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Art vs Artist 2024

#artvsartist center is a photo of Tatyana, surrounded by 8 of her fav and best paintings she created in 2024: Cloud Forest, A Raven In A Palm Tree, I'll Know It When I See It, Empowered, Aurora Skeleton With Crows, Rainbow Door, Thirst Trap, Dandepops.
#artvsartist 2024

Oh no, it’s my annual #artvsartist compilation, version #artvsartist2024.

To participate in the hashtag, an artist chooses 8 of their favorite artworks that they created during the year, plus 1 photo from that year of themselves, and posts the complication image on Instagram and Twitter. The reason for this is to recap the art from the year and to see if the art resembles the artist.

This year, I created 20 paintings and these are my best 8, some of the best-selling. I love creating fun concepts and jokes with the medium of watercolor & ink.

I think my art resembles my personal style. For example, my holiday decorations:

I finally got my own Christmas tree for the first time this year. An artificial, 4-foot black Christmas tree and ornaments that I spent half a day picking out. Then later that night at 3 AM, I cancelled the order.

But the next morning, I changed my mind again and was determined to have awesome holidays so I placed the same order again. The tree that I imagined is now on my kitchen counter.

For some reason, I wanted to make a wreath. I knew I’d have leftover ornaments from the tree. I already had a wreath frame for some reason because of course I did, and so I ordered extra holographic tinsel garland. I put together the wreath with black glitter artificial Poinsettia flowers, leaves, & berries, and with shiny reddish-pink, night-blue, and lime-green ornaments.

Making my own choices, designing these decorations, and being surrounded by things I created successfully is fun. It made me realize I should’ve created them sooner. But I didn’t know that I wanted to.

When I did realize it, it was because I was determined to have awesome holidays. Also, it reminded me of how one of my dream jobs as an Artist was to design a store window display. I even have experience: while I worked as a florist in a flower shop, I got to stock up the front of the store, create floral designs and set them up around the shop, and made custom floral arrangements for special occasions. My other experience in designing storefront displays is also from designing my own booth space while showing my artwork at art fairs and popup shows. My art has been part of store displays as a featured artist. And my framed paintings are currently on display in public galleries in Illinois and New Mexico. I’m based in Los Angeles, and if you have your own brick-and-mortar store and you like my style based on my artwork and these holiday decorations, and interested in my designs, contact me. But it will be fun. Or else.

A recap of the past #artvsartist compilations from the past 4 years:

#artvsartist center is a sunlit photo of Tatyana, surrounded by 8 of her fav paintings she created in 2023: Shedding Light, Fireflies, Can'tdle, Mount Leafpile, Write, Playtime, Flourish, Angy
#artvsartist2023
#artvsartist center is a photo of Tatyana, surrounded by 8 of her fav and best paintings she created in 2022: Watching Heart Beasts, Morning Roost, Piece #39, Piece #36, Mobile Home, Piece #38, Weather Don't Play It Reigns, Lighthearted
#artvsartist 2022
#artvsartist center is a photo of Tatyana, surrounded by 8 of her fav and best paintings she created in 2021: Remains, Macaraini, Aurosa, Candy lollipops sketch, Suit, Skeletons chilling sketch, Checkerboard clouds and colorful glowing rain sketch, Piece #26
#artvsartist 2021
#artvsartist center is a photo of Tatyana making a margarita with Espolón tequila, surrounded by 8 of her fav and best paintings she created in 2021: Neon palm tree sketch, Piece #23, Piece #22, Piece #21, Skull Lamps, Organic Fireworks, Tulipa, Through Rosé- Colored Glasses
#artvsartist2020

Thank you for all the love and for collecting my paintings, prints, and t-shirts! Happy New Year!

Satisfying Art Videos

If you’ve ever wondered how I paint with watercolor, you can see my art painting videos on YouTube. In these soothing ASMR painting videos, I share my timelapses of a painting being created, how to use watercolor in actual speed, and various watercolor techniques as part of my paintings on this website.

This playlist will be updated every Tuesday morning with a new video. Subscribe here so you don’t miss them.

Paint with me in watercolor & ink new weekly painting videos

I also share the art materials I use in the description of every video so you can pick up the brush and paint with me. Or if you’ve just always wondered how I create my paintings, you can sit back and watch and enjoy. If you enjoy the videos, please click the thumbs up button to let me know that you enjoy them.

