āNameā Anatoli Khostov
āNicknames/Stage Nameā He has tried to think of a more American equivalent of Anatoli, but the closest heās got so far was when one person misheard him and started calling him Tony, and he was too embarrassed to correct him.
āAgeā 31
āGenderā Male
āSexualityā Straight, though he hasnāt been with anyone in years.
āHometown/Cityā Krasnodar, Russia
āDream Careerā To be a successful painter.
āCurrent Careerā Unsuccessful painter, and he works as a shop clerk to pay the rent and buy art supplies.
āAppearanceā
Anatoli is a small man, in both height (5ā6ā) and weight (120lbs), and his body language gives the impression that he is trying to shrink even further. His skinniness is a direct result of the way he constantly fidgets, tapping his feet, rubbing his hands together and habitually cleaning his glasses. His nails are bitten right down to the quick, and the skin around them is chewed as well. While he washes his hands regularly, they still often have little splashes of paint around the tips and between the creases. He walks with a slight limp; noticeable, but not enough to warrant the use of a cane.
His eyes are a blue-grey colour, and he has premature lines beginning to creep in around the edges. He is bespectacled, as he could never quite summon up the courage to willingly stick something into his eye. He has worn the same frames for over ten years, so they look pretty out-dated compared to all the fashionable frames on offer these days. But he doesnāt mind much; Anatoli doesnāt go to great lengths with his appearance, just enough to be presentable to the world. His clothes are simple flannel or cotton, and when he is painting he wears an old smock with several years of different coloured paint covering it.
āPersonalityā
Anatoli gives off an air of contained, but ever-present neuroticism. This bubbles to the surface in his multitude of little nervous habits. He has difficulty maintaining eye contact; his eyes dart from place to place like a deer watching out for danger, and also like a deer he is easily startled. However, the thought of other people making changes to accommodate his anxiety is abhorrent to him, so he tries to hide it until he is alone. Bottling up his emotions like this, Anatoli needs an outlet. Thankfully, he has one: painting. The only times he isnāt working on something is when he doesnāt have enough money for paint or canvas, and even then he will sketch on any loose piece of paper available. His paintings tend to be somewhat abstract, and disturbing in a way many people have difficulty putting their finger on. A sly smirk on an otherwise innocent-looking portrait, that sort of thing. He tends not to discuss his artwork unless asked, as he doesnāt want to bore people; even when heās out trying to sell some prints he generally lets the artwork speak for itself.
In general, Anatoli is eager to please, polite and slow to complain. No sane person would call him rude or selfish, and if you can get past his jumpiness he can be pleasant to be around. However, there are downsides to his passive nature, as it leaves him vulnerable to be taken advantage of. He has been conned out of his pay more than once before. Itās not that heās naĆÆve ā heās actually quite cynical ā heās just awful at standing up for himself.
āHistoryā
Anatoli moved to New York from his home in the south of Russia nearly two years ago, and while his hometown was hardly remote, the city was still a significant step up in size from what he was used to. He spent a good few weeks repeatedly getting lost and having to ask for directions in his somewhat broken English. But he eventually got to know his way around Brooklyn, and established a few places ā cafes, parks etc - where he felt comfortable, and of which he is now a regular. When he moved to the US, he had hoped to be more successful in selling his paintings than he had been back in Russia. However, while he sells the odd print every now and again, he has yet to make it as big as he had hoped. Heās tried painting commissions, but they rarely come out quite as intended. It doesnāt help that Anatoli is very unwilling to be pushy in an industry where you need to be pushy to get your work noticed. So for now heās working a pretty menial job, hoping that a gap in the market will open for his art, or that heāll be able to find someone who can help get his work noticed a bit more.
āBeen in New York for...ā Almost two years.
āRoommatesā He'd rather not have a roommate unless there comes a time when he really needs the money.
āAdditional Informationā Anatoli takes several different medications which were prescribed to him for insomnia and anxiety.
Anatoli's apartment: