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theancientofdays — Luftwaffe Officer

Published: 2008-05-05 17:59:02 +0000 UTC; Views: 3766; Favourites: 42; Downloads: 0
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Description This is my most recent portrait, a Luftwaffe officer commissioned by the officer's son. It's watercolour, 12" by 19" I only had a photo without all the medals and stuff, and in black and white at that, so it took a little research to get everything right. He was very pleased. ^_^

The Luftwaffe were the "regular army" flying corps for the Germans during World War II - I only mention this to note that they weren't a political branch and therefore weren't affiliated with the National Socialist Party. They'd have had to fight regardless of who was in charge.

Kind of an unusual painting for me, since my relatives spent their war years sabotaging German installations in Norway during World War II.
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Comments: 72

SuicidalArtist000 [2013-03-30 14:12:25 +0000 UTC]

all German military service men were members of the Nazi Party (Not the political aspect obviously, but the national military aspect) by oath, volunteering, drafting or enlistment, etc, though that doesn't mean every last one of them believed in hitler's personal racial policies (which are not the basis of Nazism). They were affiliated military branches of the party that formed them as national military groups, obviously not political though. Some of them were only fighting for their country and families.

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regiear1991 [2011-10-06 02:35:50 +0000 UTC]

Amazing painting .

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LithiumFire [2010-01-23 15:25:21 +0000 UTC]

excellent work

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fallschirm-jaeger [2009-09-07 09:47:18 +0000 UTC]

Awesome!

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theancientofdays In reply to fallschirm-jaeger [2009-09-07 16:50:42 +0000 UTC]

^_^ Thank you!

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pr0crastinati0n665 [2009-02-15 22:09:10 +0000 UTC]

Hey, I really like the painting and I just wanted to say to you that there's actually no need to worry whether it insults someone or not.
A picture of Hitler himself might insult someone, but I don't see how this one would.

I really like everything related to World War II, from propaganda, speeches, quotations, over pictures to the actual video footage and so on, yet I strictly disagree with both National Socialist and Communist / Socialist political views, so I don't see a problem in me or anyone else just loving the propaganda and stuff.

Quite often have I asked myself whether that can insult someone or not, but hey, at the end of the day it's just you and your thoughts, it's not like you're gonna go sit in a Stuka and bombard something, you know what I mean...

Once again, great painting!
Have a nice day!

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theancientofdays In reply to pr0crastinati0n665 [2009-02-16 22:27:46 +0000 UTC]

now that's the kind of comment I like to read! You're right, of course. I was commissioned to do this one by someone who was proud of his father's record in the war, and I think that's what counts.

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theonlyRedBaroness [2008-07-08 01:53:42 +0000 UTC]

He looks familiar to me...very familiar.

Very nicely done, very beautiful watercolor. You definitely did the man justice.

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theancientofdays In reply to theonlyRedBaroness [2008-07-08 06:55:02 +0000 UTC]

Thank you very much; I can't imagine that his photo had ever been published anywhere, but I suppose it's possible - the name is Quendens, but I can't recall his first name. I'm certainly glad you think I did well with it; I did a lot of research to try to get the uniform as accurate as I could.

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theonlyRedBaroness In reply to theancientofdays [2008-07-08 17:25:31 +0000 UTC]

I thought it was odd that an Oberleutnant would have so many decorations however - but sometimes it works that way. Edu Neumann was an Oberst and never got the KC, so it's plausible, especially if you have the sources.

In the future, should you need any resources for Luftwaffe, please do not hesitate to contact me - I have a pretty extensive collection, and my husband and I are re-enactors, so you can see what the uniform looks like on a live model. A scrawny model, but a live one anyway. ROFL

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theancientofdays In reply to theonlyRedBaroness [2008-07-17 00:14:51 +0000 UTC]

Not knowing anything about the war or the uniforms, I relied on what I was told by the gentleman who commissioned the painting, and found photographs of uniforms to determine appropriate placement of the medals and such. My thinking was that the client's wishes regarding the painting and his memory of his father overrode any historical inaccuracies that might have occurred.

