Success was more easily achieved through traditional means of plein air painting, especially landscape or mixed genre, when a particular plot was depicted in a landscape setting. It was more difficult for those who sought an artistically expressive image through creative experimentation, primarily concerning artistic form and a specific system of visual language. And this did not always bring success.
For instance, in the portrait of S. Karalaev, painted by Suimenkul Chokmorov in 1966, the principle of "mediated" imagery was violated. The figurative materialization of the creative fantasies of Sayakbay Karalaev is overly verbose, thus associatively limited, which the artist himself apparently understood, as he did not repeat this experience. In 1971, the artist created another portrait, in which he depicted a dynamic, vibrant image of the great manaschi.
The desire to convey a person's inner world through artistic form—expressiveness of color and drawing—was talentfully embodied in the "Portrait of the Revolutionary Sarikulakov" (1972). The static pose conveys the firmness of the hero's character, while the cheerful, intricately painted pink color of the shirt and the white color of the newspaper rustling in the wind evoke romantic associations. The image of the revolutionary is interpreted poetically, with great love and clarity of worldview. The poetic nature of the image, subtle psychology, and painterly qualities are noted in the paired portrait "My Son" (1971) and the decorative color of "Portrait of A. Djangorozova" (1975).
The main theme of his painting is Kyrgyzstan. Like all Kyrgyz painters, landscape occupies a certain place in his work, which he also uses when creating thematic paintings ("Evening on the Jaiyloo," 1967).
Abdrai Osmonov is perhaps one of the few artists of his generation who remained true to academic principles in the pictorial construction of paintings. He mainly works in the genre of thematic painting and portraiture, emphasizing the balance of compositional structure and locality of color, achieving a decorative overall impression.
The large multi-figure canvas "Collective Farm Celebration" (1969) presents a colorful scene of a feast in the open air.
The artist conveys the feeling of happiness and well-being in the life of collective farmers, achieving life-like authenticity not so much through the depicted event but through specific images of people.
In the painting "At the Bakery" (1969), influenced by the works of P. Konchalovsky and I. Mashkov, the artist successfully combines still life with portraiture, creating a poetic image of a contemporary woman.
A peculiar reminiscence of the "harsh style" of Soviet painting, which reflected the unvarnished labor realities of the working class and peasantry, is Osmonov's painting "Dolon" (1974). It depicts the work of road workers and drivers in severe cold at a snow-covered mountain pass. The large-format canvas, which gives an idea of the scale of the landscape, is painted almost monochromatically.
The tense state is conveyed through the dynamics of the sharply ascending road into the mountains, the rhythm of working people and machinery, and the condition of a frosty windy day. The black-and-white color scheme not only clearly conveys the actual colors of the winter highlands but also the mood of vitality and courage of the depicted people.