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Artist and illustrator Vlad Gradobyk uses bones as a motif, creating beautifully detailed illustrations of skulls and skeletons. The artist uses a dense, layered cross-hatching technique to produce images with an aesthetic similar to antique lithograph prints.

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There’s a wonderful -- and perhaps paradoxical -- sense of life in Gradobyk’s artworks. His skeletal figures are pictured eating, drinking, riding horseback, and performing various other activities that give the impression of life being lived to its fullest. There’s an incredible amount of detail in each of the works. The artist tends to focus on a central figure in his compositions, but that figure is often surrounded by objects and contextual details that serve to build a rich narrative scene. 

Some of the artists works take a more blended, softer approach, building up shadows with a smudged charcoal effect rather than cross-hatching. This style allows for dramatic depictions of ravens and other classic gothic motifs.

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