What Warms You? (2026) Original Oil Painting by Mykola Koidan

Success, possessions, the body, status — completely different things can motivate us and move us forward.

Some see this world as bright, while for others it's an unwelcoming, gray, and cold place — whether temporarily or permanently. I lean toward the belief that what determines this difference lies within us, and it's this inner state that defines the outer beauty and warmth of the world.

It's important, while in a gray and cold world, to know — or to remember — that this can change, and the colors will become bright again.

* * *

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 canvas

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