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photorealism

Art

Photorealistic Paintings of Enticing Book Spines

By Judy Berman on

There’s something about painterly realism that sparks the viewer’s desire. When we see renderings of sweets that look lifelike enough to eat them, we get a sugar craving. And, as book lovers, when we encounter enticingly real-looking paintings of stacked book spines, like Canadian artist Paul Béliveau’s, it’s impossible not to imagine paging through these lovely tomes. Click through to see a selection of works from his Les humanités series, which we discovered via Faith is Torment, and visit Béliveau’s website for more. … Read More

Art

Astonishing Photorealistic Paintings of Crumpled Fashion Magazine Pages

By Judy Berman on

The images you see below may look like photos of crumpled magazine pages. But, incredibly (even at a time when competent hyperrealism is everywhere), they’re paintings. In her Trash series, Italian artist Stefania Fersini paints discarded fashion spreads on an enlarged scale, rendering their folds and wrinkles in perfect detail. “Magazine papers picked recycled from rubbish, with their twists and reflections, divert the attention from the scene,” she writes in her artist statement. “Together with the products’ captions, they represent Consumerism and Appearance, that is the values and myths of nowadays society.” Click through to see the Trash paintings, which we discovered via Trendland, and visit Fersini’s website to learn more about her work. … Read More

Art

Incredible Photorealistic Pencil Drawings of Cats

By Heba Hasan on

When we first spotted these über-realistic cat portraits on My Modern Met, we could hardly believe that they were actual drawings and not black-and-white photographs. But our skepticism faded when we learned that Paul Lung, business design consultant by day and talented photorealistic artist by night, spends 40 to 60 hours on each work to ensure that his feline depictions look as hauntingly real as possible. Using only a mechanical pencil, Lung represents with uncanny accuracy the texture of the fur, the reflection in the eyes, and the fineness of the whiskers of his furry little subjects. Check out Lung’s Facebook page to see step-by-step pictures of his drawing process, and page through our gallery of Lung’s cat portraits after the jump. … Read More

Art

Comic Book Paintings So Perfect They Look Like Photographs

By Judy Berman on

If you’re lucky enough to buy one of Sharon Moody‘s comic book paintings, make sure you keep it out of reach of your superhero-obsessed friends — considering that her trompe l’oeil works actually are realistic enough to fool the eye, they might well try to reach into the piece and grab the open Spider-Man or Batman serial out of it. But it isn’t just photo-quality accuracy Moody is seeking. She writes that the playful subjects she chooses “reflect the universal human desire for amusement, diversion, and stimulation. These seem a proper subject for trompe l’oeil paintings, which by their very nature are intended to divert and entrance us with their illusionism and by the questions they raise — in a playful way — about perception and reality.” Click through to see a selection of Moody’s comic book paintings, which we spotted via Beautiful/Decay, and visit her gallery if you’re interested in purchasing her work. … Read More

Art

Remarkable Pencil Drawings That Blur Photorealism and Hyperrealism

By Tom Hawking on

We’re generally fascinated by photorealistic drawing and painting here at Flavorpill, if only for the intimidating degree of technical skill involved. But for all that being able to create a crazily realistic drawing or painting is a neat trick, it ultimately remains a trick only if the subject matter’s not interesting enough to justify the work. It’s for this reason that we found the work of Glaswegian artist Paul Cadden — which we stumbled across via Scene 360 — rather interesting. Cadden describes his work as not so much photorealism as hyperrealism: “Although the drawings and paintings I make are based upon photographs, videos stills etc, the idea is to go beyond the photograph … The virtual image becomes the living image, an intensification of the normal.” It’s an interesting idea, and the results are fascinating — check out a selection after the jump, and visit Cadden’s website to see more. … Read More

Art

Photorealist Paintings of Scrabble, Seltzer Bottles, and Other Curiosities

By Judy Berman on

There is something undeniably comforting about Steve Mills’ paintings. In a career that spans three decades, he has moved from expansive, seaside landscapes to photorealist depictions of everyday items — board games like Scrabble and Chinese checkers, old-fashioned seltzer bottles and Mason jars, newspapers, marbles sparkling in the light. Full of nostalgia and rustic charm, his work seems deeply influenced by his upbringing on Martha’s Vineyard (where he still spends summers). Click through to see a gallery of our favorite Mills paintings, and then visit his website to see a whole lot more. … Read More

Art

Incredible Photorealistic Paintings of Delicious Fruit

By Alison Nastasi on

Artist Dennis Wojtkiewicz’s photorealistic paintings of succulent fruit could easily be a series of macro photos, but they are indeed hand painted. More importantly, they make us really hungry, which may be our new test for amazing art. Strawberries, apples, and everything yummy are rendered with incredible detail right down to every fiber, hair, and seed. Bask in the warm glow (no really, they seem to have their own aura) of Wojtkiewicz’s impressive fruit paintings past the break. … Read More

Art

Ed Loftus’ Unsettling Photorealistic Graphite Drawings

By Nicole Rallis on

Oakland-based artist Ed Loftus transforms graphite lines into breathtaking works of art in his latest exhibition, Big Things to Avoid. The visually enthralling collection features thought-provoking, photorealistic illustrations that juxtapose trash bags, beautiful scenery, and people to delve into what the Gregory Lind Gallery, which is showing the series, describes as “the larger themes and subtexts of the human condition, including fear, the concept of the inevitable, and the single-minded nature of obsession.” The self-taught artist, who originally hails from the UK, seeks inspiration from photography both archaic and recent. Beginning this weekend, San Francisco locals can check out Big Things to Avoid in person at Gregory Lind, where the show will run through January 21st. Sample Loftus’ latest batch of drawings after the jump. … Read More

Art

Gallery: Hyperrealistic Paintings of Comfort Food

By Caroline Stanley on

If like us, you woke up this morning suffering from a bit of a food hangover, then Pamela Michelle Johnson’s paintings of piled up hamburgers, stacks of Oreos, and mounds of cheesecake are probably going to make you feel a little sick to your stomach — and possibly help you from spending the entire day picking over leftovers. You’re welcome! Johnson’s photorealistic, large-scale work, which we spotted over on MoCoLoco, is meant to be a commentary on what she calls the “insatiable American appetite.”

“Through my work, I strive to invoke reflection on a culture focused on mass-consumption and mass-production, where the negative aspects of overindulgence are often forgotten or ignored,” she writes. “The work questions a culture that equates fulfillment, pleasure and happiness with what we consume.” Click through to see a few of our favorite pieces, and let us know what you think of it in the comments. … Read More

Comics

Simon Monk’s Photorealistic Paintings of Trapped Superheroes

By Caroline Stanley on

Secret Identity, an ongoing series of photorealistic paintings of plastic superhero models enclosed in plastic bags, visually highlights what Simon Monk sees as a major contradiction: the iconic power of these mythic figures versus their roles as purchased objects — a situation that he says is similar to the plight of the artist. “My painting process is pretty painstaking as the images are built up from many transparent layers to give them the luminosity that I want,” he recently explained to My Modern Met. “The plastic bags start with barely visible glazes of white and are very gradually built up until I feel that they work visually. Each painting takes at least three months to complete.” Click through to check out the amazing end results. … Read More