The oldest realistic depictions of humans. Incredibly realistic paintings by Emanuele Dascanio
These artists amaze with their talent and the way they create their hyper-realistic paintings. It's hard to believe, but these are not photos, but real paintings drawn with pencil, paints and even ballpoint pens. We don't understand how they do it?! Just enjoy their creativity.
Omar Oritz- hyperrealist artist from Mexico, Bachelor of Graphic Design. The main subject of his paintings are human figures, mostly naked women. In the painting, the artist highlights three elements: the human figure, draped fabrics, and white color. The peculiarity of Omar’s works is a minimalist style, laconicism in conveying the subtle curves and lines of the body, and oil work.
Paul Cadden is a world-class contemporary artist from Scotland. For his works, Paul uses only white chalk and graphite, with which he can recreate almost any photograph, paying attention to imperceptible small details. As the artist himself admits, he does not invent new details, but only emphasizes them, thereby creating the illusion of a new reality, which is often not visible in the original photographs.
Kamalky Laureano- artist born in the Dominican Republic in 1983, currently lives and works in Mexico City. Kamalki graduated from the School of Design and Art and specializes in creating hyper-realistic portraits. The subjects are difficult to distinguish from real photographs, although they are painted with acrylic paints on canvas. For the author, his work is not just an imitation of photographs, but a whole life embodied on canvas.
Gregory Thielker- Born in New Jersey in 1979, he studied art history and painting at the University of Washington. Moving to Boston became the starting point for his work on the hyper-realistic cityscapes that made him famous throughout the world. Tilker's paintings are like traveling by car on a cold rainy day. Inspired by the works of artists of the 70s, the author creates his realistic paintings using watercolors and oil paints.
Lee Price is an artist from New York, graduated from the university with a degree in painting, and specializes in figurative painting. The main theme of Lee's works is the complex relationship of women to food. It’s as if the viewer is watching from the outside the women who secretly eat something tasty, but harmful. The artist herself says that in her works she tries to show the fact that women endow food with qualities that are not inherent to it, and seek solace in an inappropriate source. The paintings convey the absurdity of the situation, an attempt to escape from reality, to alleviate unpleasant sensations.
Ben Weiner born November 10, 1980 in Burlington, Vermont, graduated from the University of Art, paints in oils on canvas. The peculiarity of the artist’s works is an unusual plot. Ben paints! First, the artist applies paints to the work surface, photographs them, and then paints a picture on canvas from the finished photo.
Born in 1950 in Northern California, he is known for his realistic acrylic paintings on canvas. As a child, the author shared his love of drawing with his success in sports, but a back injury determined Ray’s main occupation. As the artist admitted, drawing distracted him from constant back pain. Even in his youth, the master received wide recognition and many awards at art competitions.
Alyssa Monks lives and creates her paintings in Brooklyn, has become widely known for her realistic “wet” paintings. The artist uses filters such as water, glass or steam to create abstract designs. For her work, Alyssa often uses photographs from the personal archives of family and friends. The women's faces and figures in the paintings are similar to each other - the artist often paints self-portraits, as she claims that it is “easier” for her to create the necessary plot.
Pedro Campos- hyperrealist from Madrid, began painting in oils only at the age of 30. The artist creates his realistic still lifes using oil paint. Campos has worked as an interior designer, illustrator, and art restorer of furniture, sculptures and paintings. The artist believes that it was his work as a restorer that helped him hone his skills.
Dirk Dzimirsky- artist from Germany, born in 1969, received an art education, works in pencil technique. The artist draws pictures from photographs, without going into the smallest details, and improvises a lot. Dirk says that when working on a painting, he imagines a living model, so he uses photos only to thoroughly convey predetermined proportions. The author considers his main task to be to create a feeling of the subject’s presence in the picture.
Thomas Arvid is an American hyperrealist artist from New Orleans, who was born and raised in Detroit, has no formal training, and is a master of the so-called “oversized” still life. His series of realistic paintings “Wine Cellar” are corks, bottles, glasses with sparkling or deep red drinks. Reputable critics and publications noted more than 70 works of the artist. The master’s paintings adorn not only the walls of wineries and prestigious wine salons, but also private collections and galleries.
