How The Style Was Tempered: A Conversation With An Artist Who Comes Up With Crazy Custom From "Chaeks" And "Volg"

2023 Author: Natalie MacDonald | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-11-26 13:59

If you live in Russia and really love cars, then you should know Andrey Tkachenko. And if you are a fan of Soviet cars, then not knowing him is just a crime. The Nizhny Novgorod artist comes up with and draws custom designs based on Soviet cars. We somehow broke away from the contemplation of Andrey's works and talked with him about how he began to draw, what a cool cast is and what inspires him.

My name is Andrey Tkachenko. I am a professional industrial designer, graduated from the Nizhny Novgorod University of Architecture and Civil Engineering (NNGASU) with a degree in Industrial Design. I work in the specialty in the RIDA company, which is engaged in the creation of armored vehicles and armored vehicles of the VIP class. I am responsible for the design of these vehicles.

I love science fiction books and films, but my main passion is cars.

I've been drawing for as long as I can remember, so it's hard to say why I started painting at all. Probably just because I like it.

He began to draw with a variety of machines, but custom drawings came later, around the 1990s. I periodically went to Moscow to see the notorious Gorbushka, where I saw American Rodder magazines. Since then, custom has begun.

If you try to briefly and clearly explain what a custom is and what its meaning is, then this is the manufacture of a car or motorcycle to an individual order and the embodiment of any fantasies associated with the finalization of the design of a standard vehicle.

To be honest, I don’t remember the first car that I somehow modified, but my favorite cars for alteration are the Chaika GAZ-13, the Volga … Maybe because I myself come from Nizhny Novgorod, where the legendary Gorky Automobile Plant is located (GAZ).

Why custom? Well, I guess I'm just interested. Although for work I also do ordinary car design, including car interiors.

Assessing the coolness of a custom is a very subjective matter. There are customizers who have won respect and recognition all over the world. You can just focus on their work. Bad custom is a tasteless product. But this, again, is subjective.

What advice can you give to someone who has decided to come up with a cool custom? Watch and study the work of other customizers! Do not be afraid to fantasize, do not limit yourself, do not think that it will be expensive to produce or that it will be impractical. Of course, you need to study the device of a car, study the best examples of automotive design, preferably not only modern ones. Study styles, trends and the history of design in general.

Any of my work can be quick and will be done in one go - from idea to finished drawing. And it can go difficult and long, up to several weeks.

First I draw on paper, make quick sketches, sketch ideas. Then I process all this on a computer, in several vector programs and, of course, in Photoshop.

Why am I working with Soviet cars? It's simple - out of envy! Because customizing is a prerogative of the American automotive culture. I always thought: "We have our own auto industry, why don't we have customizing ?!" This is how he began to draw our cars.

For me personally the coolest and most beautiful Soviet cars - this is the Chaika GAZ-13, ZIL-111 and ZIL-118 Yunost.

The coolest foreign cars are the 1966 Ferrari 250 GTO, Ford GT40 and Pontiac GTO.

Of modern cars, I like the new design of the GAZ Group cars, so I would like to come up with custom cars from the fresh GAZon. I also like "Marusya" and the latest models of "AvtoVAZ".

Today in Russia customizing in motorcycle design is developing well: there are very cool guys, they have already earned success and respect on the world stage. Car customization is still much more modest: there are interesting examples, but there are too few of them! I will not undertake to argue why we have such a situation and what prerequisites are needed for development. I just hope that this culture will come to us and we will have our own Chip Fuza in our country.

If I had an unlimited budget for a real car, I would build the "Seagull" "Labor Reserves".

Automotive design is my main job, but I have had experience working with video game developers and film studios. For example, with DreamWorks: I was involved in the creation of concepts for the animated series Fast & Furious Spy Racers - a spin-off of Fast and the Furious. I hope there will be toys according to my drawings.

I have another hobby - inventing and drawing a parallel world based on the aesthetics of the USSR, with robots and other fantastic mechanisms. Why the USSR? Because I come from there. And if you do not take into account the political component, then it was a powerful power. Including in technical terms.

I really like the work of Sid Mead, Chip Foos, Fitzpatrick & Van Kaufman. And, of course, the magnificent Alexander Zakharov!

I am also inspired by the works of the Strugatsky brothers, films of the Soviet period and films of the MARVEL universe.

Of course, I also love classical art, I adore visiting the Hermitage, the Tretyakov Gallery and the Russian Museum.