Vladimir Zarubin — The Master of the Soviet Greeting Postcard | The Whole Holiday Calendar in Gouache | LoRA (Krea2 Turbo)

LoRA trained on the postcard oeuvre of Vladimir Zarubin (commonly cited 1925–1996): the Soviet graphic artist whose greeting cards covered the entire Soviet holiday calendar — New Year, 8 March, 1 May, 1 September, autumn harvest, summer, birthdays and general congratulations — alongside flowers, children, animals and seasonal landscapes. Mass-produced from the 1950s through the 1980s, his cards hung in every Soviet home. Painted in warm gouache with a festive jewel palette, each card is a small cozy narrative — a snowman-postman, a troika in a blizzard, a bouquet of mimosa, children at a river, a golden autumn park — almost always carrying a painted Cyrillic greeting. Ded Moroz is one beloved motif among many, not the center of his world.

Trained and tested on Krea2 Turbo.

About the Artist

Vladimir Ivanovich Zarubin (commonly cited 1925–1996) was a Soviet graphic artist, the acknowledged master of the greeting postcard.

• Range: Produced postcards for the full Soviet holiday cycle — New Year/winter, International Women's Day (8 March), May Day (1 May), Knowledge Day (1 September), autumn harvest, summer, birthdays — plus floral still lifes, children's scenes, animals and landscapes.

• Winter canon: Ded Moroz and Snegurochka, the horse troika, the snowman-postman, children skating and sledding, snow-covered izbas, the Kremlin under fireworks — beloved but only one season of his output.

• Spring & flowers: Mimosa, tulips, lily of the valley, snowdrops, blossoming gardens — the visual language of 8 March and May Day.

• Autumn & harvest: Golden parks, mushrooms, apples, vegetables, school bells — the language of 1 September and the harvest.

• Technique: Gouache and tempera; velvety matte color, dense opaque snow, glowing windows, deep ultramarine nights.

• Painted greetings: Hand-lettered Cyrillic inscriptions integrated into the composition — the signature of the genre.

• Legacy: His postcards remain among the most recognizable images of Soviet everyday festivity and are collected and reproduced to this day.

The Manner

• Gouache postcard texture: Velvety matte color, soft edges, no glossy digital sheen.

• Festive jewel palette: Deep ultramarine night, snowy white, fir green, red-gold accents; warm window light against cold dusk; in spring — fresh greens and flower reds; in autumn — gold and ochre.

• The full holiday calendar: New Year, 8 March, 1 May, 1 September, harvest, summer, birthdays — each with its own iconography.

• Fairy-tale narrative: A small story in every frame — humor, kindness, anticipation.

• Ded Moroz as one motif: Present in winter cards but balanced by snowmen, troikas, children and animals; never the sole subject of his oeuvre.

• Floral still lifes: Bouquets as the primary subject for 8 March and birthdays.

• Children & animals: Skating, sledding, fishing, berry-picking; hares, squirrels, foxes, bears, owls, magpies, cats.

• Seasonal landscapes: Snowy villages, blossoming gardens, golden parks, summer rivers, birch groves.

• Cozy Soviet everyday: Izbas with lit windows, samovars, cats, garlands, tangerines, balloons, school satchels.

• Painted Cyrillic greeting: Hand-lettered inscription integrated into sky or margin.

• Kind humor: Gentle gags rather than satire.

Tested Generation Settings

Parameter

Value

Base model

Krea2 Turbo

VAE

qwen_image_vae

Text encoder

qwen3vl_4b_fp8_scaled

Steps

8

Sampler

Euler a

Schedule type

Bong Tangent

CFG scale

1

Resolution

2048×1536 (horizontal — native postcard format) / 1536×2048 (vertical cards)

LoRA weight

0.9–1.0 (epoch 20 — full training, postcard gouache holds full weight)

Negative prompt

Not required at CFG 1. Add to negative: photorealism, 3D render, anime, neon, gritty, dark horror, modern city, digital gloss, deformed, ugly, blurry, low detail, latin text, english text

Trigger Words

Vladimir Zarubin style, Soviet greeting postcard, gouache holiday card, Russian postcard illustration

Thematic boosters: gouache texture, festive jewel palette, painted Cyrillic greeting, New Year troika, snowman-postman, 8 March mimosa and tulips, May Day balloons, 1 September school bell, autumn harvest, summer river, floral still life, children and animals, cozy izba windows, kind fairy-tale humor

Versions

Epoch 20 (current) — full training; stable at weight 0.9–1.0.

Rights & Ethics

Vladimir Zarubin is commonly cited as having died in 1996; his works remain under copyright protection (70 years post-mortem, until ~2066), managed by his estate and successor publishers. This LoRA is provided strictly as an educational and creative tool for stylistic study, homage and personal transformative projects. Please use responsibly and do not reproduce his exact postcard compositions for commercial sale.