plate no. 9917

Girls lightened by sun

Vladimir Makovsky, 1901

oilRealismgenre paintingfigureschildrenflowerslandscapefolkloresunlight

what to study here

It shows how a dark mass, soft-edged warm flesh shadows and a clear value hierarchy between two figures can make sunlight read convincingly.

Study how the light is organized into three horizontal value bands. A near-black foliage canopy fills the upper part of the canvas, a warm mid-value zone of sunlit grass and figures sits in the middle, and the wooden rail and its shadow side form a dark band below. The older girl's forehead, cheek and shoulder carry the brightest, warmest lights, so the eye goes to her face first. The younger child, turned nearly in profile and seated lower, gets less light, softer edges and lower value, which places her behind the older girl. Look at the edges on the faces: warm ochres melt into cooler grays with no hard outline. The foliage is handled loosely, in directional strokes that read as masses, not individual leaves. The rail has crisper edges where it catches light, and the fabrics are brushed with energetic strokes that follow the form. Pay attention to how shadow on skin stays warm instead of going gray. That warmth is what keeps the sunlight present in the shadowed areas of the faces.

key decision

Makovsky set the sunlit figures against a nearly black foliage canopy, which makes the older girl's face the brightest focal point. He kept her light-to-shadow transitions soft and warm instead of outlined.

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.

read from the painting

observed from the image, not the label

6 dominant colors, measured

what the eye sees

Bright sunlight from above-left floods this composition, creating a strong diagonal fall of warm light across two figures seated at a wooden rail. The older girl's face and white chemise catch full illumination, while the younger child's head is tilted slightly away, receiving less direct light. A massive dark foliage canopy dominates the upper two-thirds, creating a dramatic shadow mass that makes the lit figures pop forward. Your eye lands immediately on the older girl's contemplative face because it's the brightest, warmest focal point against the near-black vegetation behind her.

value structure

The darkest darks are concentrated in the foliage overhead and the wooden rail's shadow side—nearly black with no detail. The lightest lights appear on the older girl's forehead, cheek, and left shoulder, and on the younger child's white sleeve and hair highlights. A middle-value zone of warm ochre-tan dominates the sunlit grass. Squint and you see three distinct bands: dark (top), mid-warm (middle ground grass and figures), dark again (lower wooden rail and shadows).

observed palette and mixes

#110f0f
Ivory black + ultramarine, touch of burnt sienna
Foliage canopy overhead, deepest shadows under the rail, dark contours of clothing
#5d2416
Burnt sienna + ultramarine + touch of cadmium red
Wooden rail, shadows on the older girl's dress, warm underpainting in shadowed faces
#a25825
Burnt sienna + cadmium orange + yellow ochre
Mid-tone flesh on both faces, warm reflected light on the older girl's neck and shoulder
#c5bd60
Yellow ochre + cadmium yellow light + touch of white
Bright sunlit grass, highlights on the younger child's hair and the older girl's upper arm
#695225
Raw sienna + ultramarine + alizarin
Flower wreaths (especially reds and foliage tones), fabric shadows on the pink dress
#a29048
Yellow ochre + ultramarine + cadmium yellow
Green foliage mid-tones, lighter shadow areas in the canopy, warm grass receding left

edges and brushwork

Makovsky uses soft, blended edges where light meets shadow on the figures' faces—no harsh lines, instead warm ochres melting into cooler grays. The foliage is handled loosely and expressively with visible directional strokes suggesting leaf clusters, not detailed rendering. By contrast, the wooden rail is defined with crisper, more deliberate edges where it catches light, and the fabrics show energetic, sometimes cross-hatched strokes that follow the form without overworking.

