Sketches of Slavic Fairy Tales

Slavorum posted a wonderful article where they displayed the artwork of Russian artist ROMAN ‘AMOK’ PAPSUEV. It is his interpretation of Slavic mythological beings. Some of these are Russian, and some belong to other Slavic traditions. I’ll post some of his art here, but to see more, go to Slavorum or Roman’s main site.

I’m not claiming that these are EXACT interpretations of Slavic fairy tales. This is the artist’s creative rendition.

In his free time Russian illustrator Roman Papsuev ( @amokrus ) creates amazing sketches influenced by Russian and Slavic folk tales. Characters of Slavic & Russian folklore are redesigned in modern gaming-fantasy style. //Baba Yaga

The first drawings were created on the author’s thoughts and fantasies. He began, of course, with folk character Ilya Muromets — the main Russian epic hero and the strongest bogatyr or warrior: “On his belt hangs a bottle of dead water that heals wounds.”

Alyosha Popovich, third most important Russian hero. // The more the author got immersed in the subject, the more accurate his pictures became. He began to reread the tales and study the works of famous folklorists.

“What I like most is when people look at my pictures and then begin to read the tales and understand why, for instance, Vasilisa the Beautiful has a doll in her bag or why Vodyanoy rides a giant catfish. This grassroots revival of ancient folklore through my humble project gives me great pleasure.” // Vasilisa the Beautiful

Leshy, the forest guardian, is more radically minded than Lesovik, another woodland sprite. “His ‘dead’ right eye is usually larger than his normal left. His beard and hair are grey. His hands and feet are covered with fur. On the belt you can see trophies — the skull of a lost traveller, a drinking horn, a bast shoe. He collects them.”

FOR MORE PICTURES

SLAVORUM

ROMAN ‘AMOK’ PAPSUEV