Learn Hardcore Russian: Сейчас в свободное время я рисую пейзажи и портреты для друзей. - Now in my free time I draw landscapes and portraits for friends.

в свободное время literally is in free time, but in context it naturally means in my free time.
Adding моё – в моё свободное время – is grammatically correct but sounds a bit heavy or contrastive, like “in my free time (as opposed to someone else’s)”.
So the neutral, most common version is simply в свободное время.

What exactly does сейчас mean here? Is it “right now” or “these days”?

Сейчас can mean both “right now, at this moment” and “nowadays / currently / these days”, depending on context.

With в свободное время it is usually understood as “these days, at the present period of my life”, not literally this second.
If you wanted to emphasize “right this moment”, you would normally drop в свободное время and say something like Сейчас я рисую пейзаж. – Right now I’m drawing a landscape.

What case is в свободное время, and why is it not в свободном времени?

Here в свободное время uses the accusative case.

The preposition в can take prepositional or accusative, depending on meaning.
- в + prepositional: location (in, at) – в свободном времени would sound like “inside the free time” and is unnatural here.
- в + accusative: time / period (during) – в свободное время = during (my) free time.
свободное and время are neuter singular; in neuter, nominative and accusative look the same, so the form doesn’t change in writing, but grammatically it’s accusative.

Why is я explicitly written? In Russian, can you drop the subject pronoun here?

You can drop я here, and it will still be correct:

Сейчас в свободное время рисую пейзажи и портреты для друзей.

Russian often omits subject pronouns when the verb ending clearly shows the person (рисую can only be I draw).

Including я is neutral and maybe a bit more personal or emphatic: I, in my free time, draw…. Both versions are fine.

What tense and aspect is рисую, and why not a different form like нарисую?

Рисую is:

Present tense
1st person singular
Imperfective aspect
From the verb рисовать – to draw, to be drawing.

Imperfective aspect is used for:

Ongoing actions and processes
Regular or habitual actions

Here we’re talking about a regular activity in free time, so imperfective рисую is correct.

Нарисую is future tense of the perfective verb нарисовать and means I will draw (and finish) – that would describe a single completed action, not a regular hobby.

In English I distinguish “I draw” and “I am drawing”. Does я рисую mean both?

Yes. Russian has only one present tense and no separate “continuous” form.

я рисую can mean:
- I draw (in general, as a hobby)
- I am drawing (right now)
The exact meaning comes from context and adverbs:
- Сейчас в свободное время я рисую… – these days, in my free time (habit).
- Сейчас я рисую пейзаж. – right now I’m drawing a landscape.

What case are пейзажи and портреты, and how do I know?

Пейзажи and портреты are in the accusative plural as direct objects of рисую.

The pattern is: (кто? что?) я рисую что? → пейзажи, портреты.
For inanimate masculine and neuter nouns in Russian, the accusative plural form is identical to the nominative plural:
- пейзаж – пейзажи (nom.) → рисую пейзажи (acc.)
- портрет – портреты (nom.) → рисую портреты (acc.)
If they were animate masculine nouns (like друзья), nominative and accusative plural would differ.

Why is it для друзей and not для друзья or для друга?

Для always takes the genitive case.

The singular forms of друг are:
- Nominative: друг (friend)
- Genitive: друга (of a friend)
The plural forms are irregular:
- Nominative: друзья (friends)
- Genitive: друзей (of friends, for friends)

So after для, you must use друзей: для друзей = for (my) friends.

What is the difference between для друзей and друзьям after a verb like рисую?

Both can translate as “for friends”, but they’re used differently.

рисую пейзажи для друзей
- для + genitive focuses on the intended recipient or purpose:
  I draw landscapes for friends (as the target audience / for their benefit).
рисую пейзажи друзьям
- друзьям is dative plural of друг and works as an indirect object:
  I draw landscapes for friends / to my friends.
- This sounds a bit more like a concrete act of giving something to them.

In many everyday contexts they can be close in meaning, but для друзей emphasizes “meant for friends”, while друзьям emphasizes “to friends” as recipients.

Can the word order change? For example, can I say Я сейчас в свободное время рисую пейзажи и портреты для друзей?

Yes, Russian word order is flexible, and your version is grammatical.

Possible variants include:

Сейчас в свободное время я рисую пейзажи и портреты для друзей. (neutral, given)
Я сейчас в свободное время рисую пейзажи и портреты для друзей. (slight emphasis on я)
Я в свободное время сейчас рисую пейзажи и портреты для друзей. (less usual; сейчас sounds a bit redundant here)

Word order mostly affects emphasis and rhythm, not basic grammar. The original sentence is a clear, natural choice.

How do you pronounce рисую, пейзажи, and друзей? Where is the stress?

Stress placement:

рисую – ri-SU-yu → ри-сУ-ю (stress on -су-)
пейзажи – pei-ZHA-zhy → пей-зА-жи (stress on -за-)
друзей – dru-ZYEI → дру-зЕй (stress on -зей)

In Russian, correct stress is important because it can change the word’s feel or even the meaning, so it’s good to memorize it with each new word.