Anna in Yakut dress

[Garth Herrick]

Sergio,

I am beyond words in awe! This is an astonishingly wonderful portrait, and I will be surprised if it gets anything less than top PSOA honors in Philadelphia, next May! I'd love an opportunity to see this. Congratulations in advance!


Garth

[Allan Rahbek]

Sergio,
I like it, it's a very strong portrait and the textures are so rich. Could you tell a bit about the model? Are the Yakut's a Polar tribe?

[Sergio Ostroverhy]

Originally Posted by Allan Rahbek

Sergio,
I like it, it's a very strong portrait and the textures are so rich. Could you tell a bit about the model? Are the Yakut's a Polar tribe?

The idea with the texture was to diversify it to the minimum
so that the essence of the model would shine through the painting
without being disturbed "by" the painting itself...

So I would say, there was basically no work on the texture,
the effort was made on a kind of mystical presence of the person in front of you...

My brother, when he looked at it,
stayed with his mouth open for a few minutes... so surprising was the human (or inhuman) presence of Anna...

That picture of my brother glazing with his open mouth
(it's very hard to astonish him, he's a phlegmatic lawyer)
I think was the best recompense for me from the picture till now...
Although I believe that the "Yakut" roots of the model
(Yakutia is the land where all the shamans, mammoth bones and diamonds are of Siberia see the attachment of a typical yakut dress) must bring me more unexpected stuff...

As for the model...
Huh.
It's a whole story... Too long to talk about it.

[Alexandra Tyng]

Sergio,

You are one of the few artists who can use your meticulous rendering to capture life instead of freezing the life out of the person. I'm so impressed! Her staring eyes are compelling and a bit daunting, but I think it's their totally unexpected blue color that makes me want to find out more about her. The combinaton of expresion, facial features and costume seems somehow incongruous, as if she is an odd mixture of cultures. Very intriguing. I'd love to know a little bit about how you came to paint her.

[Sergio Ostroverhy]

Originally Posted by Alexandra Tyng

Sergio,
... capture life instead of freezing the life out of the person...
...makes me want to find out more about her ...
...as if she is an odd mixture of cultures.
...how you came to paint her.

Dear Alexandra,

Thank You for so many precise an clearsighted remarks.
Concerning the "freezing the life out of a person":
Well... basically I must say you that IT WAS LITERALLY HOW I MET ANNA.
Besides being a fireman I also organized in my past survival trips in the Siberian Taiga for rich businessmen in hunger of adrenaline. One of the trip turned out to be a REAL survival, and freezing almost to death in the snow I prayed God:
"Let me get out of this and I promise I will paint 25h per day"
So...then suddenly when all hope left us:
...in the milky fog and the snow ...in front of us behind the trees ...a pair of shining blue eye appeared... ...that of a husky dog ...and then ...and then ...of ANNA
with a huge, absolutely gorgeous, unbelievably desirable
hot cup of tea in her hand...

[Dan Landrie]

An absolutely stunning piece Sergio, since viewing your firemen drawing you are one of the artist I try to emulate in my drawings and now after viewing this work also in my paintings.

Hope you will forgive my earlier comment, I was only trying to be jocular, by stating something that was I thought would be interpreted as humorous, as it was obvious to me that this painting is nothing short of perfect in it's execution.

[Sergio Ostroverhy]

Thanks Lisa,

Loved your orange juice still life!
Became thirsty looking at it,
it was so real!

[Sergio Ostroverhy]

Originally Posted by Garth Herrick

Sergio,

Philadelphia, next May!


Garth

Thank you Garth! Hope to see you then in person again!

[Lisa Gloria]

Beautiful colors and textures, Sergio. What a delight. Her gaze is fascinating - I've come to look at her again and again. Thanks for sharing.

[Thomasin Dewhurst]

Sergio, I really enjoy your honest appreciation of your own work! I also really enjoyed your firefighter piece that was selected for a recent BP Portrait award, very much. So moving, and so wonderfully designed. I also like that you are so proud of being a firefighter as well as an artist. You're so cool!