If you think these portraits are photographs then you’re forgiven. Although it’s hard to believe, these hyperrealistic portraits are drawings rendered by graphite and charcoal. Yes, you are looking at the figurative artworks of Italian artist Emanuele Dascanio who is currently tricking eyes left and right with his super-realistic drawings featuring superb details.
Hyperrealism is a contemporary genre of painting that confronts the viewer with the illusion of manipulated high-resolution photographs. We’ve seen the works of Leng Jun and An Jung-hwan whose oil paintings are considered the most realistic in the world. Dascanio, on the other hand, embarks on a different realm of hyperrealism by fusing Renaissance and contemporary art techniques into his practice. Instead of using colors, he brings his subjects and all their emotions to life in black-and-white, with the subjects drawn against a pitch-black background and often lit with a single source of light.
Artist Creates Hyperrealistc Portraits Using Graphite Pencil and Charcoal
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His unique combination of classic and contemporary techniques isn’t just a coincidence. Dascanio learned the oil techniques of the old Renaissance masters from Italian painter Gianluca Corona in 2007. Replacing oil paints with charcoal and graphite pencil, he combined his own style with the classical influence he learned from his teacher to create hyperrealistic portraits that vibrate with emotion and energy.
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Each large-scale drawing typically takes up to 780 hours to complete. Follow the artist on Instagram to see all of his large-scale drawings that resemble high-resolution monochromatic photographs.
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