The Slovak illustrator Peter Kocák grew up in the small town of Čierna nad Tisou in south-eastern Slovakia, which at that time was part of Czechoslovakia. Recognised as a talented atist at an early age, he studied applied arts in Košice, then went on to study at the graphic art and book illustration department of the Vysoká Škola Výtvarných Umení (Academy of Fine Arts) in Bratislava, where he was taught by by Igor Rumansky and Albín Brunovský.

Since 1989 he has been a professor in the Department of Art Education and Fine Arts at Prešov University in eastern Slovakia, where he teaches drawing, printmaking, and western and eastern calligraphy. In 1998 he was invited to show his work at the Exlibris Congress of China in Shenzhen, and in 2008 he studied Chinese ink painting and shufa calligraphy at the Beijing summer school of the master Sun Bai-Jun. Though Kocák has worked in a variety of media, and has produced a number of book illustrations, it is for his bookplates or ex libris that he has gained an international reputation.

We are very grateful to our Russian friend Yuri for suggesting the inclusion of this artist, and for supplying most of the images.