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theancientofdays โ OTMAA
Published: 2009-02-25 23:00:44 +0000 UTC; Views: 2481; Favourites: 55; Downloads: 0
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Description
Edit: This piece has been exhibited at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum.
I finished this one this morning. It's Payne's Grey watercolour, 11" by 15". The matted version is here: www.geocities.com/norse_boy/otโฆ
I'm a big fan of Russian History -my great aunt Charlotte was an English governess to a noble Russian family, and was acquainted with the children pictured above. These are the five children of Nicholas and Alexandra, often referred to as OTMAA, the first initials of their names. The girls are (left to right) Anastasia, Olga, Marie and Tatiana; the boy is the youngest - Alexei.
I think I did pretty well on this one, and I think I got the likenesses quite close. Since they're saints in the Russian Orthodox Church, I thought I ought to try to do my best. I rarely paint full-body portraits, and almost never this small.
The reference was a Susanne Homan photograph.
Original available.
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Comments: 87
This is exquisite. You've captured their expressions perfectly.
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Oh this is just perfect. One of the best portraits of them Iยดve seen!
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Thank you very much! This one was a lot of work with a very tiny brush, but it's one of my favourite things I've ever painted. ^_^
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How wonderful! I especially adore the girl with the book in the middle
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Thank you very much!
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Oh wow, five portraits in one 
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Thank you so much! Very difficult one, this - it took a very long time, but when I take it to shows, it attracts a lot of attention, even from other artists. I think most people are kind of surprised that it's watercolour.
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Gorgeous
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Thank you very much!
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Oh wow beautiful!
God I think I'll wish a commission from you on my B-day
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Hehe and it really did
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Thank you so much! This one took a little extra effort, but it was one of those pieces that means something to me, so I wanted to try to do well with it.
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I totally understand! It's done quite well I would say! Like you've ever done something bad!
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Thanks very much! A pretty small work for five bodies.
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It is, if it had of been me, a couple would be hanging off the edge
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The first thing that popped into my head was "I'M A LADY" from Little Britain.
Looks great as always!
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It's Olga's hair! 
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wow at first sight i thought it was the royal russian family *_* i love dostoevskij...
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Oh, yes - this is the children of Tsar Nicholas II. I've read all the books about them - they were a really fascinating and surprisingly close family.
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a close family?
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Yes. They all got along very well with one another.
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ah ah i see
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^^ Thank you so much!
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*Dies*
You can only imagine what I think of this D:
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I think its perfect the way it is! And you certainly should show this off, by far the likenesses are enough to praise and admire. And I'm more than pleased to hear people are recognizing them! Must be another sign of your success!
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This is amazing! They look like angels
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^^ Thank you so much! That was a very eloquent way of putting that...I really appreciate the kind words.
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You are very welcome!
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That is so cool that your great aunt knew these children! What a tragic story this was, made even more tragic by several people who prolonged tragedy thinking they were actually Anastasia and Alexi. It is absolutely barbaric what happened to this family. It's amazing the level of cruelty the human being is capable of....
But enough of the history of this, you have done an outstanding job on this painting, Chris! I agree, you did very well with the likeness! Congratulations
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Thank you very much! ^^ You're right - it's certainly a tragic tale. Killing people in general is a pretty lousy idea in my book, but killing children is universally inexcusable. Poor Nicholas - a wonderful father and husband, but not a great Tsar. He'd have much rather just been a "Saturday barbecue in the backyard" kind of guy, I think.
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Yes, I agree with you on that. He didn't seem to like his role as leader of the country. Makes it even more tragic because he didn't want to be czar in the first place, and that is one main reason why they killed him and his family.
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What? What did I do?
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cuz' you said "I think I did pretty well on this one, and I think"
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Glad you like it! ^^ These aren't very good sellers, so I only really do this kind of thing to have around for my own personal pleasure. This is the first time I've ever done a full-body portrait in monochrome, and I'm pretty pleased with it. I'm hoping that having it around will help generate commission work for other similar portraits. If it's not taken by September, I'll hang it at a museum exhibition.
I'm using your portrait as an example for the spring show season, but after May I'd like to send it on to you, if that's okay.
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Well, sure. When I paint a DA person I generally hang onto it for a while and then send it to them. I kept Jon around for better than a year, and there are a couple of others I still haven't mailed out yet.
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