from the Ukrain who recently released a series of wall stickers with Azutura. Her work features adorable animals in her signature style; black and white with pops of colour.

In our latest interview, we caught up with Natali to discuss her work, her interest in art, her beautiful dog (pictured above) and much more. Keep reading to hear what she had to say and for a chance to see some of her stunning wall stickers.

Hi Natali, thanks for taking the time to speak to us. Can you start off by introducing yourself and telling us a little about your life?

Hello! I am a young illustrator from Ukraine. I confess that I have no art education, I am self-taught. By profession, I am an economist.

How and when did you first become interested in art?

As far back as I can remember, drawing has always been a part of my life. I always spent my pocket money on drawing books and all my school notebooks were painted.

What’s a typical day like in the life of Natali Smolova?

My morning starts with a glass of water and a delicious breakfast. Breakfast is my favourite meal! After walking the dog, I respond to emails and paint. It may be a new set of watercolours, or it may be work on a children's book.

In between, I have many snacks and rest. Time flies when you’re doing your favourite work, and it's already dinner time. My dog and I meet my husband from work and enjoy the evening together.

What tools do you use to create your illustrations?

Watercolour paper, synthetic and natural brushes, watercolours and coloured pencils. I use a scanner, graphic tablet and photoshop to process illustrations. Sometimes I paint on my iPad for a change.

Can you tell us about your creative process from how you come up with the initial idea through to the finished piece?

To start a new illustration, I always look for inspiration first. A walk in the woods with a dog, a delicious cake or a look on Pinterest - there are a lot of options. After that, I create some mini-sketches on paper.

After choosing the best option, I do a big sketch. Then, I move on to watercolour, adding layers step by step. To get the end result I add small details with coloured pencils.

Then comes the not so interesting stage - scanning the illustration and processing it in Photoshop. Here, I remove the background, making it transparent and adjust the colours. Then, done!

Your illustrations are generally black and white with pops of colour. Can you tell us how you developed this style?

I am constantly experimenting with materials, paints and tools. But from time to time, black and white pictures with coloured elements appear in my works. I fell in love with this style from a young age with those painted school notebooks.

What inspires your work?

Probably, other illustrators and authors, when I look at someone's incredible painting or touching drawing. This gives me a lot of ideas that rush to break out onto paper.

Many of your illustrations feature animals. What’s your favourite animal?

All animals are my favourite. It's true, as a child, I even kissed spiders!

You have an absolutely beautiful dog, Gerda (@gerda_woof). Can you tell us a little bit about her?

She is the love of our life. In winter, in severe frosts, some man just threw her into a snowdrift. We saw her photo on social networks, where kind people were looking for her home. We bought a bowl, leash, toys and just went to look at it, just to get to know her. But we couldn't go home without her.

And by the way, I was the first one she decided to kiss.

If you weren’t an illustrator, what career would you have loved?

I would be engaged in ceramics as I really love beautiful dishes. I am also very interested in the professions of archaeologist and palaeontologist.

What advice would you give to an aspiring illustrator?

Do not be afraid of a white sheet and make sure you draw a lot.

What’s the future looking like for you? Anything big on the horizon?

I have so many plans! One of them is to publish my own book for children, where I will be both an author and an illustrator.