Pavel Sokov's Sketchbook

[Pavel Sokov]

I also started this strange little painting. I am not sure if I am embarrassed of it yet, or if I think it will turn out interesting. The visuals are a bit... cliché? obvious?

[w176]

I like it. But... Men are not Ken-dolls. Making him the Ken doll of unfocused blur pulls more attention to the scrotum, not less.

[Pavel Sokov]

Don't worry, I just didn't feel like penis rendering was priority number 1 at the time.
There will be penis I am sure.

[Pavel Sokov]

Putin portrait I started today.
The reference is the famous Platon photograph. Unfortunately it seems like my Putin is too thin.



Wider looks more like Putin?:

[Pavel Sokov]

Progress on Putin. The photo I am working with (Platon's famous photo) has a strange crooked mouth and nose going on. It doesn't look so right in the painting though.

[Pavel Sokov]

Another update. Am I doing all right here?

I adjusted the nose and mouth to make the face more symmetric despite the photo.

[LordLouis]

Hm.. I would be more impressed by the Putin portrait if I hadn't seen the man in the first post above, which is no longer visible.
It seems to me that a lot of your art is hit and miss- sometimes it is revealing that you have issues with colour and structure, sometimes it looks neat.

Maybe you would benefit from doing studies alongside your artistic obligations?
As far as I am aware, it is common practice among professionals to do studies even when they are professionals already because the work they do might focus only on certain areas, or they have weaknesses in other areas which they want to catch up with. (This is my impression from reading pro's sketchbooks on here, reading Gurney.. just to name my sources)

/grain of salt, as always/

[Pavel Sokov]

I am a bit confused, did you mean by the first post the naked abstract man that was ripping out the clothes? Yea I don't know why the link doesn't work anymore.

But I don't get the idea though, why would you be more or less impressed with Putin by not seeing another picture?

Yea studies would definitely benefit me, and it's something I wish I did. It's hard since I got a full time job right our of university a couple of months back. Free time is so rare. But hey, If I want to get better I have to do what I have to do.

I overall didn't really clue in if you fou d my Putin agreeable or not.

[LordLouis]

I am a bit confused, did you mean by the first post the naked abstract man that was ripping out the clothes? Yea I don't know why the link doesn't work anymore.

Yes that one.

But I don't get the idea though, why would you be more or less impressed with Putin by not seeing another picture?

Because it seems you manage portraits way better than the entire human figure, and because it's the WiP forum I sort of hope people push themselves out of their comfort zones.

As I am not as good as you are, and I am easily fooled anyway because I am yet to learn the differences of a good picture and a seemingly good picture. I am not implying yours isn't. I like it very much, the skin colour I personally find very well done and Putins bony, robust attributes show really nicely.
But that is just my opinion. Because I am merely a beginner, I don't feel that I am qualified to give any judgement.

Let me paraphrase what I said then: I like your portrait, but I would like to see you pursuing what you find more difficult, such as the figure above.

Sorry for the confusion, better keep it for myself next time!

[Pavel Sokov]

No no Lord Louis, I just needed clarification that's all, I appreciate your comments.

It is absolutely true that I don't like to venture out my comfort zone. That is why I was trying something different with that abstract man sketch that isn't showing up again even though I just re-uploaded it. I will continue with that one and see if it turns out interesting. It is definitely out of my comfort zone with the flying clothes and distortions.

[Pavel Sokov]

Update:


Also I am planning to make a commissioned portrait of a friend so I tried my best to take some fancy photos. No Photoshop on these ones. I am not a photographer AT ALL, so I am fairly worried about these being solid reference material. Thoughts?

[gfxtwin]

Putin looks great, although there are still some subtle differences from your portrait and the time magazine cover photo.

The photo commission looks like it would be idea if he was an electronic pop musician.

[Lulie]

Photography tips:
- If you want your subject to look alive, make sure to get catchlights in the eyes (ideally at 45 degrees up -- not in the centre or in the bottom half or anything).
- Have one main light, and one fill. Have one light dominate (unless you want it to look weird -- I'm not sure what effect you're going for).

These photos look pretty hard to work with, largely because a lot of the detail is in shadow, but also a double split light like that makes it hard to see forms.


Also, learn basic photography or stop using your own photos as references! It's not that hard. I'm working on a detailed guide for artists, though, which should be done some time in April or May.

[Pavel Sokov]

I strayed from the photo a lot because it had plenty of strange areas like a crooked mouth and crooked nose.

