Max Mallie's Blog: Olga Litvinenko’s Watercolor Cityscapes

With a self-control borne out of experience, Russian artist Olga Litvinenko knows when to forge ahead and when to scale back in glowing watercolor cityscapes that express her love of city life. “I try to let my watercolors glow—to live their lives, so to speak,” she says. I want to catch the beautiful moments, convey a warm glow of light, and create a world on the edge between dream and reality. Maintaining the freshness of transparent watercolor is most important to me.

“Walking around the city and observing the interesting stories of urban life is the pursuit that has captured my attention at the moment. I make a lot of small drawings and sketches of city scenes—as well as specific architectural details—both in the open air and in the studio,” she says. “I use the most successful elements of these sketches as the basis for a painting. But I also need the help of reference photos to draw individual objects accurately, such as architecture, trees and roads, so I take a lot of pictures on my walks as well.”

Enjoy this gallery of glowing city scenes, and learn more about Litvinenko in the February 2017 issue of Watercolor Artist, available now to order in print or as an instant download, and on newsstands beginning December 20.

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