Painting Montenegro Study, artist Yegor Dulin

• Artist: Yegor Dulin
• Title: "Montenegro Study"
• Year: 2026
• Size: 40 × 25 cm
• Materials: oil on stretched canvas
• Original hand-painted artwork

This small horizontal study takes us to a marina in Montenegro. Across the middle of the canvas white sailing yachts are lined up at the quay: their hulls form a light band, and tall slender masts rise upwards, crossing the silhouette of the mountains. Behind the yachts runs a strip of coastal greenery dotted with orange roofs and yellow patches, and above it rises a large blue mountain ridge that fills almost the entire upper half of the picture. The sky above the peaks is pale, milky blue. The lower part is given to calm water in which reflections of masts, hulls and orange buoys tremble. The horizontal tiers of water, yachts, shore, mountains and sky give the composition stability, while the verticals of the masts set its rhythm.

This is a true plein-air study, painted quickly and confidently. The paint lies thick: the mountains are laid in with a palette knife in broad planes with sharp facets and raised edges, while the masts are scratched and drawn as thin light lines straight into the wet layer. Greenery and roofs are marked with short juicy strokes, the water with horizontal slabs of blue and white and separate coloured touches of reflection. The texture is clearly visible up close: every stroke keeps the trace of the tool, and the surface of the painting plays in the light.

The palette is fresh and cool: the saturated blue of the mountains and water dominates, balanced by the white yacht hulls and the light sky. The dark green of the shore and warm orange and yellow accents keep the coolness from taking over. The light is even daylight and the air transparent; this is how a harbour looks on a clear summer day when there is hardly any wind and the yachts rest at the pier. The mood is serene and holiday-like, with a sense of lightness and space.

Yegor Dulin went through more than ten years of academic training, from a children's art school to a master's degree completed in 2011. He is the winner of the "Best Artist 2019" competition at an international plein-air art contest in Vinnytsia. Dulin's painting "Mountains" was acquired by Samsung and presented in the Samsung Art Store.

At 40 × 25 cm the format is intimate: the study will easily find a place on a narrow wall, above a desk, on a bookshelf, in a bedroom or hallway, or in a small flat where a large canvas would feel cramped. The light blue and white palette suits practically any interior, from classic to minimalist, and paired with the artist's other marine works it can become part of a small gallery wall. It is a good gift for a colleague, a sailing friend or anyone who loves the sea, and a pleasant way to start a collection of original paintings.