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I love tales where a line between reality and imagination is almost erased, like in childhood. If we ask children about miracles, they might deny this idea, but even the desire to look smart and adult would not stop a child from peering into the grass near the path to see a gnome or a fairy.

Likewise, I love peering into reality, looking for a mystery. This is why I'd call my style realistic fantasy. My favorite medium - colored pencils - expresses my feelings in the best way. My drawings are full of colors and air. They breathe, and the white light leaks out through the net of small pencil strokes just as grace is tangible through the ordinary things in our habitual, material world.

Olya (Olha) Tkachenko 

Illustrator

Olya Tkachenko is a Toronto-based illustrator. She was born in Ukraine and graduated from the School of Fine Arts studying classic drawing, painting, sculpture, and history of arts.

Since 2008 Olya has worked as a freelance children’s illustrator and created many children's books in the USA, Canada, and UK. As an artist, she works with various media such as watercolors, batiks, digital painting, etc. but prefers to work with colored pencils and a realistic style when creating book illustrations.

Currently, Olya and her family live in Toronto.

I am open for commissions! If you are looking for an illustrator for your project, please, feel free to 

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