Robin Eley born in Britain, raised and continues to live and work in Australia, holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts, and has been awarded the Doug Moran National Portrait Award. He creates his hyper-realistic paintings in oils, and considers the subject “people and cellophane” to be his main “horse.” The master works on one painting for about 5 weeks, 90 hours a week, almost every painting depicts people wrapped in cellophane.
Samuel Silva is a Portuguese amateur artist without special education, who proves by personal example that you can create a masterpiece from anything. When creating paintings, the artist uses a palette of eight colors of ballpoint pens from Bic. Silva is a lawyer by profession, and considers his passion for drawing to be nothing more than a hobby. Today, the world-famous self-taught artist is mastering new painting techniques using paints, chalk, colored pencils, pastels, etc.
Gottfried Helnwein- Austrian artist, author of hyperrealistic paintings on social, political and historical themes, “a master of unexpected recognition,” as the writer W. Burroughs called him. The author was educated at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts and is an artist of a high professional level. His fame was brought to some extent by controversial subjects and surreal compositions. The master often depicted comic book characters in his paintings and admits that he “learned more from Donald Duck than in all the schools he attended.”
Franco Clun is an Italian self-taught artist who prefers graphite drawing to all other artistic techniques. His black-and-white realistic paintings are the result of Franco’s independent study of various literature on painting techniques.
Kelvin Okafor- hyperrealist artist, born in 1985, lives and works in London. Kelvin received a degree in fine art from Middlesex University. The author creates his paintings with a simple pencil; the main theme of his work is portraits of celebrities.
Amy Robins is a British artist who uses colored pencils and construction paper for her hyper-realistic works. The artist has an art and design background and a BA Fine Art degree and lives and works in Bristol. Little is known about the young author, but her works have already become famous throughout the world, striking with their realism and execution technique.
Robert Longo- American artist and sculptor, born in Brooklyn in 1953, awarded the legendary Goslar Kaiser Ring award. The artist draws his three-dimensional images of nuclear explosions, tornadoes, hurricanes and sharks with charcoal on paper. Longo is often called the "painter of death." The famous painting Untitled (Skull Island) depicting a wave was sold at Christie’s auction in London for $392 thousand.
Diego Fazio- a self-taught artist, born in 1989 in Italy, has no art education, began by developing sketches for tattoos, and over time developed his own drawing technique. The young artist took part in many international competitions, where he won prizes and was represented at exhibitions around the world. The artist works under the pseudonym DiegoKoi.
Bryan Drury born in 1980 in Salt Lake City, has a diploma from the New York Academy of Arts, creates paintings in the genre of realism. The artist paints his paintings using oil paints. As the author admits, in his works he tries to focus on the organic qualities of the skin and its shortcomings.
Steve Mills is an American artist who sold his first painting at the age of 11. The artist creates his paintings with oil paints, focusing on the smallest details of everyday life, which we often do not notice in our eternal rush. The artist notes that he depicts objects as they are in real life, without changing or exaggerating their original form.
Paul Lung born in Hong Kong, draws with an automatic pencil on A2 sheets. The peculiarity of the technique of creating paintings is the fundamental refusal to use an eraser; all works are drawn completely. The artist’s main “muses” are cats, although he also paints people and other animals. Each work takes the author at least 40 hours.
Roberto Bernardi born in Italy, became interested in hyperrealism at the age of 19, worked as a restorer in the Church of San Francesco. To create paintings he uses oil paints. A series of works depicting objects characteristic of a consumer society brought the artist worldwide fame. Paintings with sweets, vending machines, refrigerator shelves are the artist’s calling card, although his arsenal includes landscapes, still lifes and much more.
Juan Francisco Casas is a Spanish artist who creates his paintings with a regular Bic ballpoint pen. Casas was a traditional artist who decided to prove to others that it is not the material for work that is important, but the method and technique of painting. The very first exhibition of the creative Spaniard brought him worldwide fame. Most of Casas's paintings depict his friends.
Teresa Elliott is an American artist who, before creating realistic oil paintings, successfully worked as an illustrator for 26 years. Teresa has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, returned to classical art, and became famous throughout the world for her portraits, truthful to the smallest detail.
Incredible facts
Hyperrealism in pencil
By Diego Fazio
This talented 22-year-old artist never ceases to amaze and prove again that his paintings are not photographs and that they are all drawn in pencil.
