Maryna Reshetnikova (Dulska) - Children's Book Illustrator from Ukraine

May 15, 2023

Maryna Reshetnikova (Dulska) - Children's Book Illustrator from Ukraine

I want to introduce you to Ukrainian artist and children's book illustrator Maryna Reshetnikova (Dulska). Her paintings capture the atmosphere of the Ukrainian south with its endless seashores, cozy river banks, sunny fields, and unique people. And at the same time, her children's book illustrations portray different characters and fantasies created by various authors for children of all ages. They are full of realistic details, which create a fictional world full of magical animals and people who look alive and emotional.

Ukrainian sunflowers. Watercolor painting by Maryna Reshetnikova (Dulska)

Ukrainian sunflowers, 2019, Kherson, Ukraine

Maryna was born in 1961 in Kherson, Ukraine, and has been living there all her life until the beginning of the war in 2022. She studied at the mechanical engineering faculty and, after that graduation, worked as an engineer at the Kherson Machine-building Plant. But her true passion was art.

She studied painting independently from books and master classes, and she was inspired by classical artists, such as famous Ukrainian artist Oleksii Shovkunenko, Italian Renaissance painters Sandro Botticelli and Paolo Veronese, German painter and printmaker Albrecht Dürer, and others.

Maryna Reshetnikova (Dulska) watercolor self-portrait

Maryna Dulska (Reshetnikova), self-portrait, 2020

Since her childhood and youth, Maryna liked to draw portraits. Her family members became her models, and the portrait of her grandmother is the one she cherishes the most.

She constantly experiments with different techniques, from pencil drawing to oil painting, but lately, watercolor illustration has become her profession. Maryna chooses various materials to combine with watercolor to get the images that best fit the story she's illustrating.

In 2019 Maryna's illustrations were presented at the exhibition "The Shadow of Dream cast upon Giardini della Biennale" in the Ukrainian pavilion in Venice along with artworks of other talented Ukrainian artists.

Maryna left her job as an engineer and became a professional illustrator in 2012. She worked even during the occupation of Kherson by the Russian army in 2022 and after the evacuation to Odesa and later - to Montenegro, where she lives now.

So let me share with you some of her artworks and show the amazing Ukrainian nature and people portrayed by the artist. More pictures you can find on the artist's website or Instagram page @marinadulska.