“I always read books about animals, I wanted to live in harmony with and always be close to the animal world.” Says Irina
Kukrusova Irina Sergeyevna. An artist whose main interest is in depicting animals. She works with water colours and soft pastels.
Irina did not train to become a professional artist. Her profession was an engineer of industrial buildings and structures. She had worked as a civil engineer for many years. But her love for animals and fine arts has gradually evolved into a profession.
She paints portraits of dogs and cats, including those for professional experts in the field of cynology as well as for well-known breeders. Her works are in many countries of the world.
The main material she uses is soft pastels because mastery of water colors eluded her for some time. Working with oils at home, in the absence of a dedicated studio, is impractical and so she took up soft pastels.
“All that you see is my own technique of depicting animals. I have never taken courses for painting with soft pastels. I attended numerous master classes and tutorials which allowed me to tame water colors and begin to work in my own authentic style and manner”
The distinguishing feature of portraits drawn by Ira Kukrusova is in capturing the exact likeness. Every time she paints it is not merely an abstract representation of a breed, not just a generic tiger or any other cat. Ira conveys the personality and character with stunning realism, the animals really come alive.
“Drawing animals to me means the opportunity to show all those who inspire me and those I feel close to. As a child I wanted to become a vet. I always read books about animals, I wanted to live in harmony with and always be close to the animal world” But the artist felt it was next to impossible for her. “Combining this love for the animals and my ability to paint has resulted in what you can see in my artwork” says Irina
She also says that “I would love to be able to actually paint animals into being, so that I could save all those who are on the verge of extinction. If my work makes at least one person on the planet think about the future of our planet, it makes everything worthwhile.
When I paint commission portraits for other people, we keep their memories alive. I help them to keep their beautiful memories about the moments they spent with their pets. Perhaps, this is exactly where the magic of fine arts is. When I teach other people who paint along with me, I try to convey my knowledge of animals, not just anatomy or photo realism but capturing the character so that my students can paint a true likeness”