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theonlyRedBaroness In reply to theancientofdays [2008-07-17 01:48:10 +0000 UTC]

oh, the uniform is accurate, totally, I know how the giv't was then, and it's quite possible an Oberleutnant would have the medals.

He must have been pleased, because like I said before, it is a wonderful painting. (typing 1-handed- bsby feeding time - sorry for typos and poor punctuation. LOL)

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theancientofdays In reply to theonlyRedBaroness [2008-07-17 10:04:31 +0000 UTC]

Typing while baby-feeding is pretty impressive! I type one-handed, but I used to be a newspaper editor. Forsome reason, newspaper editors generally type one handed.
I really thank you very much for the imput on the uniform; I wish I'd known about you while I was working on this one - I felt like I was groping about in the dark a bit.

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JacquiJax [2008-07-05 14:55:37 +0000 UTC]

amazing!! love their outfit!! I always wanted that black cross haha

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theancientofdays In reply to JacquiJax [2008-07-12 12:05:22 +0000 UTC]

Thank you so much - this one took a bit of research, but the client was so happy with it!

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JacquiJax In reply to theancientofdays [2008-07-12 14:53:41 +0000 UTC]

i can imagine, is really great

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Life-In-Bloom [2008-06-03 22:58:09 +0000 UTC]

this is great the details wonderful! xx

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theancientofdays In reply to Life-In-Bloom [2008-06-05 11:18:17 +0000 UTC]

Thanks! This one was pretty complicated because I had to research the medals and stuff, but the guy who ordered it was really thrilled.

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Life-In-Bloom In reply to theancientofdays [2008-06-05 12:03:49 +0000 UTC]

your very welcome, and i bet he was its a fantastic painting xx

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SirNaelyan [2008-05-23 00:18:30 +0000 UTC]

You did particularly well with the light balance here, I must say. And go you for all the extra research!

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theancientofdays In reply to SirNaelyan [2008-05-28 09:43:47 +0000 UTC]

Thanks very much! The research made it a little trickier than most, but it was really kind of interesting.

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evergreenartist [2008-05-21 04:00:40 +0000 UTC]

awesome!

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theancientofdays In reply to evergreenartist [2008-05-28 09:57:09 +0000 UTC]

Thank you very much! I was pretty proud of this one; the client seemed to really like it, and that's always a bonus.

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evergreenartist In reply to theancientofdays [2008-05-30 02:16:17 +0000 UTC]

ahaan that's great.

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Black-Crusader [2008-05-15 10:37:07 +0000 UTC]

beautiful little back story there.

Incredible portrait, I love the clothing most of all, its just so perfect.

I have always adored watercolours but its been a long time since I have found someone with real talent with them who paints interesting subjects such as this.

Wonderful image.

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theancientofdays In reply to Black-Crusader [2008-05-29 10:40:19 +0000 UTC]

Thank you so much! It's been quite a while since I've gotten such a nice comment! I really appreciate the encouragement. ^_^

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Black-Crusader [2008-05-15 10:37:00 +0000 UTC]

beautiful little back story there.

Incredible portrait, I love the clothing most of all, its just so perfect.

I have always adored watercolours but its been a long time since I have found someone with real talent with them who paints interesting subjects such as this.

Wonderful image.

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rudhthoronwen [2008-05-14 17:01:31 +0000 UTC]

Very nice.

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theancientofdays In reply to rudhthoronwen [2008-05-15 01:30:47 +0000 UTC]

Thanks very much!

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Razkall [2008-05-08 10:13:54 +0000 UTC]

I love how your gallery consist out of a variety of subjects Because of all the medals, it really looks like an official portret/picture you see in the guild halls nowadays. He looks like a true hero.

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theancientofdays In reply to Razkall [2008-05-09 10:20:09 +0000 UTC]

What a nice thing to say! I try to do a little bit of just about everything; there's no point sticking to one style or medium - I think that would get pretty dull after a while.

