Inspiration

Modern Illustrations of Women by Kaloian Toshev

by . October 3rd, 2014

What is it about a woman that is hard to resist; Her eyes? Her lips? The curves on her back? Even a guy who has been drawing women for years couldn’t explain where his inclination comes from.

“I’m Kaloian, artist and illustrator, and I draw girls.

If all designers are as concise and blunt as our featured artist, the art world would be less complicated. We are honored to be the first design website to feature the modern illustrations of women by Bulgarian graphic artist Kaloian Toshev.

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Women as his subject

Toshev likes drawing faces because he finds it hard and challenging. Many designers would agree that the human anatomy is one of the hardest to draw because of proportion and asymmetry, but his long experience with illustration makes everything a breeze for him. It’s impressive how he keeps his art tasteful while using women as his favorite subject. We can see the beauty of the female form in all his works. Most of his works are based on his perception of women and it’s likely that you won’t bump into them on a street corner. Toshev imagines most of his works but there are some inspirations who have been particularly close to him: his ex girlfriends. His illustrations are also based on his moods and the music that inspires him at the moment.

Starting his work

“..after 2009 I realized that Photoshop gives you way more freedom mainly because of the brush properties.”
Toshev started young. He filled his school notebooks with doodles and sketches. However, it was 10 years ago when he bought his first Wacom tablet that he fell in love with digital art. Up to date, he still draws with his bare hands. He first sketches on paper then scans his illustrations to prepare them for Photoshop. When he finds a photo reference, he can directly sketch using Photoshop but the work doesn’t end there. He still clears the lines, applies shadows, then finally, colors the drawing. His early illustrations were vector-based so he had to render using Adobe Illustrator but had to use Photoshop later on.

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Whimsical. The 2nd even looks like desaturated pop art.

Aside from illustrations

He has proven himself worthy of  a solo feature in an esteemed design blog, but his life doesn’t stop at art. Toshev is also passionate about snowboarding and extreme sports!

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He also does line art

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A combination of different techniques

All photos courtesy of Kaloian Toshev

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