At the present time Altai painting in Eastern Kazakhstan is experiencing a new stage of development, associated with the work of professional masters, who have rediscovered for their contemporaries the beauty and ancient semantics of folk art. The research was conducted with the help of historical-genetic, culturological as well as with the help of ethnographical, symbolical and dialogical approaches, expeditionary materials, special and scientific literature. The process of formation of wood-painting in the traditional Russian folk art is considered. The analysis of literary sources reveals the peculiarities of the graphic and free brushwork groups of paintings, traces the genesis of their development, establishes their differences and similarities. On the basis of the analysis of various types of folk painting, and the Altai one in particular, the modern state of this type of painting in Eastern Kazakhstan has been studied. With the help of culturological and dialogical approaches the features of two directions in modern Altai painting - innovative and traditional - have been revealed. As a result of research the conclusion that features of modern development of the Altai painting in East Kazakhstan are connected with interaction of traditions.