Alps. Village in the Savoie

Light pours from the left, casting the foreground courtyard and right-side buildings into warm shadow while illuminating the distant valley and mountains beyond. Your eye enters through the sunlit gap at left (where a white church steeple catches light), then travels rightward across the shadowed courtyard where animals rest, finally settling on the massive timber-frame building that anchors the composition's center-right. The spatial recession is steep—notice how the foreground ground plane tilts upward, compressing the village into a compressed, almost claustrophobic warren before opening to the luminous landscape beyond.

The darkest darks cluster in the timber framing and deep shadow sides of buildings (almost black-brown). Mid-tones dominate—the ochre and sienna earth, weathered wood, and shadow planes of structures. The lightest lights are reserved for the distant sunlit valley, the sky, and selective hits on the white church. Squint and you'll see a clear three-value structure: deep shadows (buildings' dark timber), warm midtones (foreground and building surfaces), and bright background landscape—this is your entire tonal armature.

• #836653

  burnt sienna + raw umber + touch of ultramarine

  weathered wood surfaces and shadow planes on main buildings

• #3b2f29

  raw umber + ultramarine blue + burnt sienna

  deepest shadows in timber framing and interior building recesses

• #d2c3a7

  yellow ochre + titanium white + touch of burnt sienna

  sunlit foreground earth and bright passages on distant hillside

• #a88d70

  yellow ochre + raw umber + titanium white

  middle-tone walls and the shadowed courtyard floor

• #6b473a

  raw umber + burnt sienna + ultramarine

  medium shadows on building faces and roof structures

Serebriakova uses hard edges selectively—sharp timber lines and door frames read clearly, giving structural clarity. Where light meets shadow on distant hills and sky, edges soften into atmospheric haze. The foreground and middle-distance buildings have varied handling: defined wooden joints and beam shadows, but softer transitions where weathering and shadow merge. Brushwork is direct and visible, especially in the foliage and sky, with less blending than smoothing.

1. 01

   Establish the light direction and ground plane tilt

   Lightly sketch the composition using raw umber or burnt sienna thinned with solvent. The key observation: the foreground rises sharply toward the middle distance, creating that compressed perspective. Mark where the sun comes from the left, and indicate the major shadow shapes on the right-side buildings. This tilted ground plane is essential—it's what makes the space feel compressed and intimate.

2. 02

   Block in the sky and distant landscape

   Paint the background first while you're thinking in lighter values. Use ultramarine blue + titanium white with hints of yellow ochre to warm the upper sky. The distant hills should be much lighter and hazier than the foreground—use pale ochre and blue mixtures. Notice the mountains fade to purple-gray at top. This luminous background is your lightness anchor; everything forward will be darker.

3. 03

   Establish the deepest darks—timber and shadows

   Mix your darkest value: raw umber + ultramarine + touch of burnt sienna. Block in the shadow sides of the large central timber-frame building, the interior recesses of doors, and the deep shadows cast by the overhanging roofs. These darks should feel almost black but never pure black—there's color in them. The contrast between these darks and the light background will activate your entire painting.

4. 04

   Paint the foreground courtyard and earth

   Use warm ochre and burnt sienna mixtures for the sunlit sandy/earthen floor. Notice the foreground is lighter on the left (where sun hits) and warmer overall than the shadowed right side. The animals—dark dogs and a white bird—sit on this plane. Keep this area painterly; don't overwork it. The foreground is your stage; it should feel alive with warm reflected light.

5. 05

   Model the building walls and roofs

   Now work the middle values—the weathered wood, the tan/ochre walls of structures. The central building's wooden beams should read as deliberate structural lines; use burnt sienna + raw umber for the darkest timber and lighter ochre-sienna mixes for the panels between. The roof shingles slope and catch light differently on each plane. Pay attention to how the left-side structures (closer to light source) have warmer, sunlit tones, while right-side walls live in cooler shadow.

6. 06

   Refine edges and add atmospheric depth

   Sharpen edges where wood structure meets shadow (doors, beams, window frames) using your finest brush. Soften edges where foreground meets background, especially where the distant valley becomes hazy. The white church steeple on the left should have crisp edges and pure white highlights. Add final darks to deepen shadow recesses if needed; a touch more ultramarine in shadows furthest from light.

7. 07

   Integrate the foliage and final accents

   The vines and small trees growing on and around buildings should feel organic but not detailed. Use yellow-ochre greens mixed with your shadow colors; they should harmonize, not jump out. The white bird and dark animals should be simple shapes—don't render them. A few yellow-ochre highlights where sunlight catches grass or leaves in the middle distance will reinforce the directional light.

8. 08

   Assess light coherence and final harmonization

   Step back. Does light feel as though it's truly coming from the left, illuminating the courtyard and distant valley? Are your shadow sides consistently cool-dark relative to your sunlit surfaces? If the right-side buildings feel too separated from the composition, introduce a warmer reflected light into their shadow planes—this happens in real villages where sun bounces off stone. Make sure your warmest, most saturated colors cluster in the middle distance, not scattered everywhere.

• Making the foreground too dark or too cool—this is sunlit earth; it should glow with warm ochre and sienna even in shadow passages. Many students darken the ground too much, losing the sense of bright daylight.
• Overworking the timber framing—the strength comes from clear, confident lines and value contrast, not from rendering every wood grain. Restrain yourself; suggest texture rather than describe it.
• Flattening the perspective by painting buildings the same value—the left-side (closer, sunlit) structures must be warmer and lighter than the right-side shadowed ones. This value shift is how you convey spatial recession in a compressed village view.
• Softening the distant mountains so much they disappear—they're hazy but still present. Keep enough value and color so the eye reads them as a distinct plane between buildings and sky.

beginner friendliness

value contrast

palette complexity

compositional simplicity

brushwork visibility