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#oc #akitku #byzantine #byzantium #persia #watercolour
Published: 2014-09-17 18:57:32 +0000 UTC; Views: 4716; Favourites: 150; Downloads: 0
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Another picture for the Byzantium and Persia story, this time Theodosios teaching Chlodvig to read Greek. I realized that up till now I didn't have any picture of Chlodvig when he still had a proper Frankish hairstyle. I was trying to make them both look like teenagers, but I'm not sure if I managed.This was supposed to be just a quick picture in between work, but it took far longer than I expected.
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Watercolour, gouache and a bit of editing in PS
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Comments: 60
HΓ© hΓ© ! I note the spatha and the angon, it's really arms of a Frank. Also the detail of the greek caracters on the book. Fine details. If I may underline another detail : book was a very precious thing in these times. Chlodwig should be careful with his wound on the pages Beautiful manner for the clouds.
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Haha, yeah that's true, I don't think, realistically, books would be something you'd take out for a bit of light reading in such a situation...much too precious!
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Again, the lighting here is really good! I love Β the brightest edge of the skyline. I also really like the green and blue tones on Theodosios. And the small items in the tents, the dogs, the other people in the camp--it all combines to make the piece feel quite populated. I can just imagine creating their own little focused bubble, working on reading, with the quiet (or not so quiet) noise of the population around them.
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You know I really wanted to get a sense of a living, breathing, populated camp so your words really make me happy! Thank you very much for your lovely comments, they are very motivating!
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Beautiful! I like the warm, earthy colors and yellow sky.
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Thank you so much! I wasn't sure about the colours at the start, so it's really reassuring to hear that. Thank you!
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I came to check your profile because I thought it'd been quite a while since I last saw anything new from you and I discovered that I missed your two latest drawings o.o How strange..
Anyway, I like this one in particular. They do look like teenagers and I love the relaxed atmosphere. Your drawings always have a very peaceful effect on me. ^^
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Haha, thanks for still checking out my gallery! It makes me very happy to see your comments! 
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I love it! Spectacular, as always. 
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Gosh, I'm so flattered to hear that, thank you so much! 
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You're welcome!
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A lovely scene! I like the camp in the background and the whole colour scheme.
Β
The boys looks quite young and I'd even say light-hearted. In the other artworksΒ Theodosios looks more earnest and reserved (or it just seems so for me). By the way, he has a fine profile!
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Thank you!! I'm so glad you think the boys do look youngish, it was a challenge for me. And you're spot on, TheodosiosΒ is usually very reserved, he only ever lets his guard down like this around Chlodvig.
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Lovely work my friend! I love the setting it looks very steppe land and I love the steppe colors with the neutrals of the tents as well and then the characters as a great pop of color in the foreground. I think they both look to be young like teenagers. I also really like how you chose a quiet scene with teaching, but the setting is big. It's a fantastic piece I'd favorite multiple times if I could 
Hayley
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Wow,
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Chlodvig *does* look younger here, with the cheeky expression (how uncharacteristic of him) and casual pose. I really like the detail you put into the characters (the bloody bandages are such a neat touch) and the background. The camp has just the right amount of detail to set a mood for the piece, but not too much to tire the eye.Β
Now i feel i need to work on my camp-drawing skills...
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Ah thank you so much!
Actually I dared to try drawing a camp scene because of seeing so many in your comic! It was inspiring and convinced me that if done well a camp scene can be aesthetically pleasing in it's own way.
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Great job, on the mood. There is really this army camp-site feel, with the tents, the laundry and weapons. I like how Chlodvig seems like a blend of barbarian and Roman in his clothing and gear. Great how huge he looks compared to Theodosios. (They're both pretty handsome by the way). I would have thought though, that it would be rare for a Frank to be in the Imperial army so late (or so early).
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Glad you like it! Thanks! Well, I agree it would be rather rare, but I did try to maintain at least a little historical appropriateness - you see at exactly this time Gundovald, supposedly a son of Clothar if I remember correctly was at the court of the Roman emperor, and the Romans did have some diplomatic relations with the Franks. So I thought that while strange, it would not be impossible for a character from that region to travel all this way as a member of the imperial army.
