Fiodor Fake Interview

Opera78 is the creative studio run by Amsterdam based illustrator Fiodor Sumkin.

"Mr. Sumkin's art is a synergistic blend of lovingly crafted pen & ink watercolors with biting social commentary. Although his typographical work belies the influence of Gothic, Art Nouveau, Wes Wilson and others, Mr. Sumkin remains deliciously unique. One would be hard pressed to chose between his exquisitely designed type and his fresh style of editorial & advertising illustration. Fortunately, they compliment each other beautifully."

Background

Back in Soviet Union, my mother was employed as an art teacher; her painting and books were my earliest encounters with the subject. Aged four, I had already appropriated her art supplies for my own painting.

Skills and Techniques

Since my earliest childhood scribbles, it has evolved from pure lines to a more realistic style mixed with various other elements. I still consider classical training an important basis for future development. Naturally, it can only ever be a springboard, but it helps. I have a great respect for traditional skills, craft and art. Everything I do starts with just pen and paper; I only use the computer to piece everything together at the end. I spent endless hours drawing fonts and trying out new ways of creating type. This laborious trail and errors approach really helped to shape my style.

Inspiration and Influences

Since I enjoy so many different things, it would be hard to single out particular. Current sources of inspiration include patterns, eBay, picture books from the 1960's and 70's, American picture book from 1880-1910, volumes on typography, art, design, architecture, photography... I have always tried to keep a very open mind, and thus, my diverse interests and influences encompass natural sciences, history and metaphysics as well as cinema and music. In terms of visual culture, I truly admire the work of David Lynch, Bernardo Bertolucci, Victor Moscoso, George Dunning and Takashi Murakami, to name just a few.

Featured work

The work featured here shows a mix of client commissions and exhibition pieces. Whatever I do, I just try to keep working as hard as I can and create the best possible pice of work. At the same time, I continue to explore other technique, e. g. rough and simple black and white drawings with old victorian typefaces.



The Real Interview will be soon. Fiodor feels his time would be better spent doing his job than doing interviews.