He signs his works, which he publishes on the Internet, as DiegoKoi. Since there are still those who do not believe that he draws everything himself, he has to share the secrets of his creativity.
The artist can already boast of his own style - he begins all his work from the edge of the sheet, unwittingly imitating an inkjet printer.
His main tools are pencils and charcoal. It takes Fazio about 200 hours to paint a portrait.
Oil Paintings
By Eloy Morales
Incredibly realistic self-portraits are created by Spanish painter Eloy Morales.
All paintings are painted in oil. In them he depicts himself, stained with paints or shaving cream, thereby trying to capture and depict the light.
The work on the paintings is very meticulous. The author works slowly, carefully choosing colors and processing all the details.
And yet, Morales denies that he places emphasis on details. He claims that the most important thing for him is to choose the right tones.
If you make a precise transition between tones, the details appear on their own.
Paintings with colored pencils
By Jose Vergara
Jose Vergara is a young American artist from Texas. He is the author of paintings, each of which incredibly accurately conveys the human eye.
Vergara mastered the skill of drawing eyes and their details when he was only 12 years old.
All hyper-realistic paintings are drawn with ordinary colored pencils.
To make the paintings appear even more realistic, the artist adds reflections of the objects the eye is looking at to the irises. It could be the horizon or mountains.
Oil paintings
By Roberto Bernardi
The works of the contemporary 40-year-old artist, who was born in Toddi, Italy, are striking in their realism and detail.
It is worth noting that he began to draw in early childhood, and by the age of 19 he was attracted to the hyperrealism movement, and he still paints oil paintings in this style.
Acrylic paintings
By Tom Martin
This young 28-year-old artist comes from Wakefield, England. He graduated with honors from the University of Huddersfield in 2008 with a BA in Art and Design.
What he depicts in his paintings is related to the images that he sees every day. Tom himself leads a healthy lifestyle, and this influences his work.
In Martin's paintings you can find a piece of steel or laid out candies, and in all this he finds something of his own, special.
His goal is not to simply copy an image from a photograph, he paints pictures using several painting and modeling techniques that have been developed using modern technology.
Martin's goal is to make the viewer believe in the things he sees in front of him.
Oil paintings
By Pedro Campos
Pedro Campos is a Spanish artist living in Madrid, Spain. All of his paintings are incredibly similar to photographs, but in fact they are all painted with oil paints.
The career of a talented artist began in creative workshops, where, while still very young, he designed nightclubs and restaurants. After that, he worked in advertising agencies, but his love for hyperrealism and painting probably came while he was engaged in restoration.
At the age of 30, he began to think seriously about becoming an independent artist. Today he is over forty, and he is a recognized master of his craft. Campos's work can be seen at the popular London art gallery Plus One.
For his paintings, the artist chooses objects with a peculiar texture, for example, shiny balls, sparkling glassware, etc. He gives new life to all these seemingly ordinary, inconspicuous objects.
Ballpoint pen paintings
By Samuel Silva
The most interesting thing about this artist’s works is that they are drawn exclusively with ballpoint pens - 8 colors.
Most of 29-year-old Silva's paintings are copied from photographs that he liked best.
To draw one portrait, an artist needs about 30 hours of painstaking work.
It is worth noting that when drawing with ballpoint pens, the artist has no right to make a mistake, because... it will be almost impossible to fix.
Samuel doesn't mix his ink. Instead, strokes of different colors are applied in layers, which gives the painting the effect of a rich palette of colors.
The young artist is a lawyer by profession, and drawing is just his hobby. The first drawings were made in notebooks during my school years.
In addition to pens, Samuel tries to draw with chalk, pencil, oil paints and acrylics.
Watercolor paintings
By Eric Christensen
This self-taught artist began drawing back in 1992. Now Christensen is one of the most popular and fashionable artists.
Among other things, Eric is so far the only hyperrealist artist in the world who paints exclusively with watercolors.
His paintings depict an idle lifestyle, motivating the viewer to relax somewhere in a villa with a glass of wine in hand.
Oil paintings
By Luigi Benedicenti
Originally from the city of Chieri, Benedicenti decided to connect his life with realism. He was born on April 1, 1948, that is, already in the seventies he worked in this direction.
