Svetlana Loboda ordered portraits from a schoolboy

Nizhny Novgorod-based young artist was noticed and "liked" by Russian celebs

Egor Turgenev is still at school, and he receives personal messages with gratitude from Svetlana Loboda, Yuliana Karaulova, Zara, Elena Temnikova ...

- I remember this day well - February 23 last year. I was flipping through the feed and saw a very successful photo of Svetlana Loboda. The picture was perfect for the artist: beautiful colors, shadows ... I decided to draw it. It was not difficult for me: I was in a creative flight, listening to music. Then I decided to post a photo of the drawing on Instagram, dilute the feed. And all of a sudden, likes from different people started pouring in, comments: “how beautiful”, “great”, “cool”. It was pleasant for me, as for any creative person. But what happened next shocked me.

Less than half an hour later, a notification appeared on Egor's phone that the heroine of the portrait herself had liked the post. The young artist admits that he did not believe it right away. I began to double-check if it was a fake. Further more - Svetlana Loboda posted his drawing in her stories on the social network.

- It was a shock! I thought: this cannot be! It can't be! And I decided that I needed to continue painting. The next month I painted only her. My relatives have already begun to say: “Maybe you will start drawing someone else? We want to see someone else. " But even now, when I draw, sometimes I feel that I need to draw this particular person. For the soul. As if we have some kind of connection. It just seems to me that this, like many things in my life, is fateful, - says Egor. - I tried everything on her portraits: pencil, gouache, ink ... 

The singer regularly liked other drawings of the young artist. At the same time, Yegor admits that he has never been an ardent fan of her work. I heard her songs, I knew that she was pretty. And even more so, he was not in love with her. He says that this is definitely not a story "about Galkin and Pugacheva." The singer, rather, became a muse for him. And then Svetlana Loboda shocked the artist again. He was in the midst of preparing for the GIA, when suddenly an order came from Svetlana Loboda. The singer asked to paint her portrait. She liked one of the works so much that she wanted to hang it in her apartment in a large format.

- I accepted the order, we discussed it very vigorously, Svetlana herself took part in this: she discussed the format, colors, materials. As a result, it was decided that the work would be done in pencil, and the format would be a meter by 70 centimeters. For me - huge. I have not done such work before. And where to get such a huge canvas? I searched for materials all over the region for a whole month, - Egor describes.

The artist does not disclose the price of the work, he himself assigned it to the singer. He only says that when he voiced the number, at the other end he was asked: "Exactly so much?"

- I think people had a kind of shock. But it is important for me that she understands that I am not chasing money. In general, this can be considered a gift. When she received the portrait, she wrote that it was a bomb. For me it was the height of all praise, - smiles Yegor.

Then Yegor went to Loboda's concert, after which she met with pleasure with him to get to know him personally.

Egor takes orders from other people, but does not paint relatives. He says this is another measure of responsibility. They will immediately begin to say that my nose is not like that, my ear, my eyes ... It's easier with the stars: they are always beautiful, in an interesting way in the photo and already "photoshopped."

- In September, my golden age began, like Pushkin's. Inspiration came, and I began to intensively paint portraits of other famous personalities. Six months before that I had painted the same face, which I could depict with my eyes closed. I wanted to try myself in a new one, - explains the student. - I also received responses from other stars: likes, comments. With Yulianna Karaulova we exchanged a couple of phrases in private messages. They took my portrait to Elena Temnikova's concert. Zara also liked my work, I think I will send the portrait to her as a gift.

Now Yegor is studying at 10 B school №11 in the city of Balakhna. And after graduation he dreams of entering the Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg. And once he protested against the art school.

- I drew something on the art, and I had enough. And everyone said: how well you are doing, you have to become artist! I didn't really want to. And one day he returned from school, and my parents say to me: here's everything for drawing, today you are going to your first lesson at an art school, now you are studying there. Now I am very happy with this decision, - recalls Yegor.

He often devotes to creativity all night long and admits that he is inspired so that he does not get tired at all and does not want to sleep.