How spouses-artists from Russia turned the minds of Germans about illustrations

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Today I would like to talk about book graphics as an art, and this despite the fact that in many countries this genre is considered not even third-rate. However, the Russians illustrators Olga and Andrey Dugin managed to convince the whole world that illustrations can be not only high art, but also masterpiece. And looking at their work, you are 100% convinced of this. It is not for nothing that the famous American star Madonna was entrusted to illustrate her book only for them, and it was not for nothing that Russian illustrators were invited to decorate the famous film "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban".

Indeed, in our time in many European countries, and first of all in Germany, book graphics are not considered art, they are located on the margins of the applied arts industry. And the illustrator himself is not even considered an artist at all, because what he creates on paper graphically is just someone else's thoughts, expressed in words. And therefore, at the present time in the publishing circles and among the illustrators themselves there are endless disputes about whether a book graphic should thoroughly follow the text, or has the right to deviate from the plot and express his own artistic idea of what he read. And while some are arguing, others, such as Andrei and Olga Dugin, create literally masterpiece illustrations for publishing houses around the world.

Unpredictable plot reversals, color harmony and saturation of the picture plane with the smallest details, emphasis on the traditions and technical skill of artists of the past centuries, multiplied by their own fantasies and sur - this is the "mix" that the viewer can find in the stunning creations of Andrey and Olga Dugin.

How it all began

Andrey Dugin (born 1955) is a native Muscovite, born into a family of famous actors Ninel Ternovskaya and Vyacheslav Dugin. The son did not follow in the footsteps of his parents, but, having an extraordinary gift for drawing, he learned the basics of painting with great interest, first at the Krasnopresnenskaya art school, and when he grew up he began to take private lessons from the famous Moscow artist Rostislav Barto. Then he was a student at the Moscow Art Institute named after V. I. Surikov, after graduating from which he taught at a children's art school for several years,

While still a student, Andrei Dugin wrote a lot, mainly in oil and most often portraits, and also collaborated with the children's magazine Pioneer, and after graduating from the university he worked for some time at the Soyuzmultfilm studio and taught young talents painting at an art school I studied myself. By the way, there he met his love, Olga Kotikova (born in 1964), who was his student, and later would become his wife.

Olga graduated from the Moscow Art College, worked as a designer for magazines and cinema, as well as an illustrator for Ladoga Publishing House.

In 1984 Andrey and Olga got married. Having become the head of the family, the artist did away with the cartoon activity, and focused on book graphics, which would later become the work of his whole life. But, in those distant 80s, although this hobby gave some freedom, in general it was a thankless job. There were practically no orders from publishers, paintings were also not on sale. Needless to say, those years in the life of a young family were not the best.

Spent a year on one illustration

And then one day luck smiled at Dugin, he received an order from the publishing house to illustrate Gogol's "Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka." Fired up with the idea of creating unique illustrations, Andrey and his wife took an inflatable boat, a tent and, going down from Mirgorod to Kremenchug along the Psel River, in three weeks of travel, they traveled around all the places of the Poltava region, which the classic described in his story. To soak up the spirit and atmosphere of that time, every day of their travels took place in search of the right nature: they photographed thatched roofs, local residents, rural farmsteads, ancient household items, and much more that could be useful to them in their work.

Returning to Moscow, Dugin set to work with great enthusiasm. However, it soon became clear that the work was progressing very slowly. Despite the fact that all the time was devoted to work, the artist managed to create only one illustration in a year.

Anticipating the reader's question, why did the illustrator take so much time, I want to note that the whole point is in the unique technique that Andrey chose for his work. The artist makes the underpainting of the picture with ordinary watercolors in a smooth manner in local colors. And then the fun begins, which is akin to Chinese torture. To achieve a smooth transition from dark to light and vice versa, the artist works with the thinnest brushes - in one hair and applies paint to the surface in a dotted manner, smoothly changing its shades. And as the artist himself notes, no simpler method gives such an amazing result like this one. And in general, among illustrators there is its own snobbery, it is believed that everything should be only handmade, real, no digital graphics.

Conquest of Europe

Well, of course, this turn of events did not suit the editor of the publishing house at all. The matter was going to the termination of the agreements, since the publication of the book was delayed. At this time, in 1987, the director of the German publishing house "Schreiber" Gerhard Schreiber visited Russia, who, seeing the drawings of the young artist, immediately invited the Dugins to Germany to create illustrations for the fairy tale "Kolobok".

