Nikita dusto
What has been Dusto up to?
When the lockdown was very strict, I was mainly at home, and then I started slowly going to paint on the streets with everyone, worked a bit during summer when it was possible, made an exhibition in an abandoned building, and that's kinda it. It didn't affect me much, I just stopped drawing outside for half a year.
I also freelance mainly. At a certain moment, I began working as a technical manager of large festivals that have something to do with street art. And in parallel, I still need to do some commercial work such as - decorating restaurants or something. During a lockdown, I was working primarily as commercial work on glass advertising in town. Also, we recently found a studio. I try to work on schedule, it feels like I am going to work.
It is cool to have some kind of praise, but it is not my goal. I paint for myself.
To force yourself to jog is similar to paint
I wanted to try to paint on canvas for a long time. I always liked it. But to go and professionally study, I am not ready. I do not have finance for it either time. I am such a person that I do not like to sit and do something for a long time, it infuriates me. Perhaps it is a habit from the street. I came, I saw, painted and I left, done. Currently, I force myself with painting canvases the same way as anyone who forces themselves to jog. But I do want to do it. I work so that I come up with something, and then we will see if it leads to something new. If not, then it's okay.
In canvases, I always wanted to implement these abstraction patterns that reflect the graffiti as well. In my opinion, they compliment each other, and it simply works. Everything, in principle, was chosen because of the technique, because let's say I chose the "greenish" look for the canvases as I came across photography that started to age that had that green surface. Looks simply awesome. The composition that you can see on my canvases is obtained from photos. Some of them I took some I find from a soviet period or '90s. It is more of a training.
I have never really enjoyed the result. I never had that over perfectionism in me.
Cans
I started painting graffiti in 2006. You know how it goes. You see someone skate, you skate as well, you see someone paint, and you get into it. At least I was interested. In my area, there was a guy that was a very cool graffiti artist. In a way, I managed to get his attention, and that helped me to progress. He taught me quite a few tools, showed me some fundamental information I needed to know, and introduced me to quite a few graffiti artists. I can say that for a couple of years now, graffiti as a form board's me a bit. I want to do something different but use graffiti as a tool.
For a long time, I was primarily working on the font. Later on, I started upgrading something more multi-instrumental, I can draw something really simple, fast, something harder, I can draw for a long time. What I am trying to say is that in every sphere I in some way maintained, because I learned about the tools and managed to create something my own: original.
When I learned that I could draw outside, I wanted to try it out. I am not really about the adrenalin like some of the guys. I don't deny it works, maybe even helps out the process but I thrive for the result.
I am not an adrenaline junkie.
About the streets
Drawing on the street at some point will force you to have discipline. The adrenalin forces you to. There is no choice but to start calculating everything in advance. You do not have a comfortable environment, it is unpredictable like its special operation.
There is no preparation apart from location and colour palette. Last 7 years I started to draw more on all sorts of abandoned buildings. There are a lot of walls, and the atmosphere is very peaceful. I began to be more interested in different places. As in Russia, they actively paint over drawings. That is why the abandonment is still a safe zone as no one has heard of these places, as well a lot of Soviet things remained, and in St. Petersburg, many are not even Soviet, all sorts of palaces, castles and its overall very intriguing process (Like an expedition) to go see these places and being able to draw in them. Graffiti in general, provides very non-standard visual conditions.
Also, you manage to meet quite some characters on the way. Once we got into a beautiful abandoned mansion and some homeless lived there so for us, to paint in their "home" they took money from us for the passage of 300 rubles.
I usually go on these trips with a few people as it is more of a lifestyle. It is similar to going finishing together.
The biggest project I worked on till this day: VYKSA 10 000
I was helping out with the largest monumental painting in the world.