Kolkoutine settled into his current characteristic style by the end of the 1980s in which he mixes traditions from the Russian icons with other art styles: suprematism from Malevich, cubism and naïve art. Kolkoutine states that he sought the special tones of colours which are seen in the old Russian icons, and he developed a method for making these tones by pasting a layer of neutral grey paint on the canvas before painting the colours. Geometrical and abstract elements are combined with figurative elements. Buildings and playing cards may appear at the bottom of the paintings as well as Cyrillic letters. Frames in different colours surrounding the motifs are often oblique.