The Awkwardness of a First Date (2026) Original Oil Painting by Mykola Koidan

This one isn't for everyone, but if you're curious what it feels like to be the nerdy guy on a first date — this is for you!

In the sketch for this painting, everything looked so cartoonish and caricature-like that I wasn't sure it would even read as a painting rather than a cartoon poster. And though I managed to bring depth and transparency to the colors along the way, I'm really glad the original idea stayed intact.

So, I'll admit it honestly — more than once, I've felt on a first date exactly the way this fish looks.

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New series "Figure, Scenes"

I learned to become an artist while almost skipping the stage of childhood drawing. Before entering university, I had barely drawn at all — and along with that, I skipped the play, the imagination, the child's sense that you can draw absolutely anything. By the time I graduated, I had learned to paint what I see.

Now, twenty years later, I'm turning back toward that other direction. In this series, I take a female model as my starting point and place her into worlds and circumstances of my own invention.

Materials used:

Oil on cotton

Details:

• Oil painting on Canvas
• One of a kind artwork
• Size: 40 x 50 x 2cm (unframed) / 40 x 50cm (actual image size)
• Ready to hang
• Signed on the front
• Style: Impressionistic
• Subject: People and portraits