Russian Artist Creates Superb Snowy Street Art and Installations

An artist from the Moscow region town of Protvino, Ivan Volkov, who paints in the snow, has become a hero of social networks.

His picture in support of doctors fighting the coronavirus instantly scattered across the Internet and received many positive comments. The “snowy” creator has already been compared to the British street art master Banksy.

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Ivan Volkov is a Russian street artist. He is from a family of artists, graduated from the Stroganov Moscow State Academy of Art and Industry. He has his own workshop in the capital. He is engaged in painting, graphics, and sculpture. Participates in foreign and Russian exhibitions. And for the third winter in a row he has been trying himself in “snowy” street art, but for some reason Ivan has been noticed in this business only now. The idea with winter drawings, he says, had been hatching for a long time, but did not know how to bring it to life.

“I thought I’d use the little spray cans that street artists use to paint graffiti,” Volkov recalls. – In the end, I stopped at large cylinders, with the help of which summer residents poison Colorado beetles. I pour acrylic paint diluted with water there and spray it on the snow.

At first, the artist looked for himself for a long time, mastered the technique, experimented with paints and colors. The first drawings, Ivan admits, were unsuccessful.

Ivan Volkov, in addition to “snow” street art, is engaged in painting, graphics and sculpture. Participates in foreign and Russian exhibitions.

The artist is attracted by urban landscapes, he draws mainly in the midst of residential buildings. He says to be seen from the windows of the nearest houses. Sports fields and vacant lots with lots of snow play the role of giant canvases. Ivan usually goes out on a “hunt” with a sketch sketched on paper during the day. More often in his native Protvin, but sometimes in Moscow. All drawings are of the same size – on average 30 by 15 meters. It’s like a ten-story building. Such a colossus usually takes two to three hours and 20-30 liters of “paint” solution.

“Some people think that I launch the quadcopter and control my work through the screen. This is unrealistic, since the copter is enough for fifteen minutes of flight, – says Ivan Volkov. – In fact, drawings are difficult. I don’t see what I’m doing. I have to rely on my own feelings and calculations, I figure out the proportions in my head and measure out the dimensions in steps. And I have to carry a heavy balloon on my back. It’s difficult, but not costly – you need several tubes of paint and water.”

There are already more than thirty “snow” drawings in Ivan’s piggy bank. The quantity, however, strongly depends on the winter. If it is snowy, like this, then the “harvest” is richer. This season he has already managed to create more than ten winter paintings. But such drawings, in contrast to the same graffiti, have a very short life, but this does not upset the author at all.

Drawings, according to him, are deliberately not spoiled. Locals treat unusual creativity with understanding. Occasionally, children can “stomp” around – they are attracted by bright colors. In any case, the work remains to live on in photographs. At first, Ivan took pictures from his balcony or asked for help with filming neighbors. Now he has a copter, with his help he captures his winter creativity. He publishes pictures on his Instagram page.