Some of his most famous paintings were those where he depicted in detail pastries, cakes and flowers, and they looked so accurate that you wanted to eat these cakes.
Luigi graduated from art school in Turin in the 70s. Many critics began to speak well of his paintings, and his own fans also appeared, but the artist was in no hurry to meet the fuss of the exhibition.
In the early 90s, he decided to put his works on public display.
The author himself says that he wants to convey in his works the sensations and excitement of the small joys that he himself experiences every day, being an exemplary family man, a good friend and a resident of a small Italian town.
Oil and watercolor paintings
By Gregory Thielker
The work of artist Gregory Tilker, who was born in New Jersey in 1979, is reminiscent of a car journey on a cool, rainy evening.
In Tilker's work, you can see parking lots, cars, highways and streets through raindrops on a front window.
It is worth noting that Tilker studied art history at Williams College and painting at the University of Washington.
After he moved to Boston, Gregory decided to focus on cityscapes, which can be seen in his works.
Pencil, chalk and charcoal drawings
By Paul Cadden
You may be surprised, but the works of the famous Scottish artist Paul Cadden were influenced by the brilliant Soviet sculptor Vera Mukhina.
The main colors in his paintings are gray and dark gray, and the tool he uses is a slate pencil, with which he conveys even the smallest drops of water frozen on a person’s face.
Sometimes Cadden picks up chalk and charcoal to make the image even more realistic.
It is worth noting that the hero draws from photographs. The artist says that his mission is to create a living story from an ordinary, flat photograph.
Colored pencil drawings
By Marcello Barenghi
The main theme of hyperrealist artist Marcello Berengi is the objects around us.
The pictures he draws are so real that it seems you can pick up a drawn bag of chips, or solve a drawn Rubik's cube.
To create one painting, Marcello spends up to 6 hours of painstaking work.
Another interesting fact is that the artist himself films the entire process of creating a drawing and then posts a 3-minute video online.
Italian artist Marcello Barenghi draws 50 euros
) in her expressive, sweeping works was able to preserve the transparency of the fog, the lightness of the sail, and the smooth rocking of the ship on the waves.
Her paintings amaze with their depth, volume, richness, and the texture is such that it is impossible to take your eyes off them.
Warm simplicity of Valentin Gubarev
Primitivist artist from Minsk Valentin Gubarev doesn't chase fame and just does what he loves. His work is incredibly popular abroad, but almost unknown to his compatriots. In the mid-90s, the French fell in love with his everyday sketches and signed a contract with the artist for 16 years. The paintings, which, it would seem, should only be understandable to us, bearers of the “modest charm of undeveloped socialism,” appealed to the European public, and exhibitions began in Switzerland, Germany, Great Britain and other countries.
Sensual realism of Sergei Marshennikov
Sergei Marshennikov is 41 years old. He lives in St. Petersburg and works in the best traditions of the classical Russian school of realistic portraiture. The heroines of his canvases are women who are tender and defenseless in their half-nakedness. Many of the most famous paintings depict the artist's muse and wife, Natalya.
The Myopic World of Philip Barlow
In the modern era of high-resolution images and the rise of hyperrealism, the work of Philip Barlow immediately attracts attention. However, a certain effort is required from the viewer in order to force himself to look at the blurry silhouettes and bright spots on the author’s canvases. This is probably how people suffering from myopia see the world without glasses and contact lenses.
Sunny bunnies by Laurent Parselier
The painting of Laurent Parcelier is an amazing world in which there is neither sadness nor despondency. You won’t find gloomy and rainy pictures from him. His canvases contain a lot of light, air and bright colors, which the artist applies with characteristic, recognizable strokes. This creates the feeling that the paintings are woven from a thousand sunbeams.
Urban dynamics in the works of Jeremy Mann
American artist Jeremy Mann paints dynamic portraits of a modern metropolis in oil on wood panels. “Abstract shapes, lines, the contrast of light and dark spots - all create a picture that evokes the feeling that a person experiences in the crowd and bustle of the city, but can also express the calm that is found when contemplating quiet beauty,” says the artist.
