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TRANS-SIBERIAN ILLUSTRATION AND ART COURSE
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Course introductory webinar
WHAT IS THIS COURSE ABOUT?
This course aims to develop a new professional community, which will create a visually and content-wise rich project at the end (a book about travel across Russia), to develop an awareness of both theory and practice of journalistic illustration and help participants get information about Russian art history. Most of what students learn from this course is applicable to their future professional careers and other types of art and illustration.
FOR WHOM IS THE COURSE?

The course is designed for English-speakers who have experience in drawing and want to improve their skills during the trip (as well as to travel to Russia and get to know more about this country). Being students of art, design, illustration course of any institute is not necessary.
• want to get a new travelling experience and visit different places in Russia
• draw and desire to improve your skills in real-life drawing/on-site illustrations
• interested in documenting their journey using different sketching instruments
• interested in journalistic illustration and history of Russian art
YOU CAN ATTEND IF YOU
CONTENT

The course includes the theoretical part (different lectures on illustration and art history) as well as active exercises and a lot of drawing on-site practice and regular results reviews. The course is organized around the trip. Some changes in content and timing may be made in order to reflect the exact needs of the students on the course (e.g. fewer or additional topics may be covered, some extra small assignments may be added etc.) The course consists of a few stops in cities, network meetings, and lectures.
BASIC TOPICS OF THE COURSE

• journalistic illustration
• different sketching techniques
• art journal and sketchbooks
• reviews Russian art history from the icons to avante-garde artists
• from painting to contemporary illustrators
Sofia kolovskaya
Curator
Sofia Kolovskaya is an illlustrator and comic artist with the experience of teaching. She does a lot of freehand drawing, as well as work with different computer programs and some-times combine both. She has experience of creating books, comics, and illustrations for different companies and publishing houses. Since 2014, she has been drawing every day for creative project on the Internet 'One Day One Sketch' (over 30k followers, 3260 drawings).

She is holding two MA degrees: in Graphic Design from the St. Petersburg State University, Russia, and in Visual Communicaton Design from Aalto University of Arts, Design and Architecture, Finland, she also spend one semester as an exchange student at Rhode Island School of Design. She makes courses on illustration, workshops on comics and design, lectures on art history — both in Russian and in English. Her teaching philosophy is about importance of each student's personality, joy of creative discovery and everyday engagement.

Here you can see Sofia's works.
Start in Moscow

Stop-over cities:
Ekaterinburg
Krasnoyarsk
Irkutsk

Finish in Ulan-Ude
ITINERARY
  • All train tickets with Kupe seats (4 beds / compartment)
  • On trains: bed linens, towels
  • Food on all trains
  • TWIN / DBL accommodation in all stopover cities
  • Baikal lake boat
  • Breakfasts every day in stopover cities
  • Sim card with 35 Gb of data for Russia
  • Support of local coordinators
  • Complete guide to your trip
  • Invitation letter to Russia
*not included: additional activities in the cities, lunches and
dinners in the cities, hotel in Moscow, visa, flights, late check-outs.

INCLUDED IN THE BASIC PACKAGE
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE TRIP
MOSCOW
The Capital of Russia, known for traditional architecture, colourful cathedrals, beautiful Red Square, and ballet performances.

It is a great combination of historical and modern buildings, and a wonderful place both for work and vacation: there are many coworking spaces, cultural sights to visit as well as vivid nightlife to experience. Moscow never sleeps!
YEKATERINBURG

Yekaterinburg is situated on the border of Europe and Asia, it is the 4th largest city in Russia. Famous for the cultural scene and industrial centre of the region. Moreover, the first Russian president Boris Yeltsin was born there.
KRASNOYARSK

Krasnoyarsk is the best place to enjoy the Russian nature. There is the most popular National Park in Russia, called Stolby Nature Sanctuary. Hiking lovers will be fascinated by the beauty of Siberia.

IRKUTSK AND BAIKAL LAKE

This city is located right next to something that is on the bucket list of every Russian: next to the Baikal Lake. It is the deepest lake in the world, one of the clearest, and it contains more water than the North American Great Lakes combined.

ULAN-UDE

Ulan-Ude is located just a hundred kilometers from the Lake Baikal. Ulan-Ude is full of contradictions, harmoniously, the Orthodox churches neighbor with ornate Buddhist temple in Ulan-Ude. It is also known for the giant sculpture head of Vladimir Lenin. This unique monument, weighing 42 tons and having a height of 14 meters, was constructed in honor of the centenary of Lenin's birth in 1970.

1 DAY BOAT TRIP AT THE BAIKAL LAKE
Listvyanka is the nearest city situated on the Baikal lake, it is 1h away from Irkutsk. The landscape is different from what you see at Olkhon, so we advise to explore that area. We offer 1 day tour that combines hiking in Listvyanka and a boat trip at Baikal lake.
SERVICES ON TRAINS:
Kupe class

Separate compartment for 4 people that can be locked. (included in price)
SV class — upon request

The most upgraded class on trains. 2 people in one compartment. Separate room, that can be locked.
Important information:

In most cases there is no shower on trains, but there are some exceptions and sometimes you can find a carriage with a shower.

There are 2 restrooms in every car, and there are sinks, too. Bed linens and towels are provided on trains.

Each carriage of a train has a carriage manager (provodnik — name in Russian), who checks the passport of each passenger on the train. Moreover, every train has a boiler, so you can make a hot cup of tea and have a nice talk with Russians.

Food in the train

Organised in a separate restaurant vagon
ACCOMMODATION
In each city list we stay in hotels, twin accommodation and breakfasts are included.

Example of the hotels:
Krasnoyarsk, AMAKS Hotel
PRICE — 1900€
Two persons - 3600€
In order to participate in this campus you have to send us a letter to hey@controforma.school with a brief story about yourself and a link to your portfolio. Please put "Trans-Siberian illustration camp" as a letter subject.
We provide all the required documents if the course is paid by your employer. You can always purchase this course as a gift certificate and make a present to another person. The payment can be processed in two stages.

We are glad to answer your questions:
phone +7 921 413 91 34 (whats up), email — hey@controforma.school
Enrolment process in steps
1. After you sign up below we'll get in touch with you to arrange a suitable time for a 10 minutes phone call. We need this to get acquainted, chat a bit and answer all the questions you may have.
2. After the call, you receive a payment link to ensure your place
(270€, non-refundable).
3. Documents and visa preparation period (1 month)

Attention! Do not buy any tickets until we confirm all the documents are ready and the group is set up for the travel.
APPLY FOR COURSE PARTICIPATION