Born in 1966 in the small town of Trosjanetz, Ukraine, Igor Ilinsky painted from a very young age. When he at the age of five he entered a children’s painting contest, the contest rejected his submission, saying a child could not have created that art. From the same age, Ilinsky began attending art class at the Suma city school for children gifted in art, followed by the City of Suma Art College when he was sixteen. Following his graduation in 1986 he worked at the Kharkov State Design Factory, creating murals, frescoes, and wall and ceiling paintings. This job also allowed him to continue with his own endeavors in oil on canvas.

In 1995 Ilinsky began showing his fine art paintings in local Kharkov galleries; the following year a French art dealer offered to sell his work in France and since that very successful exhibition Ilinsky has exhibited his work in France and Germany. His work can be found in private collections in Ukraine, Russia, Estonia, Finland, and Germany, among other countries.