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That's interesting and well researched. Cool. I knew about the Gundovald rebellion, but I guess I've never paid much attention to the Byzantine element. So what other diplomatic relations did they have?
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I love the choice of natural colours, and the way the tents in the background seem to vanish, so brilliant, it's the small details that make this beautiful, like the curling weeds at the base of the tent-poles
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I'm so glad you like the colours. I was really unsure about the colour scheme I want to use - originally there were supposed to be more blues, so I'm glad you think this works. Thank you!
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I'm actually happy you didn't add any blue, it's difficult to use browns and make a picture interesting
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I very much agree about their being teenagers- especially considering that that would have made them adults at that time. Chlodvig certainly does remind me of what we called 'Jocks' back in the day- football players and such. Their personalities as expressed in their expressions andΒ body languages are very well done! I love the little domestic details of camp life, weapons, tents, laundry(wine or blood?) Looks like the camp has been there awhile...all the vegetation being pounded into dust and so forth, except around the edges. Excellent work- and,hey- you probably needed the break!
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Ah, yes exactly, being 16 Chlodvig is actually an "adult" at least in theory for 2 years already according to the customs of the Franks. I think in Byzantium Theodosios would still be considered under-age officially, but definitely people this age would already be working there too.
Haha, I'm not sure what to think about the jock parallel - generally there is (or at least was when I was in school) a negative stereotype of jocks being only interested in sports, with a strong team spirit and often being bullies. None of that fits his character. He's an exraordinarily talented fighter/soldier true, butΒ he's definitely no bully, quite far from it actually. He's very intelligent and he's got this reflective, individualistic flair...Personally I think he's actually one of the most complex characters from my stories. But I guess he does look that way...
Yeah, the camp was there all summer, they're going to wrap it up soon and then it's time for biletting the troops...
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That would figure, that in Byzantium the 'coming of age' would be later- I'll bet the life expentancy would have been longer as well.
Oh, I wasn't making that close a parallel, only that the physical type is one that is routinely steered into sports. As a matter of fact, not a few young men of Chlodvig'sΒ type have used what is called in the US a 'football scholarship' as a way of getting into University if they lacked the financial means to attend. And they are not uniformly 'all brawn and no brains' either- some quite intelligent and successful students have resulted!Β
I must say in passing that you have quite a gift for creating interesting and well thought out characters. I have no idea naturally of your plans when your studies are completed...but have you ever thought of being a writer, yourself?
Billeting the troops? You mean in private households? That must make for an interesting dynamic, if the intent is to maintain an coherent fighting force.Β Again, as above.
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Well, I think we have all thought about writing at some point or other, I certainly did, but I'm afraid I'd be no good at it. I like creating characters and scenes, but I'm terrible at having one line of narrative. I'm afraid I would end up writing the sort of stuff that I hate reading, namely novels with no main character, no main story line and written from lots of different points of view, just a huge series of anecdotes really. Additionally my characters develop over decades, and some over centuries, it's fun for an RPG, but I think it would make for a lousy story for someone "outside" to read... I'm really impressed by people being able to write stories which focus on one story, from the perspective of one character. I think this is the type of stories which are pleasant to read.
Yup, assigning a soldier to a private household. Apparently that was the way the Roman's often dealt with the soldiers of the field armies at the end of the campaign season. As you can guess this was a very tense situation, with lots of room for conflict, cultural clashes and so on. The soliders apparently were often taking advandage of their hosts, which sadly does not surprise at all, and were in turn deeply disliked by the populations that had to take them in. Plus language and faith was often different too...
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Well, it was more of an observation than a serious question- you of course must use your undoubted talents as you see fit! Certainly I have benefited from your appreciation and interest over the time we have been corresponding; as I've told you before it is unlikely I would ever have begun to write seriously had you not been on the other end of the log, so to speak.
Whew! I can understand given the difficulty of maintaining a standing army for any length of time, but sounds like a recipe for disaster. Soldiers in peacetime are a problem for any society, as our own recent experience has shown, but this business of billeting them upon unwilling households is adding arrogance to injury, it seems.
