I have no artistic talent. That said (and maybe as a result), I excel in art appreciation. I am usually drawn to clever/creative forms of artistic expression, but I also have immense respect for the skill and talent it takes to produce these kind of images. Kohei Ohmori is a 23-year old Japanese artist who, using only a set of very sharp pencils, draws these uspersized photo-realistic images. They can take well over 200 hours draw and require an unbelievably steady hand. While people with this kind of ability and patience are rare, here’s another artist who is equally impressive. Arinze Stanley is a portrait artist from Nigeria who can reproduce the most realistic image of skin I have ever seen using just charcoal and graphite. His interest in drawing began when he was around six years old and his family’s paper business afforded him the opportunity to experiment with different media and to hone his craft. Remarkably, he has received no formal art training and is entirely self taught. When asked about his great talent, he modestly refers to his creed of”patience, practice and persistence”. For a totally different hyper-realistic visual experience, check out these “paint blobs” which were created by artist C.J. Hendry using nothing but colored pencils. It is almost impossible to believe they are not photographs of 3-D paint images. I’m just “wow”ed.
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