Painting Cityscapes That Glow: A Demo

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Olga Litvinenko balances lights and darks, looseness and detail to paint glowing cityscapes in watercolor that express her love of urban life. Here’s how.

Olga Litvinenko paints luminous watercolor cityscapes filled with architectural and street-scene detail that also feel free and even improvisational. Kelly Kane, former editor-in-chief of Watercolor Artist magazine, spoke with Litvinenko about her secrets to painting cityscapes that glow and her affection for St. Petersburg, the city that inspires her. Enjoy this wide-ranging conversation, and try Litvinenko’s process of using photographs and sketches, then adding layers of lights and darks as shown in the demo below.

Capturing Freshness and Light

Your watercolors represent the best the medium has to offer — the fluidity and transparency of the colors, as well as a fresh, spontaneous look. How would you describe your painting style?

I try to let my watercolors glow — to live their lives, so to speak. 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.

Your loose brushwork makes it feel as if the paintings were created spontaneously. How do you achieve that effect, and how long does it actually take you to complete a painting?

As I work, I don’t like to fully control the paint. Also, although I draw some areas thoroughly, I leave other elements quite sketchy. How long I work on a piece depends on the task that I set at the beginning and on the mood I’m trying to create. For a half-sheet, I can complete a painting in one layer in 40 to 60 minutes. In general, however, it takes me five to six hours to complete a painting using several layers.

Painted in an impressionist style, *St. Petersburg Evening* (watercolor on paper, 16×24) captures the last rays of the sun over the Nevsky Prospekt. “When I’m in the studio, I like to do a number of sketches before attempting any painting as complex as this one,” says Litvinenko. “Along with providing a roadmap for how to proceed, a sketch like the example [below] helps to loosen my hand and warm me up for tackling the larger painting.”

Working with Contrast and Color

How do you keep your layers of color so fresh and vibrant?

To find the color I want and keep it fresh, I use a maximum of two or three paints in a mixture. Often, I brush pure colors on a wet surface and allow them to mix directly on the paper. I keep the mixture from becoming too dense by diluting it with the appropriate amount of water.

You take excellent advantage of complementary color schemes (particularly blues and oranges). Do you have a specific set of colors that you like to use to create watercolors that glow, or do you approach each subject with a unique color palette?

I have a favorite color palette: cadmium yellow, ochre, cadmium orange, sepia, purple and ultramarine. I like to play with contrast — the combination of light and dark — which makes the overall effect of the painting bright and spectacular. If the predominant temperature of the painting is cold, I’ll add warm color accents, and vice versa. Many of my watercolors employ a warm color scheme, featuring gold and orange tones. These colors are very close to my character; they project positive energy and joy.

Line also plays a key role in your work.

I use line as a finishing touch to emphasize the dynamics of the composition or direct the viewer’s eye.

*Staro-Nevsky Prospekt* (watercolor on paper, 16×26) showcases one of the oldest and most famous streets in St. Petersburg, where each house is unique. “On a walk one morning, I made a little sketch,” says the artist. “I wanted to capture the very beginning of the day on the avenue. To convey the freshness of the morning, I used mostly cool colors — blue, ultramarine, cold pink —saving the warm colors for the first rays of the sun as they glided over the awakening town.”

Painting Lively, Complex City Scenes

Your subjects are often complex. How do you know when you’ve reached the right amount of detail?

I’ve been painting for long enough that knowing when to stop is instinctual. When I’m painting complex scenes, it’s necessary to balance the number of elements I include and bring to completion. If I paint too many details, the work may become too busy and hard to digest. If I don’t include enough, I leave a feeling of incompleteness. My best advice for artists struggling to find the appropriate amount of detail is to study the paintings of other artists whose work feels natural and effortless.

Where do you find subjects that interest you, and how do you collect reference material?

I make small drawings and sketches of city scenes — and architectural details — in open air and in the studio. To start, I make a small thumbnail in my sketchbook that reflects my first impression of a subject; I use color and loose compositional elements to capture the emotions and feelings I experience. In the studio, I’ll create a number of lively and varied renderings of the subject. I use the most successful elements of these sketches as the basis for a painting. I also need reference photos to draw objects accurately, such as architecture, trees, and roads, so I take pictures on my walks.