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Why I Paint Filigree

I learned to draw filigree a couple of years ago while painting “Lighthearted.” Filigree is an ornamental, decorative flourishing pattern that started in metalwork. It’s been around since 3000 BC. Today, it’s still on American money, architecture, and very popular for tattoos. I’ve always been too picky to choose a tattoo but if I ever get a tattoo, it’ll probably be some type of filigree design.

Painting filigree for me is like taking a break from working while still working. Filigree means absolutely nothing. It’s just pretty. While drawing and painting filigree, instead of doing my usual mental gymnastics, it lets me create freely. Freeligree! Oh no, I just did it again. I’ve got to get a filigrip, don’t you filagree?

Art vs Artist 2023

#artvsartist center is a sunlit photo of Tatyana, surrounded by 8 of her fav paintings she created in 2023: Shedding Light, Fireflies, Can'tdle, Mount Leafpile, Write, Playtime, Flourish, Angy

It’s that time of the year again: #artvsartist. To participate, an artist chooses 8 of their favorite artworks that they created during the year, plus 1 photo from the year of themselves, and posts the complication image on Instagram and Twitter. I’m also posting it here on my blog because I believe in blog. My 2023 recap:

  • This year, I focused on painting a lot of smaller art, sized ~ 5×5 in and 5×7 in
  • I did a lot of brainstorming to prepare to paint larger art and these smaller pieces helped me nail down my ideas and techniques
  • This year, I especially appreciated the beautiful, little things in life, like watching the sunset from my yacht*

*It’s a metaphorical yacht. If I ever have a real yacht, you’d be the first I would invite.

Tree’s All That

A watercolor & ink painting of a Christmas tree decorated with red, yellow, and blue bauble ornaments that imply the tree has two eyes, a mouth with a sad expression, and a blood-like tear streaming down from one of the eyes • The mood of the illustrations is dark and whimsical ∙ Art created by Tatyana ∙ razorberries.com

Merry Christmas Tree
5″x7″ watercolor & ink

I created this painting in 2016. I wanted to paint a Christmas tree with a sad expression and how it might feel in contrast to such a joyful season, as a joke.

One evening on December 1st of that year in Chicago, I decided I wanted to spend time sketching at a cafe in the Lakeview neighborhood. Ordered a plate of fries and a glass of water for dinner.

A spiral-bound sketchbook of variations of the sketch of the Christmas tree on a table at a diner. There's a glass of water and a basket of fries on the side.

Thumbnail sketches of various ideas

Sketching at restaurants and cafes is super fun for me, especially when I’m sketching my ideas instead of sketching the cafe environment exactly as it is, or sketching the food in front of me. I sketched 3 thumbnail drawings in pencil first. If you haven’t heard of the term, I didn’t actually sketch real-life thumbnails, like the type on your fingers. It’s called a thumbnail sketch because the sketch is small and messy, like thumbnails.

Pencil sketch of a Christmas that was used to create the final watercolor & ink painting later. In this sketch, the tree is also with decorations arranged in a way that are subtly resembling eyes and a mouth of the tree making a sad facial expression.

The pencil sketch that was used to create the final painting

Or maybe it’s just the thumbnails on my fingers that are messy because they cracked in the past when I fell down the stairs at my house, not unlike Rachael Leigh Cook’s character Laney in “She’s All That.” But I really committed to the bit and continued to pick at my cuticles, mostly in high school during Algebra class. Since then, I’ve been fixing them by filing them and painting on vitamins and strengtheners. They’re finally getting better and look almost normal. This took several years. If you need advice on what nail strengthener I used, I’ve got you but you should probably go to the doctor.

After I completed the three sketch variations on my tree idea, I chose one idea and sketched the final pencil sketch underneath the thumbnail sketches. That’s the one transferred onto watercolor paper using a light box underneath the sketch and the watercolor paper.

To make your tree feel better, always place a mirror on the opposite side so that the tree can see how beautiful and loved your tree is.

Happy Holidays!

♥ Tatyana

A Ghost Story

Watercolor & ink painting of a glowing ghost surrounded by specs of dust and spider web.
You’ll Get Through This
5″x7″ watercolor & ink on 6″x8″ paper

I’ve spent my childhood and adolescence with TV noise in the background because, I was told, it was too quiet. The problem is, it wasn’t just ambient background noise to me. I paid attention to it. If someone was home, the TV had to always be on, which taught me that I should always be watching TV. Since striking out on my own at 19, I gave myself the gift of this “too quiet” but for me, it’s “perfect.” I won’t focus on the past too much, because I can’t change the past like a TV channel, but I can shut it off. Here’s why:

I grew up watching a lot of American TV, learning English, and was raised by sitcom families like The Brady Bunch, Family Matters, Full House, I Dream of Jeanie, I Love Lucy, Bewitched, Happy Days, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Taxi, Sabrina The Teenage Witch, Boy Meets World, The Wonder Years, America’s Funniest Home Videos, Two And A Half Men. That’s just a few off the top of my head. A lot of those were a part of Nick At Nite and TGIF on ABC. Oh, and I was raised by MTV music videos, but hear me out: first thing in the morning and immediately after school, because TRL on MTV.

