Painting The Ghostly Forest, by artist Elena Litka

• Artist: Elena Litka 
• Title: “The Ghostly Forest” 
• Series: “Illusions” 
• Year: 2025\
• Dimensions: 90 × 80 cm 
• Media: canvas, acrylic, oil, protective varnish 
• Technique: mixed media, acrylic and oil on canvas 
• Original, hand-painted artwork.

“Phantom Forest” is an expressive work by Elena Litka from her “Illusions” series, in which a familiar natural motif takes on a mysterious, almost surreal quality. Tall tree trunks form a complex vertical composition, through which a space filled with twilight light emerges. The forest seems to lie on the border between the visible and the hidden, the real and the imagined.

The artist builds the composition on the contrast between cool gray, silvery, blue, and violet hues and bright golden-yellow and orange accents. A strip of warm color near the horizon resembles the glow of a sunset breaking through the dark silhouettes of the trees. This light becomes the compositional center of the painting, drawing the eye and enhancing the sense of depth.

The vertical lines of the tree trunks set the rhythm and guide the viewer’s gaze across the entire surface of the canvas. At the same time, their outlines are not always distinct: some trees seem to dissolve into their surroundings, while others stand out thanks to light areas and expressive texture. The interplay of lines, translucent layers, and uneven brushstrokes creates an impression of movement, as if the contours of the forest were changing along with the light.

The mixed media technique allows the artist to combine the painterly richness of acrylic and oil with a variety of