Once, Roman Papsuev, also known online by the nickname Amok, began drawing characters from Russian fairy tales in the style they might be depicted for computer games, purely for fun. He shared his first sketches online for everyone to see. These illustrations quickly went viral, with articles about them even appearing on international platforms. That’s when Roman decided to take on the project more professionally, giving rise to the world of Old Rus’.
His illustrations continued to gain immense popularity, and the release of an artbook was only natural. In 2018, I bought and eagerly flipped through (calling it “read” doesn’t quite fit) the book Tales of Old Rus’. The Beginning. It was a classic artbook — lots of illustrations with minimal text, but all beautifully executed.
Later, Roman released a second book, titled almost the same: Tales of Old Rus’. The Origins. Based on the description, it was essentially the same book, but this time the author added significantly more text: he started describing the characters, explaining why they were depicted the way they were, and so on. The illustrations, however, were mostly the same. So I thought, why would I want to go through the same thing again? Still, I bought the book, if only to support the author.
And so, during some quiet post-New Year evenings, I spotted the book on my shelf, opened it, read a few pages… and then decided to dive back into the world of Old Rus’.
Yes, at first glance, the book seems like “the same one,” but in reality, there are far more differences. True, most of the illustrations are the same. There are a few additional drawings and sketches, as far as I can tell, but overall, it’s the same artbook. However, the amount of text included is significantly greater, and this text radically changes the perception. For each character, the author decided to describe how the final image he created came to be. The process was generally the same: he studied all the available materials—fairy tales, the works of scholars of Slavic folklore, and even the “collective unconscious” of Wikipedia. Based on this often contradictory information, he sought to create his own interpretation, one that wasn’t just visually compelling but also supported by a coherent and consistent story. At some point, he decided not to just draw characters but to create an entire universe where each character had their own place and story.
The book also partially unveils the history of this world, though it clearly sets up room for future development (as of now, two more books about the creatures of this universe have been published, along with an upcoming book featuring literary works).
Why do I say that the text significantly changes the perception? The research itself is already an interesting addition. But when you read about which elements he chose to include in a character and why, you start noticing subtle details in the illustrations that you completely overlooked when flipping through the original artbook without this context. And even if you noticed them, you might not have understood what those elements were or why they were there.
Overall, even revisiting the illustrations for a second time, but from this new perspective, I found it immensely enjoyable. If you haven’t yet explored this amazing project, I recommend skipping the first volume and going straight to the second, more comprehensive one.
This is a fantastic project, and Roman deserves immense credit for turning such a hobby into a professional and widely beloved universe.
My rating: 5/5
[…] I’ve been following Roman Papsuev’s wonderful world of “Old Rus’” almost since the first illustrations appeared, back when it wasn’t even a world yet—just the artist’s fresh take on well-known characters from Slavic folklore. I wrote more about this project earlier this year when I discussed the book “Tales of Old Rus’. Origins.” […]