All of this every day, usually 1-2 hours in the morning and then 4-5 hours in the evening. I’VE BEEN PREPARING MY ENTIRE LIFE FOR: nothing.

I’m not upset. I’m just disappointed.

I remember none of my training because now, all that TV is a blur. I don’t remember much detail about what I watched. I couldn’t recap a single episode for you (I could probably rap some of Eminem’s The Real Slim Shady for you, though, please.)

But all of those shows and music videos weren’t a waste of time, because they have been ingrained and programmed into me subconsciously. When I think of them, they feel like ghosts of the images replaying in my head, whose unfinished business is to support and encourage me, to make up for the support and encouragement I needed but didn’t have. Since being on my own, if I watch TV, I’m watching TV intentionally. I pay attention, from start to finish, until the credits end, because I read the names, like I did as a kid.

My real art desk.

And like a totally well-developed adult, I continue to develop healthy boundaries, standards, and practices based on these fantasies, idealisms, and images that are not real but were written by real people, whose names I’ve read in the end-credits – people who believed in their ideals so much that they created and worked on these shows, and had so many viewers, like me, love them.

My real painting process of “You’ll Get Through This“

I’ve never had the TV on while I paint. If I haven’t been painting, instead of TV noise, I’ve been talking to myself, a lot. Like, entire conversations, out loud. Talking to yourself requires that you are there with your thoughts and that you pay attention to yourself. You are your own TV.

A real rainbow I saw in November.

♥ Tatyana

Lighting A Can’tdle

A colorful surrealistic watercolor & ink painting by the artist Tatyana of an apple core skull candle.
Can’tdle • 5″x7″ watercolor & ink on 6″x8″ paper

My last year’s resolution was to take more selfies and I failed miserably. To take a selfie, you need a certain flick-of-the-wrist to turn your hand with your phone at your face and take a photo, and also to remember to do that, and I don’t have that. But at least I have a cramp in my hand and a headache.

I might as well learn to play the guitar – this would take just as much effort, but make the world a better place. Instead of learning a whole new instrument, I’d like to use the flick-of-the-wrist I already have and write. I’ve decided that my 2024 resolution is to share more of my stories.

If you’re reading this by email, you’ve been getting my newsletters for a while and now you’re about to join me and 68 other subscribers on my new adventures every Tuesday: in painting, hiking, and grocery shopping. Or you’re about to unsubscribe. Choose your own adventure, no hard feelings.

The rollercoaster of life is taking us through a series of holidays again and there’s a lot of apples. I’ve been loving Honeycrisp apples, in particular, and painted “Can’tdle.” It’s a juxtaposition of candles and apples, and apple candles.

Just don’t go too far into the core because the apple seeds can be poisonous. Can’tdle is how an apple can be angry for having its fruit eaten but not the seeds from which it can be reproduced. Something to chew on…

This painting was brought to you by a series of carefully-placed boops.

♥ Tatyana

The Language of Plants Sketch

Wire bound sketchbook page with ink drawings of grass, tulips, and filigree scrollwork.

Over the years, I have worked on several sketchbooks and completed sketches that I later transferred onto watercolor paper, where I created final paintings. That’s my way of practicing sketching. But my sketchbooks barely contain pages where I sketched and practiced the same subject over and over. I used to not be able to spend much time sketching in a sketchbook just repetitively sketching the same thing because it couldn’t keep my attention and I got bored. But now I’m a total practice pro after completing this first page.

The inspiration for this was crunchy autumn leaves from my hikes. I’ve also been very into silhouetted plants so a few tulips and grass to practice brush pen ink lines. The question is “What does it all mean?” These are a few sentences in plant language. It’s what the plants say right before you step on them. Excuse my accent.

