Award winning artist, Vladislay Yeliseyev, resides in Sarasota, Florida and is best known as an architectural watercolorist and plein air artist with a old brush stroke and a distinctive ability to reflect light in his paintings. Recognition of his work includes a 1996 award from the American Society of Architectural Illustrators, February 2016 cover artist of Watercolor Artist magazine and featured artist in the July 2017 issue of Plein Air Magazine.

In 2016, BJ Foreman wrote in Watercolor Artist Magazine, “Vlad Yeliseyev is no stranger to beautiful scenery. In fact, he’s traveled around the world to paint interesting cityscapes and landscapes. But unlike many artists who are drawn to a postcard-perfect site, Yeliseyev usually can be found around the back of a building, along the street or in an alleyway, capturing commonplace scenes.”

“There should be something not said in a painting, something that gives the luxury of interpretation to the viewer. And therein lies the poetry”, says Vladislav (Vlad). “Poetry on the page is minimalistic in the number of words it uses. The challenge for me as an artist is how to say a lot with minimal brushstrokes”.

Vlad prefers to use rough watercolor paper and a combination of brush techniques. “The challenge with watercolor,” Vlad explains, “is to achieve richness in color and not to lose the transparency.” With painstaking use of limited brushwork in his art, Vlad creates paintings which give a sense of depicted objects rather than their details, while maintaining the transparent colors unique to watercolor. “I use a palette of warm colors a lot, like ochre and burnt umber,” says Vlad. “I now just use 15 colors in my palette.”

Look for his favorite colors – burnt sienna, cobalt turquoise, gold ochre – in most of his paintings.

Vlad is the founder of Renaissance School of Art in Sarasota, Florida, where he teaches the basics of visual art. The Russian émigré came to the United States in the 1980s with a classical art education from Moscow School of Art and a master’s degree in architecture from the Moscow Institute of architecture.

“Neighbors’ House” 30X24 Giclee on Canvas

“Long Boat Key House” 31X31 Giclee on Canvas

“Bamboo Bay” Signed & Numbered 18X12 on Watercolor Paper

“Seagrape Beach” Signed & numbered 18X12 on Watercolor Paper

“Little Bridge” Signed & numbered 9.5X12.5 on Watercolor Paper

“Gondolas on Rio de Ca ‘Tron” Signed & numbered 10X13.5 on Watercolor Paper