Eduard Erlikh

Erlikh was born in the Moscow and now live in New York City. He studied painting, sculpture and theater design in Moscow and illustration in NYC. He has his own signature fashion figure. Unlike other illustrators, he use watercolours. In his illustration, there is no faces and finishing details, instead emphasizing the anglesd movements, and physical expression of the models he prints. From his interview, inspiration for him can come from anything and anyone. From his live models, which are always chosen as much on personality and character as they are for their actual beauty: to shopping trips to the ethnic neighborhoods of the city. The Indian neighborhood of Jackson Heights served an inspiration for his Bhangra series. When American Vogue offered him a contract to create images, his turning point has been started. “Vogue introduced my work to an international audience and offered me a choice to paint from all the latest designers’ collections.” From there, Erlikh went on to illustrate for Vogue Germany, Vogue Japan and so on. He also had collaboration with the German-based Lumas. Erlikh has also designed costumes for several ballet productions, and in fact the Vienna State Opera Museum organized an exhibition of his work titiled Eduard Erlikh and Don Quixote in the spring of 2011. The show featured Erlikh’s drawing from the 1992 production of the ballet, choreographed by former Kirov dancer Elena Tchemichora. These days, there may be a trend towards computer-generated images and a less artisanal approach to illustration, yet Erlikh remains in high demand. He said “ I guess my technical flexibility as an artist allows me to create very different looks for different clients. “ Eduard Erlikh ‘s work and his life are the epitome of elegance and his illustrations are the perfect expressions of his indisputable sense of style.