I really enjoyed looking through Natasha’s Behance page. There isn’t a huge amount of work there, but it’s quality, not quantity, as every good portfolio should be. There is a nice playful innocence that comes through in every piece.

Anastasia is a Russian ‘hobbyist’ with a cute, rather polished style. She has some great pixel work for show in her gallery, as well as her traditional illustrations. It’s a shame I couldn’t find more information about her, but you can see more of her work. So it’s not all bad…

Sexy pin-up art can often be derogatory by its very nature, and even by pin-up standards Otto Von Todd pushes the boundaries at times. But then I’m not so sensitive, so I’m quite happy to appreciate the talent and skill involved to create illustration as good as this. His line-work feels effortlessly good, so natural and loose. I get the same feeling from his colours; he makes it look easy, like he has created something in twenty minutes which is better than something I would take a whole day to achieve. So sue me for being a little jealous! Pop over to his website and see more…

Russian pin-up king Waldemar Kozak was a nice find. His work is humorous, sexy and punchy. He is an incredibly talented painter and I believe he also uses airbrushing techniques. He uses typography on occasion, sparingly and well placed. I’m also impressed by the way he captures cars, planes and other machinery; he makes it look easy! I think Waldemar would make a great Bond movie poster, don’t you?

I highly recommended the short trip over to his website and hope you enjoy the long stay.

Dasha Tolstikova lives and works in New York. She is a doodler extraordinaire, creating all sorts of interesting work, such as her ‘Book of Lonely Children’ and her work in progress titled ’12: A Year Without Mom’, which looks intriguing and I’m sure will be a great piece of work. I’m not sure if her works are autobiographical at all, but she does pick interesting subject matter and you can feel some real truth coming through. Her style carries a child-like innocence, which is perfect for the type of subjects she draws. Her handwriting is adorable (quite an achievement if you consider she uses only capital letters).

Today we share the wonderful work of Russian illustrator Maria Menshikova. She works in various styles, though her black and white work stands out as something absolutely unique and incredible. I honestly can’t tell if she blends in photo-manipulation with traditional illustration, or if is all traditional hand-made work. The strong line-work alongside some soft tones and gritty textures works so well, the imagery doesn’t need colour to be powerful and exciting; it’s simply brilliant! I highly recommend visiting her website to sample every bit of her portfolio. Head on over…

Dima Je is a designer/illustrator based in Moscow, Russia. His illustrations feature in much of his designs, including packaging, invitations, posters and more. He uses letterpress, vector art and I believe also screen printing. Everything on his Behance portfolio looks amazing, but you can also see plenty more on his Dribbble page.