From this month forward, ev0ke will be highlighting an artist that uplifts Paganism, witchcraft, or magic with the themes of their work. For our first such article, I’ve chosen to highlight the small creator, Rinalllin.
I first became aware of Rinalllin’s art on Tumblr. Shortly after having gotten hooked on “The Arcana” (a mobile game I covered here), I started obsessively following every artist that did fanart of Julian, my favorite character. Rinalllin was one such artist, but I was quick to discover she did so much more than just fanart.
The tragedy behind Rinalllin’s work is that, like so many of us have at one point or another, she lost access to her primary account (which was called Rina). Her current account on Tumblr will get less than one hundred likes/reblogs on average, which is criminal considering how talented she is.
Rinalllin in based in the Ukraine, and while it’s true she offers fanart aplenty, she also does amazing work which highlights her Slavic heritage, using patterns and mythological figures found in the region. You might hear “Slavic” and expect to see a lot of muscular men and war scenes, but Rinalllin focuses the beauty of her style on women, myths, and romantic scenes that truly tug at your heart and make you wistful.
Her brush and pencil strokes are soft, reminding me of the very expensive fairy tale books I coveted as a child. I’m especially fond of how, rather than doing line art in black or gray as I see so many artists, she more often makes use of blues and soft reds. It creates a softer mood, one that feels more dreamlike and welcoming to the viewer.
Amazingly, she also does commissions for far, far below what her talent says she could be charging. While she does not draw animals or violent scenes, she is comfortable doing anything from NSFW art to book covers for indie artists (making a mental note for myself about that for later).
To follow her work across Tumblr, Instagram, Patreon and more, check out her LinkTree.
No Responses