Original artwork description:

Description of the Painting: “Yard with Chickens” by Victor Onyshchenko

Medium: Oil on canvas

Size: 80 x 60 cm

Technique: Painted from life (en plein air)

Brushwork: Loose, expressive strokes with a confident sense of rhythm and texture

Palette: A dynamic mix of warm autumn golds, cool sky blues, and rich earth tones, accented by deep greens and vibrant reds


Painted in the autumn of 2023, this plein air oil painting by Ukrainian artist Victor Onyshchenko captures a tranquil and luminous courtyard in Chernihiv, Ukraine. Executed on a 80x60 cm canvas stretched over a wooden stretcher.

The scene portrays a modest courtyard, bathed in the golden hues of fall. The composition is built around a few low buildings with gable rooftops, simple and warmly rendered in tones of ochre, mauve, and soft gray. These rural structures form a cozy and grounded backdrop, contrasting with the vivid bursts of foliage and sky.

In the foreground, the bare earth of the yard is rendered in textured strokes of violet, ochre, and brown, punctuated by playful dabs of blue and mauve that suggest either shadow, moisture, or subtle topography. Chickens roam freely, pecking and scratching, adding life and a gentle sense of movement. Their presence gives the painting a rustic charm and a touch of narrative.

Two fruit-bearing trees dominate the right side of the composition. Their dense, dark green foliage is speckled with bright red apples, which lend the image both color contrast and a seasonal anchor. The apples also appear scattered on the ground, inviting the viewer to imagine a recent harvest or windfall.

To the left and rear, golden autumn trees with tall, narrow trunks stretch upward, framing the courtyard and leading the eye toward the sky, which occupies the upper third of the canvas. The sky is a brilliant, saturated blue, layered with fluffy white and gray clouds, suggesting a crisp, breezy autumn day.

The painting radiates a quiet contentment and pastoral simplicity. The casual arrangement of objects and animals, the looseness of the brushwork, and the choice of warm, sunlit colors create a sense of serenity and familiarity — as though the viewer has stepped briefly into a private corner of village life, frozen in the calm of a golden afternoon.

Materials used:

Oil on Canvas

Tags:

#landscape #trees #cityscape #buildings #autumn #chickens #ukraine #courtyard #plein air #yard #pleinair #golden fall