Den’s Drawing is three years old

On March 30, 2013 the first drawing by young and talented artist Anna Havryliuk was published in Den. Since then for three years in succession she has been finding interesting dates that are not known to general public and creating a special calendar based on them: a drawing plus an original positive passage. That was how “Den’s Drawing,” a new column in the newspaper emerged. And her best illustrations have been published as a separate set of postcards and a unique calendar Den-2015, which is available for purchase at the website of our newspaper. Apart from that, the readers of Den/The Day know Anna Havryliuk’s creative work from her original illustrations on the covers of Route No. 1, which often set the artistic tone for the entire glossy supplement. The postcards the artist has created for the servicemen in the front, which on Den’s initiative were published to support the Ukrainian army, became very popular.

“Three years ago I was working in a small shop at a gallery where author’s small articles were sold, in particular, the postcards with my drawings. I still remember how I met Den/The Day’s Editor-in-Chief Larysa Ivshyna on March 7, on the eve of the holiday. I had many customers, it was a tense day, so in the evening I was standing at a cash desk, tired, and was counting minutes till closing. Therefore I could not but pay attention to the last customer. This was Larysa Ivshyna. By some wonderful coincidence she took my postcard and asked, ‘Whose drawing is this?’ I said it was mine. Her next question was, ‘Why don’t you work in the newspaper Den?’” Anna Havryliuk recalls. “We exchanged our phone numbers, and several days later I received a call from the newspaper with an offer to draw a sketch for publication and write a caption. That was how everything began.”

 How did you come up with an idea to draw a weekly calendar?

“Actually, this was not just an idea, but the need to find a regular source of ideas. For after the publication of the first Den’s Drawing I received an offer to make it on a regular basis. So, I had to decide in advance what I was going to write about. The next information reason at that moment was Easter, I did a drawing and the text, and thought why wouldn’t I choose holidays and interesting dates as the topic for the column?”

 The nationwide day of snow, the day of flying bat, the day of cosmos. Where do you find these weird dates and holidays?

“I look for holidays and dates in advance on the Internet. Sometimes I check all the pages of the request. And sometimes I can hear about some unusual holiday, look up the information about it, check dates and interesting facts – and only then I add it to the list of the future topics. Sometimes I do vice versa, thinking on some concrete topic I have some ideas about, like birthday of my favorite writer, etc. Then I draw and write and leave it till the needed date. However, if the Den’s Drawing for some day is ready, but some more important events take place, I delay it without hesitation, drawing and writing about what is important right now. The fact that interesting holidays will end at some point is not disturbing me, because every year the new ones emerge which do not coincide with the day of the newspaper’s issues. And there is one more thing. If you write twice about the same thing, but with a year break, there will be an absolutely new result. Because nothing remains the same, and thoughts change and transform as well. “It is pleasant that my pictures are popular. I think about two-thirds of my friends on Facebook are readers of Den/The Day. So, from time to time I receive letters with reviews on my email. I also receive paper letters. On this New Year, for example, I received a letter from Mykola Hrokh himself. This is an incredible honor for me!”

Your work is a burst of optimism. Both the pictures and interesting captions make one smile.

“We must keep optimistic, in spite of the war in the country. The society must have a safety-valve, a window into a peaceful world that would allow it to see the light to which to head. That is the reason why I don’t draw on sad topics for the Den’s Drawing. But if it happens, I try to find that window in the darkness.”

Last year your drawings were published as a separate set of Den’s postcards. And this year they are the basis of Den’s calendar. How important is it for an artist to find such printing contact with the audience?

“I collect postcards, and before some point of time it was hard to find an interesting sample. So, it is really gratifying that I have partisans. Therefore contact with the audience is not just a contact of an artist with the audience, it is a kind of virtual community. And I am very glad that it is getting broader owing to Den.”

The set of postcards, calendar Den-2015, and of course the pictures to support our servicemen are available at the website of our newspaper www.day.kiev.ua