I paint a style that very closely resembles impressionism, but there are some major differences. For example, I paint indoors with my memories as my references. I begin with an underpainting first, which is usually very colorful—I prefer neon pink or violet as my base. Sometimes it can be tricky, as having a non-neutral base can confuse your sense of color, but that’s where I feel in control. It is already very colorful and bright, I just need to find a balance.

Bateaux du Bois de Boulogne, oil on linen canvas, 19½ x 19½” (50 x 50 cm)  This place is located near where I live in Paris, France. I love going there to escape city noise and to enjoy nature in a big city like Paris. I was captivated by this pink sunset with boats that float almost motionless, but still ripple the lake water just enough to see small waves. Warm boats take viewers’ eyes to the bright pink that contrasts with blue trees in the distance, making this painting feel both cold and warm at the same time. 

 

Then comes the most time-consuming part: finding said balance. This is where I rely heavily on my sense of color and how they work next to each other, atop of one another, etc. My paintings contain a lot of layers of paint, that way I can create that glowing effect, where it seems like there’s a light behind the painting. It is also the trickiest part. There can be too many layers, so it loses its light appearance. It is also a phase when I can’t correct as many times as I would like. 

Ukrainian artist Tetiana Razumna is based in Paris, France. 

 

The more corrections I lay, the heavier the painting becomes, so I truly need to be quite sure of what I want in the end, there’s so little space for mistakes. However, there’s almost no precision when it comes to greenery, grass or any object, really, except for color. Because my paintings are memories that slowly dissolve into mist the harder I try to remember them, the only thing that is truly important for me is to capture a fleeting feeling of a specific memory. I try to achieve this with color, so all other parts of the scene are quite blurry. —