Saturday, 12 February 2011

Viktoria Prischedko (and Slawa too) - Wonderful Artists

This last week I received an e-mail advertising a new book from someone called Kees van Aalst, published by Search Press. The title is `Realistic Abstracts' and the cover had a stunning painting which turned out to be by Viktoria Prischedko. I'd never heard of her but intrigued started `googling'. 
I soon discovered her and her husband's gallery:  www.prischedko.de/  I assume he is her husband. Both are fabulous painters, she paints in watercolour and so may he but I'm not certain. Their styles are different but both paint realistic abstracts. This term defines an abstract painting with some areas of realism. At least that's how I interpret it. I also discovered another site which is an academy in France that runs painting courses where she features this year. It had  another stunning array of her paintings. http://www.mdperrot.com/page-peintre-en-38-prischedko.html

Watercolour by Viktoria Prischedko

Viktoria's Demo

I haven't got permission to post either of these but if asked to do so will remove one or both. As I'm giving both her and MD Perrot a plug perhaps they won't mind.

Apparently Viktoria was born in Moldavia and now lives in Germany. One of the results obtained when I googled her was a link to EPC in Catalonia, where I had the pleasure of painting on a Charles Reid course in 2008. She was a tutor on a course EPC held in Girona and the course notes indicated there would be a German translator present, so I take that to suggest she may not speak English. She appears to be a plein air painter.

The Moulin de Perrot (Academy of fine arts)  say , in the notes about her course, `you will be able to buy from Viktoria the paper and brushes she uses. `Hereafter is a list of what she recommends':

1-Paper-Hahnemuhle 600g 50 x 60cm

2-Brushes-Da Vinci No12,14,20 and 30. Also Schlepper Nos 6 or 8.

3-Colours- lemon yellow, green yellow, transparent orange, perylene violet, French ultramarine and indigo blue.

Regarding paper Hahnemuhle is sold by several UK outlets but I can't find a 600gsm paper in either Jacksons or Great Art so that remains a bit of a mystery. The brush list doesn't specify the exact Da Vinci brush but judging by the sizes quoted it  may be the Cosmotop Mix B round. I've never heard of Schlepper. Note added 17/02/011: Ken Bromley's latest catalogue just arrived lists Hahnemuhle "Leonardo" in 640gsm (300lb) with both Not and Rough surfaces on offer. Price is £26.60p for a pack of five 76cm x 56cm (30" x 22") sheets.  http://www.artsupplies.co.uk/
Colours? Only 6 incredible as that seems given the brilliant colour range in her paintings. If true certainly a great advert for a limited palette. What make(s) does she use? It appears almost certainly to be Windsor & Newton. I'm assuming these are watercolours as the course is called "Watercolor - the lyric magic of landscapes'. Incidentally if you go on the Moulin de Perrot site it looks a fabulous location. The prices seem reasonable but I imagine you'd need to speak French.

As far as I know this artist has written no books (so far) but to my mind illustrates just how many wonderful artists are out there waiting to be discovered. Obviously she is well known on the Continent but not yet in the UK. Her husband Slawa is also a terrific artist with a different more subdued style and a fantastic way with portraits, again combining abstraction with realism. With young British artists like Jean Haines www.jeanhaines.co.uk/ and Kaye Parmenter  www.kayeparmenter.co.uk/ also painting in this abstract/realism style I wonder if we are seeing a new trend?
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14 comments:

  1. hap12 February 2011 at 07:36

    Peter! She is indeed very talented!! Lovely vibrant range in both images you share!! I wonder though...I'm still quite a novice at color mixing so I'm wondering. With the limited palette she lists what do you do to get that color (looks like cobalt teal blue to me) in the foreground? To my mind...the indigo is too "grey" and the french ultramarine is too "red" to end up with that color...can you help me a bit in understanding (or guessing) how she ended up with that lovely color?

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  2. Peter Ward12 February 2011 at 11:47

    Your guess is as good as mine Hap. To start I'm not certain what make(s) of paint she is using. I suspected W & N but what about green yellow and transparent orange? W & N don't have paints under these names although green gold might fit one and Windsor orange the other.
    As for indigo it depends who makes it and what's in it. For instance W&N indigo is PBk6, PV19 and PB15, a black, red and blue. The Maimeri version is PB27(prussian blue) and PBk7 carbon black. Daler Rowney's version is PB15,PBk7 and PV19 a slightly different mix to W & N. Then we have Daniel Smith with PB60 indanthrone blue and PBk6 and so on. None are identical across manufacturers. Graham doesn't bother with an Indigo because if you list a couple of blacks (which they do) then you just mix them with a blue and hey ho Indigo! It's a convenience paint. As for ultramarine you have at least three and possibly more versions. French Ultramarine, Ultramarine Light, Ultramarine Deep and also green and red shades! I was surprised when I saw what a limited palette she has, if the information is correct.

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  3. Unknown15 February 2011 at 14:46

    Great find Peter, some lovely work. Now where's that photograph for Feb's project.

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  4. Peter Ward16 February 2011 at 03:39

    Thanks Mick. Her approach certainly gives food for thought.

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  5. Kym Swan5 July 2011 at 02:37

    Hi Peter,
    Stumbled on your blog when i typed in Viktoria's name in Google.I spotted her work in the book Realistic Abstracts and was blown away! I'm very much a 'true to life' painter but have always had the desire to abandon precision and detail for abstract feeling and expression; but never had the guts to try (it doesn't help that i wouldn't know where to start with watercolour)but i find Viktoria's art so inspiring that i will pursue this line of enquiry! Thank you for your blog, it has been both informative and enlightning.

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  6. Peter Ward5 July 2011 at 02:55

    Welcome Kym and thank you for those comments. She is indeed a wonderful artist but difficult to emulate (I think!)...

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  7. Anonymous19 July 2011 at 04:15

    Thank you for the information on V.P. I also find her great.
    Schlepper is the german word for "rigger brush".

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  8. Peter Ward21 July 2011 at 09:52

    So thats what Schlepper means. Thanks fot the info.

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  9. Homa22 January 2012 at 13:41

    Many thanks Peter for providing us many usefull information about Viktoria Prischedko.
    Would you please give me some instructions about her technique too.
    Am I right about her teqniue that she works on a wet paper and uses wet-on-wet technique, obviously? I think she goes with three phases- in the first phase she layes an undertone. She dries the painting between two phases. Then she wet the painting once more, except the areas that she wants to have in sharp edge ,or show under tone. At the third phase she paints details.
    Your help in giving me some hints about her style is very appreciated.

    Many thanks
    Homa

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  10. Peter Ward22 January 2012 at 14:59

    Thanks for visiting Homa. If you look at the April 2011 post you'll find the information you require.

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  11. martha4 August 2012 at 14:50

    that's great info, especially on the paper :)
    I only wish Slawa had copies up for sale somewhere, I love his portraits :(

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  12. Peter Ward5 August 2012 at 00:48

    Welcome Martha. Yes he is a great portrait artist.

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  13. Unknown19 November 2012 at 14:09

    Last Weekend (18/11/2012)I followed a Masterclass for two days with Vicotia. She does have a book about her drawing aswell from her husband Slawaand sells it in class! Beautifull!

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  14. Peter Ward19 November 2012 at 14:51

    Thank you for comments Myriam. Lucky you to take a Masterclass with her!

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