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Maxim Bondarenko, Sun Catchers, 2026
Oil pastel on black paper
12" x 18"
"Sun Catchers" commits to closeness. Two nude men occupy the foreground almost edge to edge, kissing, arms looped at neck and shoulder. One hand grips the other’s hip and upper thigh, bringing the embrace down into the body’s weight. The pose reads as steady rather than theatrical—held, not displayed. The sunny areas on skin and grass read as lifted, almost chalk-bright. That brightness comes from the white underpainting on black paper, used for that.: it pushes the pastel forward against the black ground, so highlights don’t just “sit on top”—they flare. The effect is especially strong along shoulders, arms, and the lit edge of the torso, where the white base makes the color look sun-struck. Color temperature does quiet work. The figures carry warm reds, peaches, and pinks, while the grove stays predominantly green, with deeper shadows around the trunks. That separation keeps the bodies forward, yet it avoids the cutout effect because the light in the background echoes the light on skin. The title lands because it describes both action and material. The figures “catch” sun in the literal way the drawing is constructed—white base catching pigment and making it flare—and in the compositional way the bodies hold the brightest zone of the image. Intimacy becomes a surface where light collects. The drawing ends up being about radiance that is earned: not symbolic glow, but the hard-won brightness of pigment lifted off black.
Ships from Sacramento, CA
$245.00
Original: $700.00
-65%Maxim Bondarenko, Sun Catchers, 2026—
$700.00
$245.00More Images
Maxim Bondarenko, Sun Catchers, 2026
Oil pastel on black paper
12" x 18"
"Sun Catchers" commits to closeness. Two nude men occupy the foreground almost edge to edge, kissing, arms looped at neck and shoulder. One hand grips the other’s hip and upper thigh, bringing the embrace down into the body’s weight. The pose reads as steady rather than theatrical—held, not displayed. The sunny areas on skin and grass read as lifted, almost chalk-bright. That brightness comes from the white underpainting on black paper, used for that.: it pushes the pastel forward against the black ground, so highlights don’t just “sit on top”—they flare. The effect is especially strong along shoulders, arms, and the lit edge of the torso, where the white base makes the color look sun-struck. Color temperature does quiet work. The figures carry warm reds, peaches, and pinks, while the grove stays predominantly green, with deeper shadows around the trunks. That separation keeps the bodies forward, yet it avoids the cutout effect because the light in the background echoes the light on skin. The title lands because it describes both action and material. The figures “catch” sun in the literal way the drawing is constructed—white base catching pigment and making it flare—and in the compositional way the bodies hold the brightest zone of the image. Intimacy becomes a surface where light collects. The drawing ends up being about radiance that is earned: not symbolic glow, but the hard-won brightness of pigment lifted off black.
Ships from Sacramento, CA
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Description
Oil pastel on black paper
12" x 18"
"Sun Catchers" commits to closeness. Two nude men occupy the foreground almost edge to edge, kissing, arms looped at neck and shoulder. One hand grips the other’s hip and upper thigh, bringing the embrace down into the body’s weight. The pose reads as steady rather than theatrical—held, not displayed. The sunny areas on skin and grass read as lifted, almost chalk-bright. That brightness comes from the white underpainting on black paper, used for that.: it pushes the pastel forward against the black ground, so highlights don’t just “sit on top”—they flare. The effect is especially strong along shoulders, arms, and the lit edge of the torso, where the white base makes the color look sun-struck. Color temperature does quiet work. The figures carry warm reds, peaches, and pinks, while the grove stays predominantly green, with deeper shadows around the trunks. That separation keeps the bodies forward, yet it avoids the cutout effect because the light in the background echoes the light on skin. The title lands because it describes both action and material. The figures “catch” sun in the literal way the drawing is constructed—white base catching pigment and making it flare—and in the compositional way the bodies hold the brightest zone of the image. Intimacy becomes a surface where light collects. The drawing ends up being about radiance that is earned: not symbolic glow, but the hard-won brightness of pigment lifted off black.
Ships from Sacramento, CA
