I started working on my affectionately called Asian kid, ‘Pu Yi’ after I bought a really nice portrait book by the famous National Geographic photographer Steve McCurry. I had long been tempted to challenge myself again with virtual humans, but the lack of time and inspiration made me concentrate on other things, traditional arts in particular. I had in my mind the will to see how much I had improved my skills since my last picture and after I saw a photo of an Asian kid in the book I instantly understood I had to give it a shot. Some days later I bought the DVD of ‘The Last Emperor’, by the Italian director Bernardo Bertolucci. I liked the film so much that I decided to use its main character as a reference too, so the final result is probably a combo between Steve McCurry’s photo and Bertolucci’s actor.
I wanted a strong look, apparently cold but very emotional at the same time. This is quite a strong contrast, considering the tender age of the child. He has penetrating eyes, an almost neutral pose, and a self-confident look. I had to study a lot of references. There are never enough of Asian kids; mainly dozens of screenshots from the DVD and other photos in McCurry’s book. Browsing Google Images helped a lot too. I’ve always been interested in the proportions of the human head, in the concepts of universal beauty and golden ratio, and I’ve spent a lot of time studying anatomy books and photo references. The challenge has been tougher this time, since Asian people have some characteristics, quite different from the Caucasian, that western people usually study and keep in their minds. Kids in particular are quite tricky since their proportions are very different from adults and their skin is basically perfect. No age signs, no wrinkles, a few visible particulars and an extreme translucency, not to mention a peculiar and subtle peach fuzz effect. It’s probably been the toughest piece I’ve done so far, but it’s also the one I’m most proud of.
Images, clockwise top-left: Reference image from Steve McCurry | Scene from Bernardo Bertolucci's 'The Last Emperor' | Alberto Blasi's 'Pu Yi'
