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Nika the Illustrator

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Nika the Illustrator

https://nikatheillustrator.etsy.com

Hand-drawn illustrations inspired by history & nature. Turning photos into 19th-century portraits & creating botanical art.

Art Historian | PhD Heritage Studies.

11/09/2026

15 seconds behind the scenes - a sketch painting of a couple looking at a phone together.

This is the last one so far, check the other 3 through linked reels on each video.

04/09/2026

15 seconds behind the scenes - a sketch painting of a two women checking the phone in a museum.
I did a couple of these, I will share more in the coming days.

28/08/2026

15 seconds behind the scenes - a sketch painting of a woman with a child in a museum.

I did a couple of these, I will share more in the coming days.

21/08/2026

Finally putting a 🎀 on this series.

Reimagining Homer’s epic in this vivid neon palette was a really fun challenge. From escaping Polyphemus under the rams to the final reunion back home, I loved composing some of the most famous scenes from the epic poem in this vivid yet limited colour selection.

This is the final collection of my illustrations for my Drawing the Odyssey DTIYS collaboration with Jona Schlegel.

👉 Check my profile grid to view the full series lineup and find out how to enter your own version!

Swipe to view the dot-work details, the styled illustration, the original Greek artifact, and our timeline.

13/08/2026

Behind the scenes of the last Odyssey illustration!

The composition is closely adapted from a terracotta relief plaque from around 450 B.C. currently in The Met Museum’s collection. While the ancient artifact shows a crowded scene of the household meeting the returning king disguised as a beggar, I wanted to zoom right into the emotional gaze between husband and wife. I used high-contrast dual-tones and bold halftone dots to bring a dynamic and playful feeling.

This piece is part 4 of my 4-part DTIYS collaboration with .

Check my profile grid to view the full series lineup and find out how to enter your own version!

03/08/2026

History meets neon pop art once again!

For part 4, the last part of our journey through Homer’s Odyssey, we are pausing the monsters to focus on the long overdue family reunion: Odysseus and his wife Penelope.

The composition is closely adapted from a terracotta relief plaque from around 450 B.C. currently in The Met Museum’s collection. While the ancient artifact shows a crowded scene of the household meeting the returning king disguised as a beggar, I wanted to zoom right into the emotional gaze between husband and wife. I used high-contrast dual-tones and bold halftone dots to bring a dynamic and playful feeling.

This piece is part 4 of my 4-part DTIYS collaboration with Jona Schlegel.

👉 Check my profile grid to view the full series lineup and find out how to enter your own version!

Swipe to view the dot-work details, the styled illustration, the original Greek artifact, and our timeline.

29/07/2026

THE BEGGAR’S RETURN! Week 4 of Drawing The Odyssey is officially LIVE!

After years of trial and adventure, Odysseus has finally made it back to his native Ithaka!

But home isn’t safe yet, his palace has been taken over by ruthless suitors consuming his wealth, forcing him to slip inside disguised as a humble beggar.

Swipe through the slides to check out this 2,400 year old ancient Greek artifact on display at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Known as a Melian terracotta relief, this incredible plaque captures the heavy, quiet suspense of a broken household right before the storm breaks.

Your creative prompts for this week:
1️⃣ THE STORY: Draw the scene from the plaque: Odysseus approaching his disconsolate wife, Penelope, while the faithful members of his household (his father Laertes, his son Telemachos, and the swineherd Eumaios) look on.
2️⃣ THE OBJECT: Recreate the ancient terracotta relief itself using your own signature style and texture.
3️⃣ THE DETAILS: Focus on the smaller elements, like Penelope’s downcast pose, the details on Odysseus’s traveler cap, or the weary expressions of his loyal family.

Whether you prefer ink, digital painting, traditional sketching, or abstract art, we want to see your personal interpretation of this classic tale of loyalty and reunion!

👉 How to join:
• Use the details in these slides as your starting point.
• Tag Historical Portraits | Illustration | Dr. Nika Jancsary and Jona Schlegel in your post.
• Use the hashtag so we can find your artwork and feature it in our gallery!

Flip to the “Spotlight Moments” slide to review the full challenge schedule and reading list. Have fun creating! 🖌️👇

28/07/2026

Did you know ancient Greek sirens weren’t mermaids at all? 🦅👩

For part 3 of my mythology series, Odysseus faces the ultimate test of will against the Sirens!

Following the historic design on the famous Siren Vase kept at the British Museum, I drew these mythical creatures the way ancient Greeks actually imagined them, as half-woman, half-bird hybrids!

To blend the ancient world with a modern pop, I styled the scene with vibrant dual tones and a retro comic book halftone texture.

This illustration is part 3 of my 4-part DTIYS collaboration with Jona Schlegel.

👉 Head over to my grid to catch up on the earlier chapters of Odysseus’s journey and see how you can join the drawing challenge!

Swipe to check out the illustration styled, the ancient artifact, and our full schedule.

27/07/2026

3D Prep! Behind the scenes of Odysseus meeting the sirens.

I often setup a quick 3D reference scene before drawing. I am just using free 3D models and playing around to block out the character positions and try out different compositions.

The core reference is this ancient Greek terracotta vase from about 480 - 470 BCE.

For the illustration itself, I am fully focusing on the story moment. I plan to translate this ancient tale for modern young audiences and catch their attention with simplicity, energy and vivid colours. Check my grid for the 2 previous entries.

This piece is part of a DTIYS collaboration with . It is a 4-part series on The Odyssey featuring 4 ancient Greek artefacts and 4 classic scenes.

Watch till the end for the prompts and their
release dates!

Calling all parents and young mythology fans to grab your pens and join us for this creative journey! Everyone is welcome!

Which of the 4 prompts look the most interesting to you?

The vase image is The Siren Vase, British Museum, object Nr. 1843,1103.31 © The Trustees of the British Museum. Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence.

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Klagenfurt

Webseite

http://nikajancsary.com/portraits, https://nikatheillustrator.etsy.com/

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