22/07/2026
This is not my painting. And that's exactly the point.
This was my graduation project at the Art Faculty in Odesa — a study after "Cottages. Putyvl" by the Ukrainian painter Petro Levchenko (1856–1917).
One of the biggest misconceptions about art school is that graduation is supposed to prove how original you are.
In the classical tradition, it's often the opposite.
You're asked to copy a master.
Not to imitate the surface, but to understand the thinking behind every brushstroke.
For months I studied why the warm ochre roofs work against the cool blue sky, why the shadows lean toward violet instead of grey, where the paint becomes thick and expressive, and where it's left almost untouched.
A good copy isn't about reproducing an image.
It's about learning to see.
That painting taught me patience, observation, and respect for the decisions hidden inside great paintings. Those lessons still influence the way I paint today.
Every class I teach carries a little of that academic foundation—not because I expect students to copy old masters, but because learning to truly see is where every artist begins.
