About Mitya Ka
First place winner of Fine Art Fantasy category
Mitya Ka was born in 1983 in Ukraine to the artist's family. Since childhood, he has wanted to create unusual, realistic paintings. Through the paintings the creator conveys the beauty and harmony of this world its divine majesty, multidimensionality and love. The paintings inspire people to open their hearts to light. To love the nature of this world, to love the planet Earth.
The paintings are painted in acrylic, airbrushing, watercolor, oil and pencil techniques. The author's paintings are in private collections around the world. He is a participant in international art exhibitions.
Winner’s Interview
1. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself, what is your background? When did you start airbrushing and what was the learning process like for you?
I was born into a family of painters. My father preferred pastosely oil painting. But sometimes he worked with a Soviet airbrush "Eton". I became interested in airbrushing back then. I've been painting with different materials since I was a kid. Now I paint mostly acrylics and watercolors with airbrush. I learnt to paint on my own by studying paint techniques from artists of past eras as well as contemporary artists.
2. Can you tell us a bit more about your winning entry piece? How / why did you choose it? How long did it take, and what inspired you?
I wanted to paint a picture that would be unusual for me, both in its content and composition. When I painted this painting, I wanted to combine a distant time period with the present day. To make it seem that the painting was painted centuries ago and now at the same time. The characters in this painting are linked to archtypical human symbols and can touch the subtle strings of the subconscious connected to the collective unconscious. I chose this painting as it is quite unusual and also corresponds to the theme of the exhibition as it has symbols of creation of our universe. During a year or maybe a little bit more the picture was created from time to time. I was inspired to write this picture by the aspiration of man to realise his true nature.
We don't have much time on earth to answer the questions: Who am I? Why am I here? Where am I going? These are fundamental questions that every seeker must answer.
3. What challenges did you encounter during the creation of this piece? What is your favorite part of the work, and why? What airbrush techniques did you use in this creation?
Finding the time to create this piece was a challenge for me. I like all parts of the painting, they complement each other. I asked my friends who had seen the painting live what they thought of it, some of them were trying to appreciate the individual segments of the painting and create a story. Some of them told me there was no need to give it any appreciation and just immersed themselves in it, meditating. The latter are the closest to my vision. But if you look at the painting on the monitor, it can be interesting with its individual fragments.
​
This layered acrylic painting is mostly airbrushed, I used stencils, masks, scratching, and small accents applied with a brush. The texture of the first layers was created with texture paste and paint using a palette knife.
"For me, airbrushing is a tool that gives me the opportunity to show the world the beauty and evolution of art."
4. What does airbrushing mean to you and what drives your passion for airbrushing and creating art? Also, how do you find the ideas for your other works?
For me, airbrushing is a tool that gives me the opportunity to show the world the beauty and evolution of art. Ideas come in different ways - it can be photographs, paintings by masters, nature, people, movies, dreams. Sometimes an idea takes a long time to come up in the fall, sometimes instantly.
5. What are your goals / targets for airbrushing? What do you want to achieve?
I like the process of creating a picture: smooth tonal and light transitions sometimes combined with sharp and curved lines. Above all the airbrush allows to create airiness and lightness of images and forms. I believe that in art there is no final goal, but only a way and spontaneity and love for art.
6. Do you specialize or prefer to work on a specific surface?
I work mostly on canvas and paper, sometimes pre-creating acrylic backing and texture.
7. How would you describe your style(s) in airbrushing?
I prefer to work in fantasy realism.
8. Any advice to beginners looking to start airbrushing? What would you tell your young self?
For artists who want to try their hand at airbrushing, I advise them to buy a quality tool first of all. Learn to paint with an airbrush and use your own mistakes and successes to achieve success.
