Lomaev Anton
One of the most interesting modern illustrators is Anton Lomaev.
You either already know these luxurious pictures painted in the smallest detail well, or, having leafed through his book for the first time, you will always unmistakably recognize the artist’s hand.
Anton Lomaev was born in Belarus, in Vitebsk in 1971. And either the very work of his famous countryman influenced him, or the air of this city is somehow special, but Lomaev’s works, although not at all similar in style, still echo the paintings of Marc Chagall with their colorfulness, interesting details, and dynamic composition. And in general, the works of both these artists exude a sense of celebration. Any book with illustrations by Lomaev is a holiday; it is a wonderful gift for any home library, both children’s and adults.
As a child, Lomaev went to study in Leningrad, and then his professional path was straight as an arrow: art school, painting institute, work in publishing houses for a long time. He was a full-time employee of ABC, mainly engaged in the design of covers, of which he drew more than four hundred. By the way, it cannot be said that they all look good. Apparently, because the artist there only draws the illustration, and the final product is made by the designer, so often the covers of the ABC books (or Swallowtail, it’s the same thing) look clumsy and the wonderful creations of artists are lost behind the tasteless design.
But then a non-trivial turn in his career occurred: Lomaev stopped working as usual. As a rule, publishing houses order illustrations from artists for a specific book by a certain deadline, and stipulate in advance how approximately it should all look. Well, Anton broke this pattern. Now only he decided which book and how to illustrate it, and brought the finished product to the publisher. In this mode, he worked with ABC for some time, and a few years ago he went further, organized even more space for creativity - he opened his own publishing house, Loreta!
Loretta is the name of the artist’s wife (she is from Albania), she became the general director of the family business. Now Anton not only makes illustrations, but also completely prepares the book for printing, and also typesets it himself. Some classic fairy tales are even retold by him. In two books - "Lullaby for a little pirate" and "Bom-bom-bom" - he is also the author of the text.
Anton and Loreta met as students and are now raising three sons. Lomaev gives the impression of a sociable, modest, not at all stellar or bohemian person. A loving husband and father, he often features family in his illustrations and says that in many ways his books are like that because he draws for his children.
