It is noted in the article that the graphic drawing from the end of the 18th century was actively used in forming public opinion through correction of images. With powerful levers, the state influenced on the subject of the work of art, formed the idea of the plot and the interpretation which it needed, introducing a certain set of ideas into the mass consciousness. The peculiarities of producing and plotting works of painting and graphics covering the events of the Russian-Turkish wars of the last quarter of the 18th century, speak about the policy of the establishment of G. Potemkin as a key figure in promoting the Russian Empire to the South during the implementation of the ideological concept of the Greek project. On the basis of the analysis of works of painting and graphics devoted to the siege of Ochakov in 1788, the process of forming the image of G. Potemkin is observed against the background of his unpopular measures to take the fortress. After Ochakov's assault, custom-made oil paintings by F. Kazanov "Assault of Ochakov", A. Barsh's engravings and I. Willle's engraving series devoted to the key themes of the process of taking the fortress, appeared. In addition, there are full-time eyewitnesses of the assault on the fortress of the artist M. Ivanov. The conclusions indicate that it was during the days of Catherine II that military plots were spreading in graphic drawing, giving way only to the dominant direction - the portrait genre. The analysis of the works of painting and engravings devoted to the siege of Ochakov in 1788 suggests a certain transformation of historical reality, which was fixed by M. Ivanov in the works of A Barsh, and the construction of the positive image of G. Potemkin in the works of I. Wille and F. Kazanov. With the help of these means of formation of conditional reality, they tried to overcome the "negative consequences" for the reputation of G. Potemkin, which appeared during the Ochakov siege.