A talented Big Issue vendor who recently appeared in the magazine explaining the process he uses for creating art has been rewarded with commissions from across the country.
Keen artist Slavi Slavov appeared as a Vendor Expert back in March offering tips on how to create portraits, pastels and paintings.
![B0FB60391D3A48108A189BA02CDF5FCA Big Issue vendor Slavi Slavov's art](https://www.bigissue.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/B0FB60391D3A48108A189BA02CDF5FCA.jpg?w=566)
Soon afterwards he was delighted to receive emails from as far afield as Canterbury and Newcastle asking him to create some bespoke art.
“It was so exciting, I just couldn’t believe it,” he said. “I appreciate everything and it’s really great. The people are lovely. We just emailed each other, they sent me a picture, I did my work and in a couple of days and I sent it back to them.”
![4A23B4712282435FA16D70A18E58F39F Big Issue vendor Slavi Slavov's art](https://www.bigissue.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/4A23B4712282435FA16D70A18E58F39F.jpg?w=522)
Slavi sells The Big Issue in Aberystwyth in Wales, but in his younger days he spent a year in art school in Sofia, Bulgaria. He couldn’t afford to study for longer but the love of drawing and painting never left him.
And it’s not only people and landscapes he can turn his hand to. One of the commissions was from a woman who wanted a portrait of her guinea pigs.