plate no. 7444

View from the window

Boris Kustodiev, 1926

oilArt Nouveau (Modern)cityscapebuildingstreescityscapeskyarchitecturewindows

some experience helpful

Recreating this painting will help students develop skills in color mixing to achieve nuanced tones and practice layering brushstrokes to build texture and form. It also encourages experimenting with expressive brushwork to capture the essence of the scene.

technical profile

palette complexity

brushwork visibility

value contrast

compositional simplicity

study guide

est. 12 hrs

approach — 8 steps

step 01
Sketch the basic shapes of the buildings and trees, focusing on proportions and perspective.
step 02
Establish a light underpainting with diluted washes of color to block in the main areas.
step 03
Begin layering colors on the buildings, paying attention to the subtle shifts in hue and value.
step 04
Use short, broken brushstrokes to create texture and suggest details on the building facades.
step 05
Paint the trees with a variety of greens, yellows, and browns, using loose, expressive brushwork.
step 06
Add highlights and shadows to create depth and dimension in the foliage.
step 07
Develop the sky with soft, blended colors, suggesting clouds and atmospheric perspective.
step 08
Refine the details and adjust the colors as needed to achieve a cohesive and expressive final result.

color palette

primary · Prussian Blue · Cadmium Yellow · Cadmium Red · Titanium White

secondary · Burnt Sienna · Viridian Green · Ultramarine Blue

Achieve the building colors by mixing blues, yellows, and reds with white. Use varying amounts of each to create the different hues. Mix greens with blues and yellows, adding touches of red or brown to create natural variations.

techniques

·Broken color
·Layering
·Dry brushing
·Color mixing
·Impasto

common pitfalls

→Overworking the details and losing the expressive quality of the brushwork.
→Using colors straight from the tube without mixing, resulting in a flat and uninteresting palette.
→Ignoring the subtle shifts in value and hue, leading to a lack of depth and dimension.
→Not establishing a strong foundation with the initial sketch and underpainting.