Meet the correspondents: MOSCOW > Zhenia Vasiliev

“Drawing in the city for me is the chance to somehow get involved into a part of city life which otherwise would go unnoticed. It is amazing how little we actually see, compared to everything that happens around us when we walk down the street, ride on a bus or sit in a cafe. When you draw, you have to look at the things in a different way, more accurately, you have to keep them in mind to draw them how they really are. I love sketching in new places, but even a usual street which I’ve walked up and down a thousand times is still an eternal source of inspiration, and that’s what I love about drawing most of all. The trick is not to fall into mechanical reproduction of the same windows, road signs and cars all the time, you have to find something unique in every seemingly boring everyday objects, because they truly have their own life and character. My challenge is to find and express that character.”

• Zhenia’s blog.
• Zhenia’s art on Flickr.