The Illusory World of Neil Simon
In the paintings of British artist Neil Simone, nothing is as it seems at first glance. “For me, the world around me is a series of fragile and ever-changing shapes, shadows and boundaries,” says Simon. And in his paintings everything is truly illusory and interconnected. Boundaries are blurred, and stories flow into each other.
Love drama by Joseph Lorasso
An Italian by birth, contemporary American artist Joseph Lorusso transfers onto canvas subjects he observed in the everyday lives of ordinary people. Hugs and kisses, passionate outbursts, moments of tenderness and desire fill his emotional pictures.
Country life of Dmitry Levin
Dmitry Levin is a recognized master of Russian landscape, who has established himself as a talented representative of the Russian realistic school. The most important source of his art is his attachment to nature, which he loves tenderly and passionately and of which he feels himself a part.
Bright East by Valery Blokhin
In the East, everything is different: different colors, different air, different life values and reality is more fabulous than fiction - this is what a modern artist believes
Emanuele Dascanio is one of the best contemporary hyperrealist artists in the world, he was born in the small town of Garbanate Milanese, Italy, in 1983. He studied first at the Lucio Fontana art school, then at the Brera Academy and honed his skills in the atelier-studio of Gianluca Corona. His technique is simply something incredible; from the first glance at his work, the viewer understands that he has an undoubted talent.
Whatever this brilliant artist uses in his work - pencil, charcoal or oil paint - the resulting drawings and paintings are difficult to distinguish from photographs.
In his paintings in a hyper-realistic style, the artist focuses on details and objects of little significance in everyday life. His paintings are not strict copies of a photograph or illustration of any scene or character. The artist adds a little of his imagination to each of his paintings, in addition to this, he uses subtle visual elements, creating something that does not actually exist, or something that cannot be seen with the naked eye - the illusion of reality.
Emanuel Dascanio has repeatedly participated in various competitions and exhibitions, both in his homeland and abroad, taking prizes and receiving awards. Like most artists, Emanuel Dascanio is a perfectionist, spending a lot of time studying artistic techniques and finding ways to continually improve his skills before deciding to exhibit his work in public.
What is hyperrealism?
Realism is a style of painting whose goal is to convey the world as it is in the picture. The prefix “hyper” means more than realism. The style arose under the influence of photography - the artists decided to test their skills: will they be able to draw a picture that will look like a photo? And many succeed.Paintings in the style of hyperrealism surprise with their plausibility. Each painting is the result of detailed work on every stroke. In many .
1. Luciano Ventrone
Luciano Ventrone is an Italian artist who has received worldwide recognition as a realist. And then he decided to experiment in the style of hyperrealism - and he succeeded. The secret of his painting is in the right choice of colors. The artist says:“A painting is not just an object that is painted on it. A real painting is the color and light of the subject.”.
In this picture we see thousands of shades of blue. It seems that the water is illuminated, the water sparkles in the sun. The sun is behind us, shining in the back, and in front of us is a dark sky covered in clouds. It all feels very realistic.
Even while studying at art school, the artist showed his future talent as a hyperrealist. Teachers noticed Ventrone's love for detail, and some of his drawings were even included in anatomy textbooks.
The artist has worked on every detail of the pomegranate. On every grain of fruit there is a glare from the light, exactly as it is in life.
Recently the artist has been working with still life. He places fruits under bright lamps, so that light and shadows fall beautifully on objects, and also photographs them and, while drawing, always compares the drawing with the photo.
Pay attention to the vase: at first glance it blends into the background. But if you look closely, you can see how carefully Luciano worked on it.
Ventrone paints with poisonous oil paints. Poison paint is an ancient artistic tradition. If such paint gets on the skin, it can leave a burn. But these colors are the brightest and highest quality.
The black background serves as a contrast for the red color - and the colors play especially brightly.
2. Sergei Geta
Sergey is a modern graphic artist and painter. He studied at the Kiev Art Institute, lives and works in Moscow. He came to hyperrealism inspired by the art of photography.The painting is called “Sunny Day”. All hyperrealists talk about the importance of lighting in their paintings. Here the “character” of the picture turns out to be not greenery, but the sun, light.
At first I copied photographs with pencils - a lead pencil created the effect of a photo on paper. And then I started experimenting with different techniques.
