Two names (and a pseudonym):
Anelia Pashova - APASH illustration
Introduce yourself in a few words:
In my head there are all kinds of animals and really a lot of dogs. I love to feel adventures, to be in the wild with my dog, but I feel cozy at home between the pages of interesting books. Drawing is a vital function of my existence.
What did you graduate from?
MA in Illustration, National Academy of Fine Arts Sofia
What is your professional experience so far?
Truly diverse - from calligraphy, design, prepress, filming, assembling videos, communicating with clients, creating and maintaining a website and online store, scientific illustration, children's illustration, and even inventing and creating finished author's products and entire books.
Tell us more about your work (style, technique, interests, way of working):
My style of work is classic - I use techniques such as pencil, watercolor, ink and tempera in my illustrations. The use of a tablet and computer is minimal. I find this way of working much more natural and close as a means of expression than if it were filtered in some way through a machine, which inevitably stiffens the drawing and the line. This “old school” is valuable nowadays because it is a disappearing species. The time and energy invested in such drawings is much more, it definitely cannot keep up with the pace of our lives, but it is not necessary, it has another purpose - to express something subtle and delicate.
My interests are entirely in animalistic illustration in any form - scientific illustration, classic portraits of domestic animals, book illustration, fictional personified animals and many others, with the main focus of my work being dogs.
Classical techniques are most suitable for this type of drawing, because they give you the opportunity to study the form and character of each creature through your hands, by breaking the image through your own style and vision.
Exhibitions/participations/performances/awards:
2008 – Second place in the National Drawing Competition, Sofia, Bulgaria
2013 – Solo exhibition “Scientific Illustration” at the National Museum of Natural History, Sofia, Bulgaria
2014 – First place in the T-shirt design competition, Open Days, Sofia, Bulgaria
2015 – Participation in the exhibition “The Great Comeback”, Sofia University, Sofia
2016 – Participation in the exhibition “Festival of Bulgarian Art”, Bratislava, Slovakia
2018 – Participation in the exhibition “The Ancient Forests of Bulgaria and Their Inhabitants”, DAPHNI, Natural History Museum, Sofia, Bulgaria
2018 – Participation in the exhibition “Birds in Europe”, DAPHNI, Regional History Museum, Sofia, Bulgaria
2018 – Participation in the Biennial of Illustration, Metropolitan Library, Sofia, Bulgaria
2020 – Participation in the exhibition "LOOK! Isolation" at Credo Bonum Gallery, Sofia, Bulgaria
2020 – Participation in the exhibition "Wild Sofia", DAPHNI, Regional Historical Museum, Sofia, Bulgaria
2020 – Participation in the Biennale of Illustration, RIM Triangle Tower Serdika, Sofia, Bulgaria
2021 – Solo exhibition Sketchbooks (2014-2021) - APASH illustration, Gifted Sofia, Bulgaria
2021 – Solo exhibition "Dog Kingdom playing cards", Regional Historical Museum, Sofia, Bulgaria
2021 – Participation in the exhibition "Book, Illustration and Printed Graphics" on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the Master's programs, National Academy of Arts Sofia, Bulgaria
2022 – Participation in the Biennale of Illustration, RIM Triangle Tower Serdika, Sofia, Bulgaria
2023 – First place in the competition "Birds of Prey", Green Balkans Stara Zagora, Bulgaria
2023 – Participation in the exhibition "Gifts of the Earth" - DAPHNE, Little Bird Place Gallery, Sofia, Bulgaria
2024 – Solo exhibition "Dog Kingdom playing cards", Embassy of the United States of America, Sofia, Bulgaria
2024 – Participation in the Biennale of Illustration, ROME Serdica Triangle Tower, organized by Bulgarian Illustration, Sofia, Bulgaria
2025 – Participation in the exhibition " IX Annual Exhibition of the Society of Animalists, Florists and Scientific Illustrators - DAPHNE ", Regional History Museum, Sofia, Bulgaria
2025 – Solo exhibition "BIRDS memo GAME", Fox Book Cafe Cultural Center, Sofia, Bulgaria
Illustrated works:
-“BIRDS memo GAME”- playing cards (2025, self-published),
-”I want a dog” (2024, Tochitsa Publishing House),
-“DOG KINGDOM”- playing cards (2022, self-published). ed.),
-“The Bearded Vulture Tonto” ( 2023, ed. Zeleni Balkani),
-”Where the Wind Lives” ( 2020, ed. Pokaji mi),
- “Dog Work” ( 2017, ed. Tochitsa),
-“The Treasures of Bulgaria” (2016, ed. Easy Art),
-“The Time of Lori” ( 2012, self. ed.)
Who is your favorite illustrator?
Sean Tan, Roger Olmos, Yasen Gyuzelev, Viktor Paunov, etc.
What is your favorite illustrated book?
At the moment it is “Tales from the Heart of the City” - Sean Tan, ed. Jeanette
What book do you dream of illustrating?
I would be happy to fill an encyclopedia about dogs or another animalistic publication with drawings. And why not play around with some fancy deck of TAROT cards?
But the truth is that I am already working on a personal artistic project that I really dream of realizing. The book is called “Chasing Shadows”, but I will not publish any more. I hope to be able to finish it in the next 2 years.
Website:
www.apash.bg
Facebook/Instagram/other: @apash.illustration
https://www.facebook.com/apash.illustration
https://www.instagram.com/apash.illustration/
https://www.youtube.com/@apashillustration
And here are some of Anelia's works...
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