Rina was born on a cold winter day in Moscow and started to draw on the next one. She draws inspiration from everything but fairytales, folklore and ghost stories always imbue her imagination. Observing the world is her favourite thing to do. She loves taking long walks, whether in wild woods or in vibrant cities, making notes and sketches so as not to forget anything interesting. To spot little details, she watches how curtain’s pattern is forming into faces, a moss-covered stump which turns into a figure and shadows that come to live. She listens to an old closet grumbling, bellflowers jingling and bus whispering in the grass. The border between reality and fantasy blurs when someone watches out for the dark. That’s why Rina keeps her sketchbook under the pillow, trying to catch visions before falling aspleep. It is very helpful to have it there so she can draw dreams and nightmares before they vanish from memory. The red centipede came to this book straight from a bad dream: it becomes less scary when you turn nightmares into stories to be told.

Rina has recently graduated from University in Mosco and just started her illustrator career. This is her first published book. She currently works on a TV Channel, making cartoons based on librettos for ballets and operas. But secretly dreaming of quitting job, moving to the sea and creating her own stories.

You can take a look to her Instagram or Behance.