a working sequence

01
Establish the dark foliage mass and light source
Lay in the upper canopy with a thin wash of deep black-blue (ivory black + ultramarine). Work quickly, leaving the area directly above the girls' heads slightly less opaque so light can glow through later. This establishes your light source direction immediately. Block in the wooden rail with burnt sienna + ultramarine, keeping it flat and dark for now.
02
Block the two figures in warm ochre
Using a mix of yellow ochre + burnt sienna + white, paint the broad sunlit areas: the older girl's face, shoulders, and the visible portion of the younger child's head and chemise. Don't model form yet—just establish where light dominates. Notice the older girl receives warmer, more saturated light than the child.
03
Develop facial modeling with shadow undertone
Introduce the cooler, darker flesh tones (burnt sienna + ultramarine + cadmium red) into the shadowed side of the older girl's face and neck. The light side remains warm ochre-tan. On the younger child's face (which is turned away), keep the values lower overall. Build form by establishing the cheekbone ridge with mid-tones, not by outlining.
04
Paint the flower wreaths as warm color accents
Block in the red flowers and green foliage with direct, gestural strokes using alizarin + cadmium red for the blooms, and yellow ochre + ultramarine for the foliage wreaths. Don't blend these—let them sit as visible brushstrokes. The wreaths anchor the heads and tie the composition vertically.
05
Define the fabrics and establish clothing folds
The older girl wears a pink dress (cadmium red + white + touch of yellow) and white chemise. The younger child wears mostly white. Use directional brushstrokes to suggest fabric weight—looser, longer strokes for the draping dress, tighter marks for the chemise sleeves. Add shadow warmth (burnt sienna mix) into the pink dress folds to model volume without losing the sunlit glow.
06
Render the sunlit grass and refine the rail
Paint the bright grass area in the middle ground with yellow ochre + cadmium yellow + white, using visible horizontal and diagonal strokes to suggest sun-bleached texture. The rail gets more definition now: leave the top edge where light hits it bright (ochre-white), but deepen the shadowed underside with dark burnt sienna + black. Add reflected light along the lower face of the rail in warm gray-ochre.
07
Deepen and vary the foliage canopy
Return to the upper foliage mass. Add variety with cooler greens (ultramarine + yellow ochre + touch of white) in the mid-shadow areas, and let pure black show in the densest regions. Use loose, dabbing strokes with both round and flat brushes to suggest leaf clusters catching and blocking light. Leave some warm ochre-green showing through at the very top edge where distant light penetrates.
08
Soften edges and unify light across faces
With a soft, dry round brush, gently blend the transition between light and shadow on both faces, keeping the older girl's modeling slightly more defined (she is the focal point). The younger child's face can remain slightly softer and less detailed. Scumble warm flesh tone (ochre + white) over the older girl's cheekbone to intensify the sun-struck quality. Use a rag lightly to soften any hard edges in the transition from face to foliage.
09
Final accents and light enhancement
Add bright highlights on the older girl's upper left shoulder and on the white chemise sleeve with nearly pure white + touch of cadmium yellow. Punch up the grass in the immediate foreground with bright yellow ochre + cadmium yellow. Step back—the eye should land first on the older girl's face, then travel to the flowers, then follow the rail line. If the foliage feels too opaque, scumble a thin veil of lighter green-black over parts of it to suggest translucent leaf layers catching side light.

where studies of this painting go wrong

Overblending the faces into a flat mush: Makovsky preserves clear transitions between warm light and cool shadow. Keep your blending loose and directional; let brushstrokes show, especially on the cheeks and jawline.
Making the foliage too detailed or uniform in value: The canopy is a dark mass that reads as shadow, not as individual leaves. Use expressive, varied strokes and resist the urge to render every branch. Pure black and near-black are your friends here.
Losing the warmth of the sunlight on skin: The flesh tones must stay warmer and more golden than you'd expect in shadow. Even where the older girl's face turns away, the undertone is warm ochre-sienna, not cool gray. This 'warm shadow' is what makes the sun feel present.
Flattening the younger child's form: She is turned almost profile and sits lower; her face receives less light and her features are less distinct. Resist the urge to match the definition of the older girl's face. Softer edges and lower value will place her correctly in space.

measured difficulty