The continuation of the adventures of mr Rat, beloved by ukrainian children
Tag: character design
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Piznayko
February-2025 edition of the children’s magazine Piznayko, Kyiv, Ukraine
These fun images depict evolution of the keyboard musical instruments. The old man organ is displaced by a 17th-century harpsichord fashionista; the once fashionable harpsichord is replaced by a strong cowboy piano with weights; and finally, instead of an upset piano, a fashionable model-girl-synthesizer appears.
Initial sketch -
Inner Power
Personal project in 2025
A little something about embracing your inner power while drifting in the uneven waters of life. This is the feeling I sometimes get while meditating.
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Adventures of Mr Rat
Children’s book The Adventures of Mr Rat (original – Пригоди пана Щура) is a 160-paged book by a talented ukrainian author Lesya Sonyashna. A kind-hearted story about a rat, who – despite being a rat, and being raised in the sewers – also deserves love, and friendship, and a home. And eventually finds it.
- 160 pages
- 17 chaptes
- 1.5 years of work on illustrations alone
- colorful yet tender, watercolor-styled illustrations on each page
Illustrations for this project were shortlisted and printed in the catalogue of The Second International Competition for Illustrators of Books for Children and Youth named after Radna Sakhaltuev
First sketches
Character design
Final version of the main characters:
The main character – Mr Rat, colored version. These images were later used in the instagram page of Mr Rat.
Page layout: from sketch
To final result
And some of my favourite pages
A few words about my creative process: my son Ray is my little sunshine who inspires me to create and to share my inner light with each and every one of other youngsters.
Mr Rat has his own Instagram page
Author: Lesya Sonyashna
Layout Designer: Lubomir Olianich
Published by САМІТ-КНИГА in 2023
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Children’s Book Giraffe
Once upon a time there lived a giraffe – he was just as curious as he was little – with a very short neck (like all the other giraffes at that time…) And as he grew, he had to stretch his neck more and more to be able to grab the juiciest and sweetest leaves at the top of the tree – he streched and streched – until he reached for the stars.
Process:
1. Rough pencil sketches
2. Watercolor
1st layer 
2nd layer 3. Post retouch
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Head in the Clouds
My personal project – an illustration inspired by my son
Sketch
And this little fella who always inspires me
Final result -
Privatbank Privatization
A series of illustrations about privatization of the largest Ukrainian bank Privatbank. The illustrations were commissioned by an advertising and marketing agency
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Bananza Stickers
Sticker pack for the Bananza company that does Search Engine Optimization and Online Marketing. The task was to play around the company name (hence Banana as the main character) and to add a little (or a lot) of creativity into the routine tasks as well as some inside jokes.
From rough sketches:
Through working out some details (like face expressions or pose)
To great final result!
Approved by the youngest audience!
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In the Moment Series
Illustrations for a YouTube channel In the Moment that contains a series of inspiring interviews about productivity, professional and personal development, living a happy and fulfilled life to the maximum of one’s potential.
Subscribe to the YouTube Channel In the Moment
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Singing Bird Branding
Illustrations for a talented Ukrainian retro-singer Maryna Bogdanova. Later used in all her social media platforms to create her personal brand, followed by some single covers.
It all started with Maryna’s portrait
Followed by her alter ego – singing bird
And some cherry blossom aesthetics
Looking good combined together like this
And also like this
Some of the pictures I drew were later used as covers for Maryna’s singles
Maryna successfully used my illustrations on social media to create her personal brand
Facebook 
YouTube And on spotify
Subscribe to Maryna Bohdanova’s YouTube Channel, Facebook, Instagram or Patreon