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The whole picture is lovely, they seem like really good friends, which is so nice. And, gosh, his hair!!! *.* His hair! I get that this is historical inspired, but his hair is almost elvish or smth. Why does he cut it?!
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Thank you!! 
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That does make sense. Was it like a symbol of being aΒ warrior or aristocrat hair or something like that?
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Of both if I understand correctly. So Chlodvig is kind of mocking the tradition by being a...walking counter example!
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Lovely as always!
They do look like teenagers - and I love Chlodvig's baffled look.Β ("It's cool...it doesn't make any sense, but it's cool.")
One pedantic historical question: is Chlodvig a king?Β My understanding is that among the Franks, long hair like his was reserved for kings.
I also understand that reading Greek was almost as hard for Byzantines as for foreigners, since their written language was classical Attic while their spoken language was more like Modern Greek.
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Thank so much, both for the comment and the questions! He isn't royalty exactly, but he is related (through his mother) to the Merovingian royal family. Hence his name (Frankish naming patterns) and hair. I'm really glad you noticed the hair actually. Thank you! My thinking (though I may be wrong of course) was this: among the Franks warriors would have worn long hair as a status symbol, however, as you point out there was a specific hairstyle reserved solely for the royal family. There has been a lot of discussion as to what this royal hairstyle actually was. The version I liked best was from a very old article by Cameron. If I understood her correctly, she argues that the royal hairstyle was very long hair (the sources say they never cut it(sic!) but also that the hair would have been worn long all around so to speak. Meaning no fringe. Cameron argues (she uses both written sources as well as material sources) that a fringe was one of the main features which distinguished the hairstyles worn by the average Frankish aristocrat from the hair worn by the king or his sons...So Chlodivg's hair is a combination, on the one hand it's very long, suggesting the Merovingian relation, but on the other hand, it's cut (and parts of it tied) in such a way that would not befit a member of the royal family. Hope that makes sense!
As for reading Greek, Byzantine society was apparently highly literate. It's also worth remembering that with the development of Christianity a new style of "lowbrow" writing found in hagiographies developed which would have used a written form of the vernacular rather than the "highbrow" Attic Greek. I would be very curious myself to know what style of Greek the Strategikon and the Tactica and other military manuals were written in. Still, your point applies perfectly because I doubt Theodosios would let his friend learn such "bad" "common" Greek as you find in hagiographies...
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My best guess is that the Strategikon and Tactica were written in something in between high and low - sort of mediocre Attic, with classical grammar but without the literary flourishes.Β Probably well beneath the dignity of Theodosios.
As for the boys looking like teenagers - I immediately see Chlodvig as a football star, while Theodosios looks very much like one of my recent students (who, though highly intelligent, had a completely different personality - pleasant but not very responsible) who was therefore a little older (20 or 21).Β And yes, I think I've seen reconstructed "portraits" of Merovingian kings with a center part and hair long everywhere.Β (Even with braids - or was that Vikings?)
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Ooh, I like to see them interacting more :3 Β The tents are painted so nicely and the composition of the piece is handled so well! I like how Chlodvig looks like he's somewhat bemused and rather distracted from his readings.Β
Yeah, Chlodvig looks a bit beefy for a teenager, but it would work. I think Theodosios does look like a teenager here. Plus, I love how you painted the folds in his robes. I like the contrast in their poses. I can tell Chlodvig is outdoorsy and active whereas Theo's more...bookish?
Cute dogs, as usual
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Ah thank you!
As for him being distracted from the reading, Theodosios probably chose overly ambitious reading material for someone who has been learning Greek only for the last year or so...
Anyway, thanks so much for the comment! I really appreciate it!
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No problem!
Yeah, a more sinewy build would work for Chlodvig, I think.
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I think you pulled off them as teenagers very well
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I'm so happy you think so! I don't have much experience drawing people this age - I find it easier to draw either an adult or a child, so I'm very glad you say I managed more or less. Thank you!
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No problem! I really need to practice with people of varying ages. I've tried drawing some of my characters as children before and have completely failed XD .Β
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I know, drawing children/teens is really tricky! Completely different proportions, completely different muscle tones. Old people are pretty difficult too, but I think children are more difficult.
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