Now Sergei is a world-famous artist, his paintings are exhibited in the Tretyakov Gallery, museums in Wroclaw in Poland, Nuremberg in Germany, art galleries in Japan and the USA.
The direction in which Goeta works is called “Ecological Realism”. The artist loves to paint landscapes - nature, greenery, water.
Leaves are falling. And every vein plays in the sun.
3. Patrick Kramer
The artist was born in America, Utah. He draws pictures from photographs. First, he comes up with what he wants to draw, photographs it, selects the best from several photos, processes it a little in Photoshop, and starts drawing.
Many people have a question - why draw exactly the same as the photo looks. Patrick explains it this way: if a viewer in a gallery sees a photograph, even a very beautiful one, he looks at it for a few seconds and moves on. But when instead of a photograph there is a painting, and the viewer understands this - he is delighted, he comes closer, tries to look at the painting more carefully, to see where the paint is on the canvas...
The painting is called “Three Glasses”. Painted in oil. Pay attention to the background - it is blurry, just like the background in a photo turns out when shooting close-up objects. Thanks to such details, a hyperrealistic picture is obtained.
4. Harriet White
Harriet White is a British artist. He mainly draws portraits. Her style is called macro-hyperrealism. That is, the faces painted in the picture seem to have been “photographed” from a very close distance.Here, as in any photograph, there is a “focus”. We see eyelashes clearly, but everything behind them is blurry.
Harriet's paintings are popular among private collectors.
The artist skillfully approaches the color scheme of her paintings – she works in contrast. Beige, skin color, acts as a background. And then black and bright makeup colors are added.
Thanks to the “blurred” colors, the effect of movement occurs. It seems that the picture captured a random moment; the models did not pose, but felt at ease.
5. Suzanna Stojanovic
Suzanna Stojanovic is a Serbian artist who has been interested in painting since childhood. At the age of 11 she began painting in oils. Later she mastered all possible techniques, tried herself in watercolors, mosaics, pastels, graphics, icon painting, engraving and even sculpture.In this picture it is especially noticeable that the artist was interested in sculpture. The horse figures are “sculptural”. Here we see a frozen moment.
In addition, the artist was engaged in literary creativity and music - she participated in many music competitions. She wrote her first musical composition when she was 15 years old. But, despite such a breadth of interests, Suzanne’s vocation remains painting. Many of her paintings are in private and public collections in the USA, Switzerland, Italy, Denmark, Serbia, Croatia, Montenegro, Slovenia and Macedonia.
The blurred background makes you feel the speed at which the horse is rushing:
The artist draws horses and carefully studies their anatomy. The artist’s most popular series of paintings is called “The Magic World of Horses.” An interesting solution is to stylize the painting as an old photo:
Now the artist is working on a new series of paintings and writing short stories. The artist’s dream is to try herself in making animated films.
6. Andrew Talbot
Andrew Talbot is a contemporary artist originally from England. Draws still lifes.
Thanks to bright colors, an effect of presence is created - it seems that objects are lying right in front of us. Notice how believably the artist conveyed the reflection on the table from each candy. It’s little things like these that make up a hyper-realistic picture. Every detail is important here.
This year Andrew was included in the list of the 15 best hyperrealists in the world.
7. Rafaella Spence
Raffaella Spence is an Italian artist. Her hobby is traveling, and therefore the artist enjoys working on landscapes, transferring her travel impressions to paper.
Such works evoke sincere admiration. The artist paid attention to every high-rise building, every window and even window frame. You have to work on such paintings for a very long time, but the result is worth it.
And this sky over the city will not leave anyone indifferent:
8. Yanni Floros
Yanni Floros is an artist from Australia. His works have been exhibited in galleries in Berlin, Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane and won many honorary awards. His drawings are a stylization of black and white photographs.Here the photo effect occurs due to the folds in the clothing. The artist carefully drew out every fold.
Yanni also works in painting, sculpture and graphics. In his hyperrealistic works, the artist depicts people doing different things and wants to show how they influence our lives and feelings about the world.
Hyperrealism is becoming increasingly popular. Therefore, the next time you come to the gallery and see a photograph, do not ignore its description. It is quite possible that the “photo” will turn out to be a painting - and you will become acquainted with hyperrealism in real life.
Look for art in everyday life! If you are interested in the lives of famous artists, we recommend taking a look
