Hi All,

Here's what I am working on these days: A bust by Romain van den Bogaert of Sharbat Gula, who was depicted on June 1985's National Geographic in a famous photograph (by photographer Steve McCurry). We have seen a couple of these bust around here, so I'm sure you know it.

I've more or less finished the sketching phase of the face and will continue with detailed painting, particularly around the eyes. I may still change the lighting on the forehead, but I'll see. Hair is just blocked in.

The eyes gave me major trouble. I did them about 6 times. Her piercing view is a key element of the original image's impact and it took me some studying to find out how to reproduce this. The penetrating view is caused by the light iris colour, the very dark outlining of the iris and, most importantly, the fact that the entire circle of the iris is exposed. I found it very difficult to get this right in both eyes without getting a cross-eye effect. Well, I hope I got it about right anyway, as I am very reluctant to have another go... I will gloss coat the eyes at the end, by the way.

I had the nerve to slightly modify the (excellent) sculpt. In comparison with the original photograph the sculpt's forehead is too large, so I added some hair with MagicSculp. No biggie.

Anyway, hope you like it. Feel free to comment.

Cheers,
Adrian

whoa! awesome start!

brilliant work! congratulations!!

Looking good!!!! The same stunning green eyes Very Well done
Keep up the Good Work

Regards
Pedro

Beautiful painting on the eye tones. You won't want to hear this but I think the eyeball on the right is looking off a bit rather than staring in sync with the left one. I would put this down to the sculpt rather than any deficiency in your painting. To get that eye fully aligned in a stare I think you will have to move the iris a wee bit more to the left and possibly have part of it obsured by the lid.

Only my personal view and I am hardly an authority as my wife says my signature in all my busts and figures is "crossed eyes."

Colin

Hi Adrian!

What wonderful flesh tones the most realistic ones that i´ve already saw in this bust. Regarding the eyes, I think you have to round up a bit.
Following.

Pedro.

Brilliant mate.

Fantastic skintones and excellent eyes !! So close to the original photo !!! Super !!

**signed**

Cheers

Wow Adrian, a superb rendition. Those eyes are captivating.

Hello Adrian, Your efforts have paid off. Stunning painting on duplicating this girl's penetrating eyes. Good luck on its progress, Regards, SG

Adrian:

Once you add her eyebrows, they will help the eyes to "pop."The eyebrows are really important in this photo, as they help communicate her youth . . . and more important, her emotion.

I would also sculpt the hair so that it stands out further from the facial plane, and drop the hair on the right side so that it almost covers the end of the eyebrow.

Mon grain de sel . .

Everything looks top notch Adrian/
Superb work on the eyes, your efforts are well rewarded.
Cheers,
Keith

Like the way you render the flesh very much

Hi Ferris,
Perhaps of the most beautiful skintone I have seen in this bust.
Actually very close to the actual photo.
A friendly observation is that the eyes are a bit small in relation to the opening of the eyes , the color is beautiful .

Thanks
Alexandros

Adrian your beautifully painted version of this bust is the closest I've ever seen to the original photograph. Well done.
I tend to agree with Alexandros that the iris could be a touch larger though.

Wow, thanks for the massive response guys.

Mike: thanks for your enthusiasm!

Tarracus, thanks a lot.

Pedro A: thank you, glad you like her.

Colin, your wife can be mean! my wife classifies things as 'rather nice' or 'strange', before saying that she doesn't understand what I like about these figures. So it's on to PF for more useful feedback... About that, thanks for your observations. I see what you mean. I am considering indeed to move (her) left iris slightly as you say. I am just affraid that I have to do her right eye as well then, just to keep them the same colour. Hm. Anyway, thanks!

Pedro S., thanks mate. Glad you like her. I see what you mean with rounding. The thing is that the eyeball is not entirely spherical and it is hard to have the iris look circular from all directions. I'll take a closer look anyway, thanks.

Grant, thanks man!

Markus, thanks a lot. I did my best to stay close to the original. When I painted the light coming from the right, as in the picture, it didn't look right however. So I will paint it as if the light is coming from the top, slightly to the right.

Martin, thank you, vielen Dank!

Tony, glad her eyes caught you, thanks!

SG, thanks a lot!

Schnabeltier (love that!), I agree the eyebrows will be very important and I hope to get them right. Thanks for your suggestions about the hair. I think you're right and will see if I am up to incorporating them. Thanks!

Keith, many thanks for your comment!

Mirofsoft, thank you.

Alexandros and Mark, thanks for the compliments and feedback. You're quite right about the size of the eyes. The thing is, this is the maximum size one can get if you want to depict the full circle of the iris, which I consider essential for capturing her gaze. I was close to resculpting the eyes slightly bigger, but then decided to let it as it is and live with it. But you are quite right, and the iris size is still slightly bugging me... Hm.

Thanks for leaving a comment, and likes guys!

Adrian

Amazing! Just to echo what guys already said: very close to the original photo.

I also think the irises could be just a bit larger. Hope you will have the nerves to try and redo them a bit.

Cheers,
Mario

Nothing to comment on. Just enjoy the look of this girl.
It is so close to reality.

marc

Well done I love it
I think you have done a great job.