Our collab with @LianeV is seriously special to us, so of course, we had to find a seriously special artist to feature. That turned out to be no other than Lyubomir Dochev (@ldochev). In addition to him rendering otherworldly depictions of Liane, we had the pleasure of interviewing him about his artistic practice and identity!
Before we get into the interview, please make sure you check out Lyubomir’s work, which can be found on his Instagram @ldochev.
Below are the breathtaking pieces Lyubomir crafted for the INH x @LianeV collab…
First and foremost, Lyubomir’s art is about spreading positive energy. In describing his style, he refers to “the lights” added to his illustrations as “the spice that brings [his] art to life.” He says that these lights “make the character sparkle and radiate positivity.” Some of Lyubomir’s pieces feature beams of light radiating from the muse’s eyes, which is absolutely stunning, unique to his work, and manifests the positive light he refers to.
In addition to cultivating positivity through art itself, Lyubomir values his uplifting following, saying he “managed to build a really positive society on Instagram” and that his followers are “always so encouraging and kind.”
This piqued our interest in Lyubomir’s relationship with social media, so we asked him to unpack what these platforms mean to his artistic practice. To Lyubomir, social media embodies opportunity. He comments that “as a person from a small country, social media totally changed my life and I will be forever grateful.” In addition, he alluded to the potential dangers of social media, saying, “of course there are people with bad intentions.” But, in accordance with Lyubomir’s positive philosophy, he says that this fact “doesn’t have to stop anybody who decides to show themselves and their hobbies.”
Fun fact: the small country Lyubomir refers to as his place of origin is Bulgaria!
It is clear through Lyubomir’s IG portfolio that he channels pop culture and fashion significantly when creating art, so we asked him why. His answer was:
“Fashion screams individuality and I have always been fascinated by people who can express themselves with clothing and accessories. My work is always inspired by characters like that who are so confident in their style and can make any piece of clothing look so fly.”
Well, @LianeV is certainly the perfect muse when it comes to a confident character that can make anything look bomb. Quick side note: @LianeV is a day-1 supporter of INH and has tried on basically every product - and looks AMAZING in every single one. Check out some pics of her rocking our famous products:
Ok, back to Lyubomir.
Lyubomir has been a RihannaNavy from the beginning. For those of you who don’t know, this is a supreme fan of Rihanna. Lyubomir recalls the moment Rihanna followed him and appreciated his work (!!!) as a “huge moment.” (Yeah, we’d say so!) Additionally, he mentions a memory when “Winnie Harlow went to a basketball game with a hand-painted jacket by me.” To Lyubomir these aren’t just proud moments to reminisce on; they are motivations to keep on working.
In response to our question about whether he experiences creative block, Lyubomir exclaims, “of course I do!” In order to cope with this phenomenon, he “stop[s] and tr[ies] to do other activities.” Some examples include sports, walks, and anything productive.
Next we hit Lyubomir with a question he’d never been asked before! Drum roll…
How do you measure your artistic success?
Lyubomir’s response is that his success “cannot be measured.” Instead he chooses to focus on striving to be “better and better.” He defines a successful person as one who “stay[s] true to [them]selves and [is] kind with others.” We absolutely love this response and believe Lyubomir’s positive attitude and humility to be inspirational and even infectious!
Lastly, we delved into asking Lyubomir details about his work depicting @LianeV. His response was as follows:
“This project was such a fun and positive experience and I am truly thankful to have been chosen for it. Loved working with the whole team. Liane V is such a cool and creative person so she immediately inspired me. I have done every single piece with great pleasure and joy!”
Thank you @ldochev for such a rich and inspirational interview, and of course for enriching our INH x @LianeV collaboration with these mesmerizingly beautiful illustrations. Our team at INH is so beyond grateful for the amazing individuals we have the chance to work with!
Interested in being our next artist feature? Apply here!
