Jenya Lobanova

 

Jenya Lobanova pen and ink black-and-white illustrations from her book 'The Adventures of Wilson Fur: Journey to the Island of Volcanoes'.

"First of all, I never imagined that I would write stories. I’ve always considered myself an artist rather than a writer, but life pushed me to learn some new skills (though that’s a story for another time!).

I had already written this book, but there was one problem: I wasn’t happy with the illustrations I was creating for it. No matter what I tried, they just didn’t feel right. As a result, the unfinished project sat untouched for an entire year.

Then, during a holiday trip, I took a sketchbook and a few ink pens with me to make nature sketches. And suddenly—everything clicked! I realized that this was exactly how the illustrations for Wilson Fur should look: black-and-white ink drawings.

That simple discovery brought the story back to life and finally allowed me to finish the book.

Funny how sometimes the solution appears when you stop looking for it." Jenya Lobanova