Juror Pavel Sokov
It’s an honour to introduce 5th Edition Juror and exepctional artist, Pavel Sokov.
Who are you?
I am primarily a portrait painter who loves painting the people of traditional cultures that I encounter throughout my travels, the heroes of science, and commissioned portraits of clients who are leaders in their various fields.
"Focus” //Oil on Linen// by 5th Edition Juror, Pavel Sokov
What inspired you to pick up a brush?
I painted digitally since I was 12, all the way to age 23 or so. I became very proficient at it and decided as a result that art must be easy. I don't like easy. Surely if I try out oil painting I will get the same result as my digital paintings, right? Well I moved to California from Canada, and attended an art Atelier to find out. Turns out my expectations were hilariously incorrect. Oil painting, particularly from life, proved to be an immense challenge that floored me right away. I loved the difficulty, and almost immediately lost interest in digital painting as a result. I am happy to report that traditional painting is still challenging, and I still love it.
“Mother with Child” //Oil on Linen// by 5th Edition Juror, Pavel Sokov
What first inspired your desire for portraiture work specifically?
Honestly, probably a genetic pre-existing interest in the human figure and portrait. People, particularly those from traditional cultures around the world, are what my brain finds compelling. It seemed like the most challenging and interesting pursuit. Besides, I don't think we have too much control over what naturally interests us. It is only this year, in 2021, that I started taking on the challenges of landscape.
“The Preparation” //Oil on Linen// by 5th Edition Juror, Pavel Sokov
What do you hope to communicate with your work?
I am a bit torn on this. My natural response is to say "nothing" because I am not certain if my role as an artist requires expressing my opinions and beliefs via art. I am an opinionated person, but I have yet to force that into my work. I can say with full confidence that my series called "Gravitas", in which I paint the various heroes of science, does communicate something that is near and dear to me. I think science and its practitioners are extremely important to our lives and should be celebrated much more in our culture than they are (as opposed to TikTok stars). My work in that series expresses my gratitude and respect towards the brilliant scientists of the world.
As for something philosophical and high minded, I don't see the need to stray beyond expressing themes of self esteem, the power of individuality, and ambition, which are all qualities I deeply value.
“George Washingtong Carver” //Oil on Linen// by 5th Edition Juror, Pavel Sokov
What do you believe is your most successful piece? Why?
One of my more successful pieces is the "Sadhu at the Holy Manikarnika Burning Ghat in Varanasi". It culminated a lot of my experience of traveling in India for 2.5 months, and exemplifies what I find interesting about painting people from various traditional cultures. The multitude of awards it won helps as well.
"Sadhu at the Holy Manikarnika Burning Ghat in Varanasi" //Oil on Linen// by 5th Edition Juror, Pavel Sokov
Can you walk us through how you created that piece?
I actually have a series of videos about how I created this piece.
The process of gathering reference for this was pretty intense. The background is a burning ghat in Varanasi where bodies are cremated outside 24/7. A group of hustlers shows up there during the day to intimidate and trick people into paying large sums of money for taking photos (this has been explained to be a scam to us). Unfortunately the police are part of that scam, so my friend and I decided to get there as extremely early as possible before the thugs can arrive and attempt to intimidate us. We explored the area, got a good feel for it (you can smell the burning bodies, the atmosphere is tense), and escaped before it was too late. Later that day, I had the most extreme food poisoning of my life. It was very memorable.
“Glory” //Oil on Linen// by 5th Edition Juror, Pavel Sokov
Looking back at your art career so far, what has been your most exciting opportunity/accomplishment? Why?
I really enjoyed making a series of 3 historical paintings for the royal family of Bahrain. I had to use old black and white, blurry photos, to bring history to life in full color and detail. My client and I did countless hours of research to find the correct historical garments and patterns in order to create the most authentic paintings of Bahrain history ever created. Click here to view an example.
“Jackie” //Oil on Linen// by 5th Edition Juror
What projects are you currently working on?
I just finished my first serious landscape painting. Currently, I am working on a painting of a monk I met in Thailand.
Untitled (In progress) //Oil on Linen// by 5th Edition Juror, Pavel Sokov