«Three Lives of Vasika the Cat» is a little tale from «The Book About The Painting» series. The imaginary world is mixed up with real names, places, and facts from the history of art. The main goal of the book's collection is to invite children to discover the world of art and to find masterpieces and fascinating works at the famous Kyiv museums. Little readers may think about various questions while reading. Every museum visit might become a real quiz. What story might museums and galleries hide? Who are the main heroes in paintings and stories? Could we find a lot of rare details on the artists’ works or couldn’t we?
I created a set of illustrations about the little cat who tried three different lives, changed names and locations, survived at a cemetery and after a long way, he became a part of the family of a well-known painter. In the end, Vasika found his little nose in the painting Girl with a Cat. A portrait of the artist's daughter.
Animal characters were created with watercolor monotype technique and combined with digital drawn human characters and environment. There are some references to Kramskoy’s works: ‘Kramskoy Painting a Portrait of his Daughter’ and ‘Girl with a Cat’ that became a background for the plot of the story. I have never been to St.Peterburg but tried to add some sightseeing and details which are connected with that city. Enjoy! 🖤
P.S. You can find Vasiliy Kramskoy painting Girl With a Cat in the Kyiv National Art Gallery
(ex. Kyiv national museum of Russian art).
