"WOLF" Through the Eyes of Artists

On April 12, the ArtPrichal gallery hosted an exhibition of artistic works by the winners of the “Draw a Wolf” competition, organized by the All-Ukrainian network “Wolf Printing House”. The competition was held from February 10 to March 15, and every drawing resident of Ukraine could take part.

The very idea of ​​holding such a competition belongs to the marketing specialist at Printing House Wolf Oksana Pobozha. “I love to draw,” says Oksana, “even though I do it unprofessionally. And I thought that probably everyone loves to draw, regardless of skill level. So why not give people such a good reason to pick up a brush or pencil?

The exhibition in the gallery featured the works of 35 finalists of the competition. A ceremony was also held to present prizes to the winners. Initially, the organizers planned to choose only one winner and runner-up, but the huge number of worthy works put them at a dead end. Therefore, 3 prizes were awarded, and 3 prize nominations were also allocated: “The Most Creative Designer”, “Audience Award” and “The Youngest Artist”. The first nominee, 25-year-old resident of the capital Alexander Kramar, proved himself not only as an artist, but also as a talented marketer, submitting seven design works to the competition. The second nomination was determined by the author’s popularity on social networks. The winner of the audience award - a feminine mp3 player - was a girl named Rosa Gontar from the city of Donetsk, known on social networks as Rosa M. The jury was inspired to create the third nomination by the active participation of children in the competition - after all, it’s wonderful when a person from a young age gets involved in art. The winner in this category was seven-year-old Kiev resident Artem Khorev. Like the two adult nominees, the boy was given an mp3 player.

According to the Wolf Printing House marketer, the three prizes took a long time to determine, and the jury did not immediately come to a unanimous decision. There were a lot of works, all done with different techniques and in different styles. After all, the requirements set by the organizers - the image of a wolf and the presence of the color orange - leave enormous space for the imagination. Oksana Pobozhaya explained that the requirement to use orange has nothing to do with the company logo and the desire to change it - this is a kind of guarantee that the drawing will be made specifically for the competition.

The second and third prize winners received a gift memorable designer souvenirs with the company logo, as well as the opportunity to order a T-shirt with your photo printed for free. Anna Senyuk, who took second place, was unable to come to the award ceremony, but I was able to talk with the winner of the third prize, Lyudmila Shovkoplyas. An eighteen-year-old student, a future programmer and computer graphics designer, expressed a great passion for technology in her robot wolf. The winner of the competition, 22-year-old Ksenia Shaposhnichenko, who specially came to the capital from the city of Konotop (Sumy region) for the award ceremony, also shared the “philosophy” of her work. “My work is done in graphics, using a capillary,” says the artist. “I love this technique because it conveys fine details well that are not immediately noticeable, but are visible only if you look closely at the play of light and shadow.” Ksenia studies at Nizhyn State University named after. Nikolai Gogol, where she studies foreign languages, and drawing is her life’s hobby. “I’ve been drawing since I was a baby,” Ksenia shared. “It’s hereditary: my grandfather also drew, and my mother is an artist and designer. There is someone to teach me, and, besides, I study at the White Crow art studio. The artist’s talent and work were duly rewarded: the main prize of the competition was the Asus MeMO Pad 10 ME102A 16GB tablet.

There were many worthy works, and it was not easy to choose even six winners from thirty-five finalists. “Therefore,” says Oksana Pobozhnaya, “we decided to increase the prize fund and reward all the finalists of the art competition. They will receive T-shirts with prints of their competition works and diplomas of the participants.”

The competition helped unknown authors to realize themselves and express themselves for the first time. I was pleased that the best drawings were the work of students and young people, which means that Ukrainian youth are active and talented. And if so, then bringing art to the masses is one of the tasks of modern society. It is not surprising that Typography Wolf took on this task, because its activities are also a kind of art.

Prepared by Lyudmila Marchenko