Illustrator Andrey Kasay invites us into his surreal yet amusing world

“Once my dog Larry said to me: ‘You must draw, or I’ll kill everybody you love!’ so I had no choice and now I’m here,” explains illustrator Andrey Kasay on the unusual beginnings of his career. Describing his style as “far east, surreal pop art”, Andrey is originally from east Russia and he enjoys drawing “funny things and situations”, while also building bikes in his spare time.

We featured Andrey’s illustrations last year and he continues to use bright, punchy colours with distinct black lines. His work feels like a slightly more garish interpretation of Guy Billout’s obscure vignettes, but with more bizarre subject matter. Andrey depicts an array of odd scenes like a basketball sun rising over mountains, seals hanging out on the subway as it fills with water and a woman flashing her coat to reveal a giant face under it. His animations are equally as weird and echo the same clean and poppy style, like the ident he created for Paramount Comedy in Russia, where we see a racoon being used as a sponge for washing up dishes.

The illustrator has created work for clients such as Red Bull, The Washington Post, The New Yorker, Google, Skittles and Adidas, and he has a very matter-of-fact approach when it comes to taking on commercial work: “If you come to me for my style – you’re welcome. If not – sorry I cannot help you.”

The humour and surprising nature is what keeps Andrey’s cartoon-like illustrations fresh and engaging, and one of the highlights for him is hearing people talk about his work and how they interpret his offbeat imagination.