♥ Tatyana

Art studio tour

I can’t believe I’ve been showing my art since 2007 and I’ve never shared an art studio tour before. No, actually, I can believe it because all my past art studios have been very uncomfortable and not photogenic. Yeah, I know, we live in an “Instagram highlight reel vs. Reality” world. But before this, I never had an apartment that could even be considered in an Instagram highlight reel. Despite being uncomfortable, I’ve created artwork and shared artwork, not making the ‘uncomfortability’ aspect of my life a feature or defect or even a mere existence in my art… for some “it’s not you, it’s me” reasons:

  1. I didn’t want anyone to feel sorry for me or let pity have any impact on why someone would buy my art or hire me.
  2. I didn’t want to parade around “expressing a message” as if my situation was okay, because it’s not okay.
  3. I didn’t know what “comfortable” was. I had a general idea of how I wanted to improve my situation and worked towards those goals but I had no idea what I was missing. What am I missing now?

Whatever. Today, I’m grateful.

The easel where I paint bigger pieces, 11×14 or larger. Watercolor and ink are very prone to gravity, so sometimes I lay out a towel on the floor and paint there, too. My bookcase and coffee table are for my display planning & sketching, a place for my brushes + paint palettes + brush rinsing water containers, and a place for coffee + books, imagine that.

I love paint swatches so much, that I walk on them. I found this rug on Amazon after searching for one for several days. After I had the rug I adored, I started spending a lot of time on it. And the clear acrylic coffee table was something I imagined I’d like to have someday so that I could keep working from my thinking couch and thinking floor but the view of the rug wouldn’t be blocked. But tables like that are $150 – $250+, and sketchbooks and coffee don’t float for free. Then one day, one of my neighbors made my dream come true when they set out a clear acrylic coffee table outside for anyone to take. I admire my lucky anti-gravity find every day from my thinking couch, which also faces the best and the only window in my apartment.

My desk, where I create sketches and paintings 8×10 and smaller. This desk style is a bit in the style of a of a vintage/antique writing desk. This is where I’ve recorded all my painting time-lapse videos and done a lot of writing. I think my hidden talent is selecting random colors that unintentionally mix and match well together, per my taste. This is what happened when I got everything for my studio slowly, one piece of furniture at a time, and I never once thought “oh, this will go great with the other furniture.” Except for that clear coffee table, because gravity.

I found this mirror at a yard sale for $8 in central Illinois in 2007, when I was first starting to show my artwork. I’ve changed the logo and writing on it over the years, but the mirror has been my business sign since I started doing art fairs. My second hidden talent is selecting furniture that doubles as show equipment. 

How I Painted “Remains” With Watercolor & Ink On An Easel Standing Up

"Remains" watercolor and ink painting I painted on easel

”Remains”
11×14
watercolor & ink

This new painting has been in the works for most of August and because I recorded the painting process, the painting took longer to complete. It’s September now and I’ll never shut up about it.

Remains watercolor and ink painting on easel videos on TikTok

I have a weird habit of trying new things, so of course, I signed up for TikTok. But now I regret that I didn’t do this sooner because it’s fun making mini-movies about my art. Here’s how I created the “Remains” painting – a story in 3 videos. Sound up.

Video 1: The humble beginning…

@razorberries

Prep work for a larger watercolor painting on my new board #artist #foryoupage

♬ original sound – Tatyana Pshenychny

To create this painting, I first enlarged the 6×9 sketch I drew in my sketchbook a while ago. Then I transferred it to 11×14 inch size watercolor paper using a lightbox. Then, I taped the drawing to a wood panel and attached the panel to an easel. While preparing to paint, I specifically used this ambient, serene music in my video to help calm my nerves.

Video 2: Why am I like this?

@razorberries

Painting with ink on an easel – Part 1 #artist #foryoupage

♬ original sound – Tatyana Pshenychny

I painted this in watercolor and ink vertically while standing up. Painting vertically with watercolor is challenging. Painting vertically with permanent ink is challenging insane. Why did I do this standing up, knowing fully well that watercolor and ink are watery mediums that drip down and not up?

Video 3: Oh, that’s why.

@razorberries

Part II: Painting with ink on an easel. Check my profile for Part I ♥️ #neverstopexploring #artist #onthejob #tutorials #smallbusinessowner

♬ original sound – Tatyana Pshenychny

Yup, it must be my weird habit of trying new things, again. And because I’m already good at watercolor and ink horizontally, and now vertically. After adding some black acrylic paint and more watercolor, the work is complete and referred to in all my future conversations indefinitely, such as: “Per my last ‘Remains’ painting…”. So keep my new skill in mind the next time a disaster strikes.

The “Remains” original painting is available for purchase in my shop.