Painting The Night Before Christmas, artist Orest Tsyupko

• Artist: Orest Tsyupko
• Title: "The Night Before Christmas"
• Year: 2020
• Size: 60 × 70 cm
• Materials: acrylic on canvas
• Original hand-painted artwork

"The Night Before Christmas" takes the viewer to a snowy mountain slope where people are climbing towards old wooden churches. On the left, at the top of the hill, stand a church with a tall pointed spire and a massive bell tower under a tented roof. A crowd has gathered beside them, and single figures make their way through the snow towards the church: a woman in a pale sheepskin coat and headscarf in the foreground, three women in festive clothes on the right, a man with a staff and a pair of travellers in the distance. On the right of the slope stands a frost-covered tree, behind it stretches a blue mountain ridge, and heavy clouds billow above the whole landscape.

The painting is done in acrylic in a free, realist manner. The artist generalises the forms and avoids fine detail: the people are rendered with a few precise strokes, yet their movement, clothing and even the way they walk are easy to read. The snow is painted with broad, fluid strokes and blue and lilac shadows, while the wooden churches are built from solid planes that emphasise their austere silhouettes. Long shadows cast by the figures fall across the snow and create a sense of depth. The signature "Цюпко О." with the date "20" appears in the lower right corner.

The colouring is built on cool tones: deep blue and cobalt in the sky and mountains, pale blue and lilac in the shadows, and dazzling white in the snow. The warm ochres and browns of the clothing and wooden walls gently enliven this cool palette. A light resembling moonlight floods the slope, giving the picture a special mood — solemn, quiet and a little fairy-tale-like, as on the eve of a great holiday.

Orest Tsyupko is a Ukrainian painter and a member of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine who lives and works in Khust, Zakarpattia region. Landscapes and architectural motifs hold a special place in his work; in 2007 he organised and led the international painting plein air "Khust-Art".

The vertical 60 × 70 cm format suits a living room, hallway or study, and the blue and white palette will fit both classic and contemporary interiors, especially alongside wood. The painting makes an atmospheric Christmas gift for family, a colleague or anyone who holds the Carpathians and winter traditions dear.