About The Author
My name is Anastasia Romanovna Shimshilashvili, however, everyone calls me Shima.
My artistic journey began in 1998, when I joined the Moscow Academic Art Lyceum of the Russian Academy of Arts. Within a year, I joined Workshop No.1 of the Art Lyceum, where I built the foundations of my knowledge, skills and experience. I am immensely grateful to my teachers for that!
After graduating from the Art Lyceum in 2005, I joined the Moscow V. I. Surikov State Academic Art Institute. I became part of the faculty of Fine Art and in my senior years I starting working within the department of Monumental Art, where I graduated with honours.
At the department of Monumental Art of the Surikov Institute, along with easel painting and drawing, I mastered a number of other techniques which include frescoes, mosaics, icon painting, sgraffito, stained glass and modelling.
I am a member of the Society of Women Artists and I exhibit my works regularly at various competitive international exhibitions. Some of the recent awards I have received include
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the "Tom Urwin Special Fine Art Award" and the "Karen Walker Young Artist of The Year Award" from the Society of Women Artists in 2019 and 2021, respectively.
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The "Highly Commended" Prize from the Royal Society of British Artists in 2018 and 2020, respectively.
I started teaching art as I was finishing my University degree at the V. I. Surikov institute. First, these were studio-based classes, and then I switched to teaching online, and it proved to be more effective. Learning online a student tends to focus more on their drawing technique as they to draw on their own. This allows the student to understand improvement areas, and in the next lesson he/she can clearly articulate the most challenging areas, which we start working on together. At the moment I teach based on my own methodology - #shimamethod - which I have used with my students, including those who are beginners, to achieve a really high standard of drawing in a short time frame.
I am excited to share the #shimamethod of teaching through my online-school and textbook 'Pencil Portrait - Drawing Techniques A to Z '. My goal is to encourage you to draw, and get into flow of drawing, which will come when you draw mindfully.
I am also an author of the bestseller 'Learn How to Draw: A simple Guide to All Techniques' - published in Russian in 2017.
multiple award winner and participant of the following exhibitions:
Royal Society of British Artists
The Sunday Times Watercolour Competition
The Biennial Ruth Borchard Self-Portrait Prize
The Other Art Fair
New English Art Club
Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours
Society of Women Artists
The Pastel Society
Young Artists of Russia
Exhibitions of Moscow Union of Artists
Testimonials
"Great book. Everything is clear and understandable. Suitable for all skill levels. The author is an awesome artist with extensive experience in art, will tell and show what and how. Buy. You won’t regret!!"
- Nikolay M.
"I really liked the explanations about shading, analysis of errors and of the hatching direction. Simple and accessible, with much needed practical exercises."
- Tigrress
"One of the best drawing tutorials. Painted in detail, clearly shown. Very convenient format, lightweight, which distinguishes it from many weighty drawing books. The book covers the highlights for beginners. Also for practicing the theory - there are homework exercises."
- Ekaterinapoli
"Finally I found a really understandable book for a beginner for self-study!"
- Sergeev V.
"I like Anastasia's YouTube channel, so I was delighted to learn that she has released a book. Anastasia's approach is more academic, in contrast to popular sketches, but not boring. Perhaps this is the first drawing book that I read from beginning to an end (I have not mastered everything yet, but soon). Written in an easily understandable manner and without water. Reading is interesting and informative for a beginner."
- Katya M.
"One of the best drawing tutorials I've ever seen. Everything is very competently and clearly stated, without "water"; everything to the point, a lot of very useful advice that helped me a lot; I’ve not seen them in any literature on drawing. I really liked the language and manner of presentation of the material, as well as the description of rather rare techniques: drawing with sauce and working with tempera!"
- Tatiana R.
