Making Of : Artist by Nikita Veprikov     

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Hello everybody! My name is Nikita Veprikov. I live in Ukraine, in the town of Kremenchug. I’m engaged in 3D graphic arts for more than three years now and it takes up the greater part of my life. My latest work is Artist.  What follows is the process of its creation in this making of.

First, I want to mention that I will not describe how to model something, how to put texture on an object or how to use ZBrush. The net has anything you could want on these themes, therefore I will stop only for those moments that personally seem more interesting to me. Also I will expound some of my considerations. I don’t pretend to know everything about an innovation and I’m not saying that I’m right. These are my ideas and my impressions as they relate to my work.

Idea

Everything, begins with an idea. Consider drawing. You can’t simply pick up a pencil and begin to draw; not without an idea. You may spend a lot of time for nothing, simply not knowing what to set your mind. The less time you spend on the reasoning for an idea, the more time you will spend in the future in the process of its realization. Skill (gift?) at drawing gives you a leg up when it comes to a qualitative sketch. I, unfortunately, don’t possess such skill, that’s why I have to extricate ideas in different ways.

When I drew Killing of prayer, during premeditation of demon pose, I posed before a camera with the Delay set for 10 seconds. Later, looking through the footage, I noticed that on one of pictures in the corner my cat is sitting and staring into the camera, attracted, apparently, by a blinking green indicator. This is what resulted.

Fixing an idea in such a manner near the picture, I placed a text file with the description of the concept. I used all facilities of expression for fixing the idea because I see it in a concrete moment, and I need to have the opportunity to recall what I have seen in “that moment” even after a large interval of time has passed. Currently, on my hard drive, there are at least 50 ideas saved such a way. They are often the first place I look when seeking ideas for my next project.

This time it wasn’t quite so. Finishing the previous picture, I already knew what I would undertake next. I opened the file with the sketch of my cat and my idea launched! =) Now keep in mind that an initial sketch does not look like the final picture. However, I will endeavor to tell you about the evolution of the idea.

I personally see nothing shameful in idea changing or evolving during the work creation. A picture is not created for one day, a mood changes, more interesting, fresh ideas come and it’s great!

Modeling
I began modeling from a character, because at that moment I didn’t have an exact picture of the environment. During this entertaining process, I stumbled upon the picture of a sitting cat. And at once I squinted slyly, deciding to attempt to seat my cat. Rummaging a bit on the net, I succeeded in collecting a selection of photos

 When I adjusted the pose of my cat, it seemed to me that it didn’t befit to seat a cat on the floor, so I constructed a pig on a padded stool. This lead me to my decision concerning the colors (red-green-gold). Here is a small extract from a book « The Complete Color Harmony» by Tina Sutton and Bride M. Whelan (translated from a Russian book)

« Wealth of match is achieved by combination of «imperious» gamut with black or by more dark on tone color. For example, color deep burgundy arose up because of addition black to red; like French wine of centenary ripening, it is associated with welfare.

Color burgundy and deep green, applied with a gold color, generate feeling of opulence. These dark, pompous colors, used in such different materials as leather and taffeta, create a dramatic effect. They are related to the richness and high status».