In today's world it is not easy to find your niche in the world of cartoons. Igor Kondenko is an illustrator whose cartoons are known all over the world. Our readers are familiar with the standard of cartoons of Soviet and post-Soviet magazines, when a few strokes changed people's views on the situation in the state. The list of publications Igor has ever worked with is very impressive: German magazine “Autobild”, Ukrainian “Vic” and “2000” and American newspaper “New York Times”, all kinds of Russian newspapers and magazines, so Kondenko has long ago reached the international level.
And this is not surprising: Kondenko's caricatures are distinguished by high-quality drawing, good humor, focus on various problems of modern times, but at the same time he does not descend to senseless malice or jingoistic rhetoric. And his works are truly universal, understandable to educated people in all countries, and the absence of speech bubbles in many of them makes them laconic and easy to perceive, since the viewer pays attention first of all to the drawing itself and the situation associated with it, and is not forced to read any text.
"Evolution of Man"
According to Kondenko, his first drawing skills appeared in kindergarten. The teacher even showed his drawings to other children as an example. But the school teacher, of whom Kondenko speaks very highly, said: "I deliberately give you fours instead of fives so that you don't lose motivation and don't rest on your laurels. An artist who thinks that he can do everything is a bad artist."
"We demand new gates"
Then there was military service, where Kondenko designed various wall newspapers. When he was demobilized, he found a job decorating and painting houses for the rich, but soon noticed that the demand for such services began to fall. So he decided to learn how to use a computer, went online, and there were “drawings, caricatures and graphics, I looked at them and realized that I could do just as well, so I went with my drawings to the Bulava newspaper. Some of them were so popular that Kondenko was invited to a higher-level publication, the 2000 newspaper, where he worked for a long time.
According to Kondenko, humor in the West and for Russian-speaking viewers is strikingly different. Those who grew up in the Soviet Union understand caricatures without words, and can easily figure out any hints from the artist, while most of their caricatures do not do without text, especially when it comes to political caricatures. And he once created very sharp caricatures of Ukrainian politicians, for example, one where Yushchenko and Saakashvili are drawn as terriers that George Bush takes for a walk.
"Who else wants my loan?"
However, most of Kondenko’s works are still far from politics and are devoted to universal themes: health, education, work, cars, women behind the wheel, relationships and sex.
By the way, according to him, Western publications love to invite cartoonists from the post-Soviet space for their unconventional humor, not the highest fees and high-quality drawing. For example, a French publishing house pays 30 euros for a cartoon, which is much more than Ukrainian ones used to pay. It is not surprising that Kondenko works mainly for them.
"One-two... oops! And no fraud."
Kondenko willingly uses graphic editors in his work. However, he makes a sketch by hand, then scans it and finishes it on the computer. This allows him to reduce the time spent on drawing. Many of his works resemble high-quality graphic art, it is hard to believe that they were made by an ordinary cartoonist.
"I want to become a sex symbol!"
And to work with Western publishers, you have to carefully study all the features of their life, clothing and culture, so as not to get into trouble and not to redo everything from scratch. For example, French doctors have short robes, ties and badges, and French peasant women still willingly wear bonnets, aprons and blouses. And everything has to be taken into account for the sake of due authenticity. However, this does not bother Kondenko, according to the artist, it is much more interesting and allows you to broaden your horizons.
"Sexologist"
It was necessary to publish cartoons in countries with a totalitarian regime very carefully, so that his works would not be banned and no one would be "offended". He takes themes for many of his cartoons from television, remembering the words of the editor from the newspaper "2000": "You are all right in the head, your critical thinking works, so you can watch TV." But Igor himself admits that one of his favorite topics is politics.
In fact, the work of a cartoonist is in many ways following the words of the Russian humorist Zhvanetsky: "I open the window and listen." Let's wish the artist to listen more - to the joy of us all.
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