Schreiber offered the illustrator a lucrative contract for three months and a paid apartment in Stuttgart, where Dugin was to design the German edition of Kolobok (the English folk tale Johnny Pie). His wife Olga, respectively, helped in the work, adding graceful decorative frames, which gave the illustrations a special charm. She was somewhat younger than the artist and took up professional illustration much later. While illustrating the first books, she was an apprentice with her husband. Step by step, she gained confidence and skill and today she has become a worthy successor.

World fame

Andrey performed his first work in Germany as an illustrator, not as an artist, that is, he literally reproduced the plot. Released in 1991 by a German publishing house, this book was later republished in translation in the USA, Spain, and Austria.

The next illustrated book by the Dugins was the fairy tale "Golden Dragon Feathers" (Germany. 1993), which in the design of Russian artists caused a furor in the publishing world. Following the Germans, "Golden Dragon Feathers" with graphic illustrations by Andrei and Olga decided to publish at once ten foreign publishing houses.

As critics and art historians noted at that time: "Andrey Dugin has properties that make him akin to a medieval miniaturist: he decorates a modern book with the same love as the old masters did …". Indeed, Dugin was very scrupulous about each of his works, he spent an enormous amount of time on each illustration. So, with Olga's help, Andrei illustrated one small book for about two years on average.

Their work has always been associated with searches, as in those distant times when they were just starting out. Before taking on sketches, Olga and Andrei sat for weeks in libraries, looking for and photocopying the necessary details of clothing, everyday life, and the era.

Their painstaking work was appreciated not only in publishing circles, but also by the readers themselves, who are delighted with extraordinary, rethought illustrations in the style of surrealism. So in 2007, the Dugins were awarded the Gold Medal of the US Society of Illustrators for illustrations to the Brothers Grimm fairy tale "The Brave Tailor", on which they worked for almost seven years. It was thanks to this book that the Dugins were recognized in Hollywood.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Project

There was one more "star" story in the biography of artists. In 2002 they were invited … to Hollywood, as production designers of the film "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban". True, the shooting took place not in Hollywood itself, but near London. Russian artists, having arrived at the studio and found themselves on the sets located in huge hangars, were deeply shocked by the scenery they saw. The spouses were given the task to come up with the necessary props for filming, namely a time machine, magic wands, pendants moving in time. The task before them was to create as many absolutely crazy, surreal ideas as possible, and they coped with it with dignity. But unfortunately, not everything that was done by the artists was included in the film, although much can be seen on the screen.

So, for example, Andrei came up with how a griffin can effectively take acceleration: his front legs should have been eagle's, and his hind legs should have been horse ones. He also fantasized such a spectacular candle-spine. During the work, the film crew pretty much had to torment themselves over the image of the evil aunt Marge, who insults Harry, and he, in turn, makes her swell with spells. And then Dugin's quick-wittedness came to the rescue, who recalled how bad-quality balloons produced in the Soviet Union were inflated not at the same time, but with some kind of mounds. This idea also entered the film.

The book of the Madonna illustrated by the Dugins

But this is not all the miracles in the Dugins' career. Once in the Stuttgart apartment, the artists got a call and offered to illustrate the book of Madonna. Andrei immediately refused the offer, since he remembered well from his own past experience how hard it can be to work with celebrities. However, on reflection, he bargained about the fee with the singer's agents and agreed. At the same time, putting forward the condition that there will be no sketches, but there will be ready-made works immediately. By the way, the material itself turned out to be excellent for illustration. Madonna's tale "The Adventures of Abdi" was full of events and images, so it immediately captivated the artists. And when the work was completed after two and a half years of painstaking work, Madonna could not find words of gratitude, so she was delighted with the illustrations of Russian masters.

Today, artists still live and work fruitfully in Germany, and the books illustrated by them have been translated into many languages and published in Europe, America and Japan.

However, in recent years Olga has already independently illustrated The Love for Three Oranges for a publishing house in Esslingen, and Andrei, after working on Hamlet, decided to “quit” with book graphics for health reasons. Sedentary, painstaking and monotonous work for 6-8 years on the publication made itself felt. Therefore, the artist now gladly agreed to work on various advertisements for world-renowned companies, which provide the artist with complete freedom of action.

And returning to Gogol's "Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka", I would like to note that over the entire almost two hundred-year history, this immortal masterpiece has been published about a hundred times. AND each edition was illustrated by artists, which gave it a unique, magical flavor, as you can see for yourself.