Hi! I'm Anna Ratkevich.
An independent artist, illustrator and naturalist inspired by the biodiversity of Bidoup-Nui Ba National Park in Vietnam. Through painting, photography and illustration, I explore the park's remarkable flora, fungi and wildlife in my ongoing project, Beyond the Trees, There Is a Forest.
Exhibition
Beyond the Trees, There Is a Forest was a solo exhibition presenting 35 original works inspired by a decade of observing the forests of Bidoup–Nui Ba National Park and the Lang Biang Plateau.
Held at Memories+84 Gallery in Da Lat from 13 June to 6 July 2026, the exhibition brought together works depicting the forest, its landscapes and the life within them.
Press coverage
Lam Dong Newspaper
June 26, 2026
Russian Scientific Illustrator Explores Bidoup–Nui Ba Forest Through Art — English Read articleJune 19, 2026
Hội họa trở thành sự tiếp nối của việc quan sát — Vietnamese Read article
Birds of Bidoup-Nui Ba National Park
This project began with a simple idea: to create realistic, beautifully crafted coloring pages that inspire children and teenagers to discover and appreciate the birds of local region.
The story behind it. During the bird-racing at Bidoup-Nui Ba National Park, both experienced birdwatchers and children observed birds, and the children later participated in a drawing competition.The kids were full of enthusiasm, yet some of the youngest participants only managed to sketch a simple pencil outline. That moment made me realize something important: I wanted every child (and adult, too!) — to have the chance to create their own artwork. A true, personal creation where a chosen bird comes to life under their colors, guided by a carefully prepared outline.
Publication
In 2026, Ô cửa sách acquired the rights to Anna Ratkevich’s series of 30 bird illustrations from Bidoup–Nui Ba National Park for publication in a children’s coloring book, Họa sắc thiên nhiên – những cánh chim rừng Bidoup.
Read the article: Lưu giữ vẻ đẹp chim rừng qua nét vẽ — Lam Dong Newspaper, 21 March 2026.
Mushrooms of Bidoup-Nui Ba National Park
Mushrooms are not plants. They are not animals either — they belong to their own kingdom of life.
The park and the pine and evergreen forests around Đà Lạt lie high in Vietnam's Central Highlands. It is cool there, often misty, and wet for months on end — weather that fungi love.
It is one of the richest places for fungi in the country: scientists have already recorded some 400–500 species of larger fungi here.
Drawing out in the forest is not always possible — sometimes the midges have plans of their own, sometimes the leeches do. So each mushroom was photographed first, close up and from every side, and drawn afterwards at a table. Each mushroom was then drawn by hand on watercolour paper, with black ink pens. The drawing was scanned, its lines made clean and crisp, and printed on watercolour paper again. That printed outline was painted with real watercolours, and scanned one last time.
These drawings also live in the colouring app Bidoup Mushrooms Explorer →
In the Press
Read “Anna Ratkevich: Drawing to Express What Photography Cannot Capture” in Da Nang Police Newspaper. The article explores my mushroom illustrations inspired by the forests of Bidoup–Nui Ba National Park. Read the article →
About
Presented here are paintings by independent artist, illustrator, photographer Anna Ratkevich, based on her personal observations of the primary forests in Bidoup-Nui Ba National Park, Lam Dong, Vietnam from 2015 to 2025.
Botanical illustration or illustrative painting?
A nature photographer or just a tourist does not always have time to capture all the moods and amazing moments with a camera or phone. This cycle of paintings became the creative result — a symbiosis of live communication with nature and photography.
The desire to thoroughly convey the beauty and uniqueness of the local ancient forests inspires the author to further explore this world from within.
Like pieces of a mosaic, the image of Bidoup Nui Ba is formed from paintings, representing a part of it that is accessible not only to biologists but also to ordinary tourists. The author introduces the viewer to endemics, rare species, and simply amazing forest creatures, and through her artworks, she calls for a careful attitude towards local nature. The paintings present forest dwellers in a naturalistic way, set in their natural environment. The slightly fairy-tale "filter" that the author uses is an integral part of her vision and the feelings that the primary forest evokes.
The series of works will continue; the source of inspiration is always refreshed with new observations and has a vast stock of old ones.