plate no. 9917
Girls lightened by sun
Vladimir Makovsky, 1901
recreation guide
Vladimir Makovsky’s 'Girls lightened by sun' (1901) is a genre painting that depicts ordinary figures engaged in common activities, consistent with the tradition of portraying aspects of everyday life without attaching specific historical or portrait identities to the subjects (Source 4). As a Realist work, it likely employs a 'reality effect' rather than strict photographic accuracy, aiming to capture the familiar and often sentimental nature of daily scenes that appealed to the middle-class audience of the period (Source 4, Source 5). The title suggests a focus on lighting effects, specifically how sunlight interacts with the figures, which aligns with the artist's attention to the 'aggregate force of color' and the subtle use of contrast to create a specific mood or 'state of feeling' (Source 7).
estimated time
40-60 hours over 8-12 sessions
materials
6 items
steps
5 in sequence
materials
| item | purpose | modern equivalent |
|---|---|---|
| Oil paints (Raw Umber, White, Ultramarine, Black, Red/Yellow earth tones) | Primary medium for underpainting and glazing | Standard tube oil paints |
| Charcoal | Initial drawing and shading for construction | Vine charcoal or compressed charcoal |
| Turpentine | Thinner for initial washes and cleaning | Odorless mineral spirits or pure turpentine |
| Oil of Copavia (or modern stand oil/linseed oil) | Medium for glazing and scumbling layers | Stand oil or walnut oil |
| Varnish | Mixed with oil for later glazing stages to increase transparency | Artist's resin varnish |
| Bread | Erasing charcoal errors before paint application | Kneaded eraser |
preparation
surface prep
Prepare a canvas or panel with a ground suitable for oil painting. While specific ground recipes for Makovsky are not detailed in the sources, the technique described involves a 'grisaille' (monochrome underpainting) which requires a stable, dry surface. The sources advise making corrections in the charcoal stage before applying paint, implying the surface should be smooth enough to accept charcoal but textured enough to hold oil layers (Source 1).
underdrawing
Draw and shade in charcoal, making the study slightly smaller than life size. Hold the brush against the model’s face to ascertain length and proportions. Place the drawing alongside the sitter, on a level with the face, and use a hand-glass to compare the drawing with nature from a distance to check scale and accuracy. Make all corrections in charcoal using bread to erase errors, as charcoal offers little resistance to correction. Do not proceed to paint if there are obvious errors in construction (Source 1).
underpainting
Set the palette with raw umber and softer white, using turpentine. Paint a monochrome underpainting (grisaille). The goal is to mentally extract red and yellow colors, translating what would be left in nature if those colors were not present. This establishes the values and forms. This stage should be allowed to dry completely before proceeding (Source 1, Source 3).
color palette
Raw Umber
Raw Umber + Turpentine
Initial underpainting and establishing dark values
White
Lead White or Titanium White
Lightening values in underpainting and mixing tints
Ultramarine
Ultramarine + White/Black
Cool shadows and neutralizing warm tones in the grisaille stage
Red and Yellow Tones
Transparent reds and yellows (e.g., Venetian Red, Yellow Ochre)
Glazing and scumbling over the dry grisaille to introduce color
composition
The composition likely organizes elements to create a 'reality effect' typical of genre painting, focusing on ordinary people in common activities (Source 4, Source 5). The visual ordering should rely on the 'aggregate force of color or line' rather than harsh contrasts, aiming for a 'breadth of flush, or glow' that summons a definite state of feeling (Source 7). The figures should be arranged to suggest a snapshot of quotidian life, avoiding specific identity markers that would turn it into a portrait (Source 4).
step by step
underdrawing→underpainting→refining→finishing
underdrawing
step 01
Draw the figures in charcoal, slightly smaller than life. Use a hand-glass to check proportions from a distance. Correct errors with bread.
Tip — Do not hesitate to hold your brush against the model’s face to ascertain length.
Charcoal drawing
underpainting
step 02
Apply a monochrome underpainting using raw umber and white with turpentine. Focus on values, mentally excluding red and yellow hues.
Tip — Ensure the drawing is accurate before applying paint; correcting in paint is fatal to lucidity.
Grisaille
refining
step 03
Once the grisaille is dry, apply transparent glazes of red and yellow tones using oil of copavia (or stand oil).
Tip — Treat the glazing like tinting an engraving with watercolors.
Glazing
step 04
Use scumbling (semi-opaque painting) over darker grounds to create coldness or grey blooms, allowing the underlying painting to show through.
Tip — This technique helps in achieving the subtle color shifts typical of realism.
Scumbling
finishing
step 05
Adjust lightness by mixing colors with white or complements. Avoid adding black to darken yellows/oranges/reds as it shifts hue toward green/blue. Use complements to neutralize without hue shift.
Tip — Correct hue shifts in tints by adding a small amount of an adjacent color (e.g., orange to red-white mix).
Color mixing
critical techniques
Glazing and Scumbling
Used over a dry monochrome underpainting to introduce color. Glazing is a transparent coat; scumbling is semi-opaque. This method was practiced by old masters and allows for depth and luminosity.
Charcoal Correction
All construction errors must be corrected in charcoal using bread before paint is applied. Paint corrections are difficult and ruin lucidity.
Complementary Darkening
Instead of adding black to darken colors (which shifts hue), use complementary colors to neutralize and darken without shifting the hue.
common pitfalls
- →Putting down paint with obvious errors in construction or drawing, which leads to fatal correcting in paint and loss of lucidity (Source 1).
- →Adding black to darken warm colors (yellows, oranges, reds), causing unwanted hue shifts toward green or blue (Source 2).
- →Adding white to reds and oranges without correcting the resulting blue shift with an adjacent color like orange (Source 2).
- →Attempting to complete the study in one painting session; the process requires going over the work at least three or four times (Source 1).
what the sources don't tell us
Where the corpus is silent, we say so rather than guess. These are the gaps a complete recreation guide would normally cover that our source passages don't.
- ·Specific visual details of 'Girls lightened by sun' (e.g., exact clothing patterns, background elements, number of girls) are not described in the sources and must be inferred from the actual artwork or general genre conventions.
- ·Makovsky's specific palette preferences beyond the general realist tradition are not detailed in the provided sources.
- ·The exact dimensions of the painting are not provided, though the source advises making studies slightly smaller than life.
grounded in
The technical procedure in this guide traces to the following classical art-instruction texts.
The Practice of Oil Painting↗
- PAINTING FROM LIFE — applied to Underdrawing, charcoal correction, and initial underpainting steps
- COLOURING A MONOCHROME — applied to Glazing, scumbling, and grisaille technique
The Elements of Drawing↗
- 231. Hence many compositions... — applied to Compositional mood and use of color aggregate
cross-referenced from
Named facts about this artwork and artist were checked against these reference pages.
Wikipedia: Color theory↗
- Color theory — part 6 — applied to Color mixing, avoiding black for darkening, and correcting hue shifts
Wikipedia: Genre painting↗
- Genre painting — part 1 — applied to Context of subject matter and genre conventions
Read more about the corpus on the sources page and how the guides are built on the methods page.
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