Illustration for the collection of short stories by Yevhen Gutsal "In the stork village" 1969

This illustration for Yevhen Gutsal's "In the Stork Village" is by Hryhorii Havrylenko, and it's all about the push and pull of black and white. You can almost feel the scratch of the pen creating that intense, textured background. The white space of the rooster jumps out, doesn't it? Look at the physicality of those marks! The way the lines build up, creating volume, especially in the rooster's tail. It's a reminder that artmaking is a process, a real back and forth between intention and accident. That woven background is really something. It's so dense, creating this vibrating energy that makes the rooster seem almost ethereal, like it's emerging from the shadows. It reminds me of the work of Jasper Johns, you know? How he used crosshatching to build up surfaces, creating a sense of depth and mystery. Art is always in conversation with itself.