A Cover Story

The cover of this issue of the magazine is the final of a series of four seasonal images we commissioned from Asya Lisina. We asked her to explain how she went about crafting this image.

The task was to create a cover for the magazine. It should be bright, summery, and not have anything to do with coronavirus.

I began with a compositional sketch. Beginning with thoughts of self-isolation, empty streets, and lots of free space, I decided to create a crowded composition filled with details, where the characters are tightly packed together. I wanted to draw the viewer’s eye in a sharp zigzag, beginning with the lower left corner and finishing with the apple-filled Zhiguli and the tiny figure of the fisherman, who plays the role of a lyrical afterword.