About Me

Hello, my name is Yuliia and I'm an illustrator and surface pattern designer from Ukraine currently living in India with my husband Rohan and our cat Toothless.

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I graduated as an artist with a speciality in graphic design. So, I started my professional career as a graphic designer. After a few years of working in this field, I realised that my real passion was in illustrating, so, in 2012, I did the big thing, I left my job and started freelancing and moving towards illustration. And I love it!

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​Nature is one of my biggest inspirations and I'm an avid bird-watcher. I grew up surrounded by nature in the beautiful city Cherkasy with coniferous forests on the bank of a huge Dnipro river. Each summer I spent in the countryside, where together with my sister we were roaming and discovering nature the whole days. Nature is my home.

At one stage of my illustrator career, I realised that I want my art to be useful so that's how I decided to spread awareness about the environment through illustration.

Inspired to do this I take courses on ecology and environment to have needed knowledge to spread information through my art.

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Creating surface pattern designs is one of my passions and I always enjoy the process of drawing them. I love to draw detailed and busy patterns, sometimes funny and cute, but mainly about nature, especially animals and birds. I worked for various brands on apparel, fabric, home decor, accessories and stationery projects, and also for my own brand. 

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Among other, I have a great experience in creating illustrations for coloring books, magazines and also for apparel and mobile apps. I published my own coloring book as well.

I enjoy creating detailed illustrations, especially in zentangle and doodle styles with Ukrainian ornaments and symbols.

 

Drawing imaginary wonderworlds for kids is another kind of illustration I love to do. I like to fill in illustrations with cute and funny details so it's interesting for kids to look at the illustration and observe.

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My illustrations are often rooted in Ukrainian culture and filled with traditional ornaments and ancient symbols that create unique patterns. 

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I regularly do my professional development by taking classes on illustration and different art techniques, improving my skills and knowledge in the illustration field. In 2021 I won Domestika Scollarship and in 2023 I was awarded a Full Scholarship for Picture Book course by The Good Ship Illustration. It's such a great opportunity for professional growth! 

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I'm always happy to work on surface pattern designs, eco/wildlife illustrations, colouring books, and children's books.

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For work inquiries, or to say hello, please email me at yuliia.bahniuk@gmail.com

I look forward to working with you!