Lulie
As for the photo of my friend, I obviously must take this photo myself, as no other "photographer" is available. I am going to try using some more normal lights, with 2 light sources, one stronger then the other as your said.

As for where the white sparkle goes, I am not skilled enough to have complete power over that. I will just paint it in the best spot once I start painting.

[Pavel Sokov]

Hello guys.

I am "Putin" a Putin update in this post! (Putin Pun Fun!)


Also my sales office where I work as a marketing assistant saw my artworks and requested I made them an insignia. They requested almost all the objects in the scene, except the fibre optic cables which I came up with myself as well as the orb.

I finished it within 2 weeks, with 35 hours under its belt. It was displayed today on the big screen as part of the company meeting and the sales office was happy with it. So I was given cash to carry out the printing. I sure hope I get a reward of some sort for the 36 hours of work though.

[Dscreet]

Nice stuff Pavel.

Change the resolution of your uploaded images. No need for 300dpi in here.

[Pavel Sokov]

Thanks!

Really? Both on my 21 inch screen at home and this small screen at work, the images are ok-sized, no?

I figure most people are with 21 inch screens nowadays, no?

[EmiPark]

Thanks!

Really? Both on my 21 inch screen at home and this small screen at work, the images are ok-sized, no?

I figure most people are with 21 inch screens nowadays, no?

Mine is only 16 inch, so no lol

[Dscreet]

Screens only show 72dpi. 300dpi is for print. You can keep the canvas size if you must, but a lot of people have their screens set to 800x600. Save for web at high setting is usually just fine. Saves some bandwith for CA. Your semperfiinsigniafinalsm.jpg weighs 909kb. It looks just as good at high setting with a weight of 240kb.

[abone114]

Looks pretty good, the likeness is spot on. It appears as though you used too much black, the skin looks very muddy in some areas. If you didn't use blacks then something is off with your keys. not a bad job though!

[Pavel Sokov]

Dscreet

Ok, you are right! I think 800 x 600 is a little too tiny to cater to, but if the screens can't display 300 pixels per inch, I suppose there is no point in it.

But one thing though, my friend has an Apple computer, and his screen is noticably sharper then my Cintiq screen. Could he see my 300 DPI vs 72?

Abone
You are talking about Putin, right? So using black with low opacity to darken any areas of skin contributes to faulty skin tone?

Do you mind taking my Putin and circling the problem areas that you speak of? It would really help out to make sure I understood what you are saying

[Pavel Sokov]

Fixed up my Gf's Portrait. The mouth area had a lot of work done, and the eye got bigger a bit.

[Pavel Sokov]

Believe it or not, I have spent hours trying to improve my Putin's background and try to make it more textury. However, all I got was distracting looking stains.

Should I remove them?

[Lightship69]

Hi matey

I liked the Mr Putin one mate, that was good there was a certain something about his face that you could tell it was him even in the early stages when you aere struggling with him. Just thought I would pat you on the back and say well done is all mate.

all the best

[Pavel Sokov]

Thanks Lightship.

You didn't comment on the textured stains in the last post? I figure I wasted my time and probably won't include them.

I figure the following is the final version.
I worked on the hair, the neck, and the tie/collar area.



Here is an Elephant sketch I did. I think I went a bit nuts with ambiance, will probably have to get rid of all the craziness and make a normall sunset scene.

[Lightship69]

Hi matey

I only comment if i think I can bring something to the mix, you seemed to have everything under control so I watched it develop but didnt feel the need to say anything, anyway you had much better minds than mine working for you already matey.

all the best with the work mate.

[emerging]

Photography tips:
- If you want your subject to look alive, make sure to get catchlights in the eyes (ideally at 45 degrees up -- not in the centre or in the bottom half or anything).
- Have one main light, and one fill. Have one light dominate (unless you want it to look weird -- I'm not sure what effect you're going for).

These photos look pretty hard to work with, largely because a lot of the detail is in shadow, but also a double split light like that makes it hard to see forms.


Also, learn basic photography or stop using your own photos as references! It's not that hard. I'm working on a detailed guide for artists, though, which should be done some time in April or May.

how does a double split light make it harder to see forms? isnt it the other way around?

[Pavel Sokov]

I don't really get that either to be honest. But like I said, I am no photographer.

How is my elephant?
How is the fix of my Gf Portrait?

[DPFX]

The elephant's head looks really large for the body. Also, although I'm sure elephant's trunks CAN look crooked like that, artistically it seems like a distraction.

[Pavel Sokov]

You mean it should be smoothly curved and not just drop off vertically at one point?