life of my paintings

Lera Lyba | 30 | contemporary realist artist

[leralyba]

Wow! How many things had happened since last time I wrote.

In short, two shows happened since the beginning of this year. In January the painting “Eternal Embrace” was selected in opencall to participate in a group show at Elohovskiy Gallery. I’m still amazed about by this opportunity. The opening was stunning. The gallery by itself is a work of art. It is located in old city center in a building with a long history. And curators are so professional. A dream come true.

Also I got accepted in an online gallery, so now I only have to worry about making enough paintings. Things have changed for good.

The second show happened in Rostokino gallery. Both of shows are still open until the middle of April.

The only things that frustrates me that Instagram doesn’t work no matter what I do. I almost lost my account this week. It is sad because I got to pen pal so many cool artists around the globe there and now it’s gone.

[leralyba]

It’s almost the end of the year. And it’s unlikely that I will make a new big painting. So the results of this year are behind my back. All works in my portfolio have been changed during this year. And finally my portfolio looks like it was made by one artist, not many. Monochromatic colors, precision, tranquility. The last painting is ‘Calm’, the one with the sea. I tried to make it lighter. In general, I want my paintings be lighter in the future. Sadly the photo doesn’t reflect the surface of the paintings. Some of them are made with many almost transparent layers and it creates the iridescent pearl effect. I know I lack the bold brushwork in my paintings, maybe I will try to gain this quality next year.

The highlight of the year was that the painting “Reflections” became semi finalist in 16th Art Renewal Salon. I dreamt for 10 years to participate, since I started studying art professionally. I hope next year I will make a painting to enter this competition again.

Being honest, there were a lot of obstacles too. I wanted to start my account on Saatchi, but this year it is closed for both of countries I am from. And the majority of online art platforms are closed now. I tried to participate in many open-calls in my location that I thought might fit, but received no positive answer yet. And it’s totally fine. It’s part of the artist career at first. So I will continue to perfect my skills. Maybe it is time to paint whatever I want with no influence. Who knows.

Also next year I want to concentrate on watercolors. It is less toxic and I guess I miss this technique.

All in all it has been a challenging year, but I really hope that things will change for the better. And if not I will continue to do what I love anyway.

[leralyba]

“Chrysanthemum”

Oil, canvas on cardboard

25x25 cm

September 2022

Midnight etude in 3 colors. Simplified and almost monochrome. Somehow it makes me happier that flowers bloom longer on the canvas than in real life.

[leralyba]

Today I woke up and saw that the sky was so beautiful with big fluffy clouds. Made a little sketch before breakfast. Just black, brown and white. I have planned it long ago. Bought three small canvases and was waiting for a day with pretty clouds. I think they will look nice when all three will be finished.

Little tip. The series somehow usually make more impression than one painting. Even small. I tried and it works.

[leralyba]

Reflections

65x45 cm

2022

[leralyba]

A.

40х30 cm

Paper toned with watercolor, colored pencils.

[leralyba]

From a sketch to the painting. First pass.

I made a drawing with charcoal pencil on a canvas, transfered the composition from a sketch. But the size of a dove turned out to be larger than the size of a real dove so from a distance it looked odd. So I tried to make it smaller.

The canvas is glued to a cupboard. I bought a round one and cut it in the middle.

[leralyba]

Every day is a little step forward to finish this work. Covered the mirror surface with thick layer of paint to make the surface smooth and will sand it when the paint dries.

[leralyba]

Old drawings from archive. First and third are from 2011-2012 made during mentorship before entering art academy (made with the help of a teacher). The middle one is made in 2014-2015. It was the first one I did fully by myself and was happy about it. I’m happy that they stayed in my collection, they are good reminders of time when I was a student.

#studentpaintings #artistontumblr #classicaldrawing #oldmemories #drawing #pencildrawing #lifeofanartist

[leralyba]

Today I’ve been working on the dress texture and keeping the inspiration close. I love how colorful the nacre is, but it is still delicate and humble. I’m trying to make the surface of the dress jewellike, but I’m not sure how it will turn out. I hope that the color scheme of the painting will stay close to neutrals, but with little sparkles of color in lights on the dress, so it will be interesting to an eye.

Talking about switching from Instagram platform, I think this place will be my visual dairy from now on. I feel a lot less pressure not trying to make my grid perfectly perfect.

#dailypaintings #lifeofanartist #painting #oilpainting #artacademia #artinspiration #artistontumblr #contemporaryrealism #realistpainter #realistartist #contemporarypainting #traditionalart #shell

[leralyba]

10x10 cm

graphite,paper

2022

#drawing #drawingbird #realismdrawing #graphitedrawing #dove #artacademia #illustration #artistsontumblr #tumblrartist #blackandwhite #round