[Colorized] Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna (1899-1918), 1914 [848×1182]

My first colorization! There are a LOT of mistakes and a lot of things I need to improve on but for my first one I’m relatively happy with it. This was also my first time using photoshop so I’m hoping that when I get more familiar with it, my colorizations will also improve

I tried to make it as accurate as possible with my limited skills. Anyone who’s interested in Nicholas II of Russia’s children knows that there is… a lot (!) of different account in terms of hair colour. I’ve seen quotes ranging from “blonde” to “red-haired” to “very light brown” and to “dark brown”. I settled on a brown that looks slightly blondish, as I find with Maria she was most often described with brown hair or dark blonde.

For anyone interested in more information on Maria, I would suggest the book “Maria Romanov: Third Daughter of the Last Tsar. Diaries and Letters 1908-1918” which I feel gives a good sense of here personality through her letters. I was going to post her mini bio from the book here, but I released it was too long and I wasn’t sure if it would go against the rules, so here is a small quote from the book instead:

“She is generally described merely as a
pretty, kind girl who loved children. While Maria certainly had those qualities, under the surface they belied her incredible bravery and courage, which clearly emerged in the darkest times during the last couple of years of her life. Her deep warmth and interest in everyone’s daily lives, from servants to statesmen, arguably made her the most accessible, empathetic, and down-to-earth member of the imperial family. She was probably least affected by her status as the daughter of the emperor, and her naturally self-deprecating shyness and clumsiness made her endearing to all. She was often overshadowed by the more public roles played by her elder sisters, and in death it was her younger sister Anastasia who gained notoriety; but ultimately Maria proved to have a unique, strong, and solid character. It was no accident that she was the one chosen to accompany her parents on the last journey of their lives: to the unknown destination that turned out to be Ekaterinburg in the “Red Urals.”