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Pamala [2008-05-08 05:49:35 +0000 UTC]

I adore how you are up for any challenge. Well done!

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theancientofdays In reply to Pamala [2008-05-08 09:26:07 +0000 UTC]

Thank you very much! ^_^ Something I always tell my students is "Never say it can't be done!"

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Floreyn [2008-05-07 04:31:18 +0000 UTC]

Oh wow, now this is something completely different. And I am not saying that it's a ba d thing. Your attention to detail is great. I love the softness of th BG as well.

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theancientofdays In reply to Floreyn [2008-05-07 09:32:56 +0000 UTC]

Thanks very much! It is a bit of an unusual portrait - the fellow who commissioned it kept feeling as though he needed to "explain", but it's his dad, so I understood completely why he wanted it done. It took a little extra effort to research the colours, but I think I managed to get everything pretty accurately. I really appreciate the kind comment! ^_^

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LouiseOdier [2008-05-06 08:55:20 +0000 UTC]

your skills in watercolour are fantastic. It's a wonderful artwork.

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theancientofdays In reply to LouiseOdier [2008-05-07 00:30:40 +0000 UTC]

Thankyou so much! I was really kind of proud of this one; it took a little extra work, but the fellow who commissioned it is just beside himself. ^_^

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Martywolf92 [2008-05-06 03:51:32 +0000 UTC]

Awesome. This is how i sort of how i pictured it in my head.
Love it. Big round of applause for all the hard work you did to do this.

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theancientofdays In reply to Martywolf92 [2008-05-06 07:40:44 +0000 UTC]

Thank you very much! The client was really happy, which was a relief - he was very specific about how he wanted it done. ^_^

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Martywolf92 In reply to theancientofdays [2008-05-07 06:22:02 +0000 UTC]

Anytime. No worries. Well atleast you knew exactly what cha had to do.

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GuerrillaPop [2008-05-06 01:42:36 +0000 UTC]

The background is great! It really adds to the mood of the whole thing.

You know what I noticed? Germans come up with the best military uniforms.

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theancientofdays In reply to GuerrillaPop [2008-05-06 07:18:11 +0000 UTC]

Thanks! I noticed that a lot of formal oils have that kind of background and I wanted to see if it would work in watercolour. They do have some pretty cool uniforms - there's one that has hot pink lapels. Seriously.

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GuerrillaPop In reply to theancientofdays [2008-05-07 01:49:48 +0000 UTC]

Nice.

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j0rosa [2008-05-06 00:13:23 +0000 UTC]

My, so detailed, with all those medals and decorations on his uniform (and hat), i like the background too, and you really capture the expression on his face

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theancientofdays In reply to j0rosa [2008-05-06 07:43:00 +0000 UTC]

Thank you very much!

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cattieloves [2008-05-05 20:47:46 +0000 UTC]

Ooh, that's awkward (your family's history with the war, and his). What's strange is that my grandfather fought in the same war on the other side, lol, and looked very similar to this man, uniform and all, minus the German medals. My mom (his daughter) still has his uniform somewhere, and it looks very similar to this one. Weird.

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theancientofdays In reply to cattieloves [2008-05-06 00:13:14 +0000 UTC]

Wow! That's pretty interesting. Most of my Yank side of the family missed the war - my grandfather fought in the French trenches in World War I, but I think that's the last of my immediate family who fought in a war.

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cattieloves In reply to theancientofdays [2008-05-06 14:39:00 +0000 UTC]

Wow, I think we just bridged the age gap...our grandfathers (respectively) fought in both world wars...which were more than 20 years apart, haha. Either I'm a youngin', or...

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theancientofdays In reply to cattieloves [2008-05-07 00:29:05 +0000 UTC]

Oh, it's okay - I was called old by a teenage Australian this week, so I'm starting to get used to the idea.

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cattieloves In reply to theancientofdays [2008-05-07 13:33:28 +0000 UTC]

Bwahaha...just how far from teenage Australian are you?

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