My Story
An Artist on the Rise
Classical Artist, Lover of the Arts, Admirer of the Past
Krasimir was born in Ruse, Bulgaria in the year 2000. His parents were both musicians and that prompted some interest into the arts from very early age. His mother is a pianist working in the Ruse State Opera House, while his father had abandoned a career in music for a more stable job in manufacturing.
His grandfather was the first to show him simple drawing principles like perspective and shading. That just captivated his imagination, he writes:
“For a short time I had drew nothing but a house on a hill, or villages with mountains.”
Meanwhile his father, who was working with 3D software, introduced young Krasimir to them. Even though he didn’t know how to use them to their full extend, it was enough for him to create simple objects and items in 3D. Krasimir would later say:
“I would work on these things for days on end. I think that helped me develop a deep sense of the three dimensions from very early on. Later drawing in perspective was easy.”
In school he was always the best at the arts and crafts. He wasn’t good at most of the subjects, yet the teachers would always remark on his ability to think out of the box.
In high school his interests were dispersed in every direction. Whether it was history, or IT, robotics, physics, psychology, philosophy and of course, art. Under pressure from his father to pick a field to study, he chose art, which came out of the bloom since Krasimir had lost almost all his interest in drawing. His artistry had evolved in an engineering way of thinking. Everybody, including his dear friends and teachers, were stunned when they learned he was going to pursue art in the university.
On the Footsteps of the Greats
In the New Bulgarian University he attended the Visual Arts program. When asked by his high school teacher, why he preferred the University to the National Academy, he answered:
“I only had time to apply to the University. The Academy has a long list of students and the process to enter is much more difficult whereas you can easily enter university.”
Once he was enrolled he studied Drawing, Painting and Sculpting, as well as other theoretic subjects. He quickly realized that the university would not teach him the solid fundamentals so he started looking for alternatives.
Meanwhile he had the opportunity to attend Art History Lectures where he had his first encounter with the Old Masters. Inspired by Caravaggio and Rubens he felt a calling to go to Italy.
“I don’t know why but I knew I will end up in Italy someday…”
After looking online he stumbled upon several academies or so called ateliers. But it wasn’t until he watched the videos of Cesar Santos that he knew he had to go to the Angel Academy of Art in Florence. With great support of his parents a decision was made and a year into his university, he quit and moved to Florence.
He studied under maestro Michael John Angel, to whom the academy is named and Jered Woznicki. There he met likeminded individuals; people who admired realism and traditional oil painting. He would say:
“I had the opportunity to study with and under great artists. Even though maestro didn’t get to teach me as much, I still learned a lot from him. Jered is the person whom I owe the most, he taught me almost everything I know. Davide Barbini also deserves great acknowledgement since he was the one who taught us the very basics and he managed to break them down to such simplicity that even a kid would understand these cosmic in difficulty concepts. All of them deserve my deepest gratitude!”
He graduated the three-year-program in two years. Currently he is an instructor at Angel Academy of Art in Florence.