Lera Kiryakova, a 2D artist, and freelance illustrator is an incredibly talented Russian artist, whose adorable cartoons of celebrities and other characters have catapulted her to fame. What sets her cartoons apart is her emphasis on the eyes and other facial features, which she loves to exaggerate.
This accomplished artist and illustrator, based in Tula, Russia, graduated from Tula State University, Tula Oblast, Russia, and has been involved in digital illustration since 2010. Her desire to share her skills has prompted her to get involved in the online teaching of her craft.
Lera’s feather in the cap is her amazing cartoons of famous people. She has the gift of highlighting the features and intricate details that make her subjects most recognizable. She not only makes celebrity portraits but also recreates photographs in the form of cartoons. However, her favorite remains children movie heroes.
It all started when this mother-of-two posted her first sketch of an owl on Instagram, which was very well received. This encouraged her to continue in this line and make cartoons of famous people. She started working with pen and ink but also experimented with other mediums, such as pencils, markers, watercolor, oil, and whatever she can lay her hands on. And she seems to have mastered them all!
It wasn’t long before Lera entered the digital world and started creating beautiful drawings with Adobe Photoshop on her Wacom tablet. She has to her credit drawing Millie Bobby Brown character from Stranger Things for two consecutive years – 2016 and 2017. She has also authored a book titled ‘Copic Markers Portrait’.
Lera is currently involved in teaching her unique style of digital portraits on kalachevaschool.com. She also shares her work process through YouTube tutorials. You can find most of her creations on her Instagram page, where she enjoys a following of over 350,000 fans.
See some of her creations below:
Lera Kiryakova
