Illustrator duo Elena Snegotskaia and Vladimir Snegotskii, aka Rotten Fantom, are known for their distinctly gloomy illustration style. Drawn to themes like horror and mysticism, their artwork explores the human condition and its ultimate conclusion. Life and death are treated with equal measure and an overall bleakness predominates their work.
“The name Rotten Fantom appeared on December 21, 2012, which is the day of winter solstice and the shortest day of the year when everyone was expecting Doomsday to come,” the Russian artists shared the birth of their partnership in an interview with Jung Katz. “This was the beginning of something new, it turned out quite symbolic.”
“Visual images created by us stem from the subconscious,” they remarked, talking about their sources of inspiration. “Everything we have seen, heard or read is accumulated and recorded somewhere at the back of mind, like an information debit. Afterward, a key phrase (or thought) is enough to make the image acquire a more or less vivid shape.”
Their illustration technique is also noteworthy. Their exclusively black and white illustrations are made using a dot-work technique, in which an image is composed of tiny dots. According to Rotten Fantom, this method helps in adding shading and texture to their realistic images. “It is well-suited for conveying people, animals, and plants, and these are often featured in the works of Rotten Fantom,” they note.
