Victoria Fomina — Award-Winning Storybook Illustrator

Naïve, folksy, but with a classical edge, Victoria Fomina’s paintings make viewers want to jump down the rabbit hole with her into a charmingly surreal world of detail and colour, crafted in the artist’s unique style. Vastly experienced, she has illustrated over 40 books for leading publishers, from classic fairy tales and novels to biographies of the great composers.

Clients love the dedicated and imaginative way Victoria interprets each brief. No detail is too small as she explores new visual metaphors, adding value to the projects she works on. Victoria is inspired by great artists like da Vinci, Vermeer and Klimt. She loves painting en plien air in the cherry orchard near her home.

Approach

When Victoria receives a brief she dives into the story and surrounds herself with relevant illustrations, postcards, photos, shells, flowers and more to set the perfect tone. She works with watercolour, gouache and acrylic – fluid media that allow for great spontaneity.

Styles

Combining the avant-garde with the traditional, Victoria varies her style depending on the content of the book she’s working on. For a classic or historical narrative she may lean towards a gothic or rococo look, or she might use Pop Art or collage techniques to generate something more contemporary.

Awards

1998 – The Golden Ostap – First prize 1999 – Golden Pen of Belgrade – First prize 2003 – Golden Apple, Bratislava – First prize 2017 – Global Illustration Awards, Frankfurt – Gold 2019 – Nami Concours, South Korea – Purple Island Award 2019 – BookILL Fest, Serbia – Special award 2020 - Nomination for The Hans Christian Andersen Award 2021 - International Competition Image of the Book, Russia - Winner 2021 - American Illustration 40 - Winner

Client list

Victoria works for clients around the world including Gallimard Jeunesse, Penguin Random House, Kingfisher, Rizzoli, Grimm Press, Samsung, JFEP, Pan Press, Vogue and Woongjin.