Hyper Realistic Paintings

Jason de Graaf is one of many hyper realistic painters that exist in the world.  Hyper realism is painting depictions in the hope that the viewer will mistake them for photographs.  This type of hyper realism is known as "photorealism".  In this style, there are many who accomplish this with flying colors.  However, of all the artists I have come across I think that Jason de Graaf takes the cake on photo realism.  His paintings are incredibly fine and precise in most of their aspects.  Every little detail of his still life style is meticulously and painstakingly brushed.  (although no brush strokes are shown on his paintings)

He uses many items that you would find around any normal house which makes his paintings that much easier to digest as photos.  At first glance it is near impossible to tell whether or not his paintings are in fact paintings or photos.  Using common items probably helps our brain interpret it as truth more easily.

I am a really big fan of this style of art.  Having just found it on the internet blindly I am very happy to have stumbled onto a new type of art that I greatly appreciate.  The experience from viewing these pieces is not only extremely impressive from a talent standpoint but it is very pleasing to simply look at for extended periods of time.  There is something about someone trying to replicate reality with paint that is extremely interesting to me.

Rendez Vous by Claude Lelouch

This film is a relatively short film which has a man driving through Paris in the early morning in a Mercedes (which had Ferrari sounds laced over it later).  Claude Lelouch was a big name in the movie business in France during the 60's.  He took this project and turned it into one of the most well known short films of all time.  It is probably just as cool today as it would have been seeing it in the 70's.

The film never shows the car that is being driven as it passes through Paris at first light.  The screeching tires and engine noise are suspected to have been added later using sounds from Lelouch's personal Ferrari.  The car drives around to major sites in Paris like the Arc de Triumph, the Garnier Opera House, and Place de la Concorde.  As it is driving it runs red lights, scares pedestrians, and somewhat wreaks havoc upon the city in the early morning.  It was shot in a single take and no one seems to have been injured.

A link of the video is here: http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=a8e_1182066421

I think this piece is really cool.  I really love to watch it every once in a while.  It makes me feel pretty peaceful.  I like the sounds of a high revved engine and the visuals of Paris at sunrise.  It really makes me wish that I could do something similar in time.  

3D sidewalk art by Edgar Mueller

Edgar Mueller is a German artist who started life as a painter.  At the age of 25 he started street painting around Europe.  He went to high school in a town called Geldern in which the "International Competition of Street Painters" was hosted.  He gives credit to this town for inspiring him to become a street painter.    He competed for the first time when he was 16 and went on to win 3 years later.  Mr. Mueller has been labeled a "Maestro Madonnari" or "Master Street Painter" by winning so many competitions worldwide.

His work consists of literally taking paint of different colors and type and makes what appear to be three dimensional areas on the flat surface of the street.  This type of street art takes perspective and makes it almost absolutely necessary.  If you are standing within the 3 foot range where the image looks correct it is breathtaking, however stand a few feet off to the side and the amazing concept is somewhat lost.  This is due to the fact that creating a three dimensional sight on a two dimensional plane is very difficult to create from one vantage point, let alone many.  

Notice that the perspective is what makes the piece in all of these images.  He has done many pieces in many countries all with different themes.  However he has a style all his own in comparison to other street artists.  For instance, he uses a lot of cave type ideas with a heavy influence of water.  Other artists use anything from Greek mythology influences to coke bottles.  All in all, Mueller has an awesome style for street art and he really deserves the title of "Street art master".