“Built in the Art Nouveau style, St. Petersburg’s Vitebsk Station inspired *Railway Station* (watercolor on paper, 16×24),” says the artist. “I admire the architecture and interior decoration of this historic building. I captured the rough design of the structure in my sketchbook and added the details that made the scene come to life in the finished painting.”

Refining the Process

After you’ve worked out your composition in sketches, do you draw the image on your watercolor paper before applying washes?

I often start with a pencil drawing on my watercolor paper. As a professional artist, I believe that the foundation of a good painting is a solid compositional structure. Sometimes I go over pencil marks with a brush loaded with light ochre so that the lines won’t be visible. Other times, I intentionally leave the pencil drawing showing in places to produce a more graphic look; what I do depends on what effect I want to achieve.

Do you use masking at this point to protect the white of the paper?

I believe that relying on masking liquids and tapes can be harmful to the artist, especially the beginner, as he [or she] pursues his watercolor training. We need to trust our hands! It’s better to learn to paint around white space without the aid of masking tools. With practice, the results will turn out better, I promise. Your watercolors will be more alive and spontaneous, and therefore unique.

Do you paint alla prima or in stages?

I love painting alla prima or in stages wet-into-wet, which seems perfectly suited to watercolor. I may combine wet-into-wet applications with wet-on-dry painting, where I may glaze two to three layers. For busy urban landscapes, I typically paint in stages, starting with the background and moving forward.

*Night Fires* (watercolor on paper, 17×24) portrays the same location as Staro-Nevsky Prospekt and *Lights of St. Petersburg*, but with a warmer color scheme and more dynamic composition. “The crisscrossing wires reinforce the feeling of movement and guide the viewer’s eye to the center,” says Litvinenko. “I left out some architectural elements in both the sketch and the finished painting, so that the picture wouldn’t be overloaded with unnecessary details.”

Originality and Heart

What advice would you give to an artist just getting started?

Many beginners focus intently on learning the techniques of watercolor painting and they forget about the most important thing — their unique expression of an image, which gives the painting its soul. Thinking about the techniques should be secondary. Every artist has their individual vision, distinctive style, character and originality — the ability to create a unique world. If you paint with your heart, even with poor equipment, people will only see the beauty of your paintings.

Demo: Painting the Cityscape

In this demo, Litvinenko walks you through her process of working in layers to paint a cityscape that glows in the morning light. Identifying lights and darks and balancing a cool palette with warm highlights create radiance and balance. Try your own urban scene with this step-by-step process.

Artist’s Toolkit

Paper: 140-lb. Saunders Waterford and Arches (sheets and half sheets)
Brushes: Escoda Nos. 8, 10, 12, 14 and 18 rounds; Holbein ¾” flat and 3″ hake
Paints: Leningrad, Winsor & Newton, Schmincke and Mijello: yellow medium, gold ochre, orange, red light, ultramarine blue, violet deep, raw sienna, sepia, indigo, Payne’s gray

Getting off to the right start means everything to the way I work. In the first stage, I immediately try to capture the mood that I’ll develop. If I’m happy right from the start, then I know that the painting is going to turn out all right.

Step 1

To portray morning time, I start with very light colors, primarily light purple, ultramarine, and a cold pink. I want the tower to dissolve gently in the background, to be almost transparent.

Step 2

Here, I begin to weave in a story by adding a figure in the foreground. He’s now the darkest spot on the painting, and I’ve established both my lightest lights and darkest dark early in the painting process.

Step 3: I continue painting the background buildings with a tone slightly darker than the tower.

Step 4: To spice up the story, I add trees and paint a few more figures heading into the background. The figures’ implied movement directs the viewer’s gaze to the center, which is already well delineated.

Step 5: I begin to add the details that will bring the painting to life. I paint additional figures to balance the composition.

Final Step: I paint a foreground shadow in cool colors — ultramarine and cadmium yellow. Then, I add a warm yellow reflection of the sun to complete Valencia (watercolor on paper, 22×15).

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