Printmaker Laurent Schkolnyk was born in France in 1953. He studied at L'Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Nantes from 1971 to 1978, with a focus on drawing and etching. He then took lessons in engraving and mezzotint from Paul Guimezanes (1916 - 2001). 

Schkolnyk is known for his colorful mezzotints, created by using three separate plates inked with one color each: transparent yellow, red, and blue. These are then printed on the sheet starting with the lightest hue - yellow - followed by red and then blue, carefully plotted to create additional colors via the overlapping of the inks. He rarely uses black ink, preferring to achieve the darkest hue with the overlapping of all three inks. This produces an especially rich array of colors and a velvety composition on the whole.

Since 1985 Laurent Schkolnyk has exhibited throughout France, the USA, Japan, Southest Asia, Australia, and Canada. His work is held in the collections of the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, CA; the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, CA; Portland Art Museum, OR; Musee de l'Imprimerie, Nantes; the Minnepolis Institute of Art, MN; Cleveland Art Museum, OH; and elsewhere. He continues to live and work in Nantes.