Dmitry Samarov was born in Moscow, USSR in 1970. He immigrated to the US with his family in 1978. He got in trouble in 1st grade for doodling on his Lenin Red Star pin and hasn't stopped doodling since. After a false start at Parsons School of Design in New York, he graduated with a BFA in painting and printmaking from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1993. Upon graduation he promptly began driving a cab-first in Boston, then after a time, in Chicago- which eventually led to the publication of his illustrated work memoirs Hack: Stories from a Chicago Cab (University of Chicago Press, 2011) and second cabbie book from a press not worth mentioning. Music to My Eyes (Tortoise Books, 2019) is his first non-cabbie-related book. Soviet Stamps (Pictures&Blather, 2020) is the second. All Hack (Pictures&Blather, 2020) is a summation of his cabbie-related work. Old Style (Pictures&Blather, 2021) is his first work of fiction. paint-by-numbers (Pictures&Blather, 2022) is his second. to whom it may concern (Pictures&Blather, 2023) is book of new answers to old letters. Making Pictures is How I Talk to the World (Pictures&Blather, 2024) is a survey of 40 years of art. In 2025, Samarov began designing and illustrating public domain books. Babbitt (Pictures&Blather, 2025) is now available; Moby Dick (Maudlin House, 2025) is forthcoming in May. He has exhibited his work in all manner of bars, coffeeshops, libraries, and even the odd gallery (when he's really hard up.) He writes dog portraits and paints book reviews in Chicago, Illinois. James Hogg (1770-1835) was a Scottish poet, novelist and essayist.
