30-year-old Italian artist Marco Grassi paints intricate drawings so realistically, they seem like photographs. What makes his beautiful paintings even more remarkable, however, are the slight unconventional details he “gives” to his characters. By doing this, Grassi starts balancing on a very thin line between hyperrealism and surrealism, perfectly messing with his audience minds.
“My goal is to stir deep emotions, trying to make people more sensitive,” Grassi told Bored Panda about his highly detailed drawings. “I want to combine reality and surrealism, exploring human thoughts and nature in a more personal way.” Some of his subjects appear as half-human and half-statues, some dress in colorful fabrics or acquire futuristic jewelry, but all of them are so convincing, we are left wondering why these striking and mysterious people look the way they do.
The amount of time Grassi spends on a single realistic painting varies depending on its size and complexity, but usually, the artist devotes at least several months to one portrait painting. “It is a very long work and requires extreme attention in all of its phases.”
By inserting surreal elements into the body (instead of portraying solely its super realistic features), Grassi seeks to highlight our dual way of being: “Our inner side, intimate and extremely sensitive, in opposition to our interest in the appearance of things, like a vase, a pot, a shell. Beautiful and precious, but empty inside.”
“The biggest challenge is always trying to maintain a level of extreme quality in these realistic artworks<...>, both for the human figure and applied elements, trying to create a homogeneous work of art in every aspect, as well as overcoming the idea of painting in a way that imitates photography exclusively.”
Scroll down to check out these unique artworks and just how masterfully Grassi recreates a huge variety of textures while maintaining subtle emotions.
More info: marcograssipainter.com | Facebook | Instagram
Green Queen
Empty Spaces
Focal Point
La Bellezza Del Tempo
Autocorpo
Virtual Reality
Blue Shawl
Phthalo Blue Green
The Garden
Gio B
Marco Grassi with Blue Shawl
And here I am and I can't even draw a stick person 😂😂😂 fml!!!!! 😂😂😂
Wow!!! Truly Amazing! To have that much control over hue and light is truly a gift!!!
My brain is having trouble even comprehending how it can be SO realistic! Amazing!!
At 1st I disagreed with the title because the 1st pic does look like a painting, but because of the pores, the closer you get, the more realistic the picture is & that's pretty cool.
Load More Replies...Good gravy! I don't think I could capture this level of detail with an actual camera! What a breathtaking skill!
Wow, these are stunning! Some of them there's a bit of lighting difference and it's clearly a painting, but others are just so real, it's "realer" than a photo, like the person is right there real. Very well done!
the amount of studying of the human body you must have done to create these must be through the roof gorgeous paintings wow pure talent.
Photorealism is the highest form of visual art. All artists aspire to it, at least initially, whether they admit it or not.
This are like an angel drew these, who else could have done such detail!
Ohmygosh I love these so much! When I first saw the picture and hadn't read the title yet, I honestly thought that the girl was real and all of the extra details were added by a computer or something! Amazing work!
I wish I could cover my walls with his Absolutely stunning paintings.
I’m so in love with his paintings I just want to collect as many as I can safely cover my walls with. His stunning details leave me breathless.
If I didn't know better I would bet money that those are photo's. Incredible.
Amazing. Patrick Ching from Hawai`i does very realistic artwork, but this is amazing! Ehukai-5a3...563ac5.jpg
absolutely out of this world to be this talented...OMG I'm blown away...words fail me but wow
Although I will say that the pores and lace blouse are incredibly realistic
These are absolutely amazing! And I do agree they are realistic but I wouldn't confuse them for photographs. That is not taking away from his incredible talent, just stating a personal opinion, I am a photographer and I also draw (nowhere near as amazingly as this artist) and there is a definite contrast in lighting and texture of a photo and a painting.
This is talent, beauty, and amazingness all tied up into this masterpiece.
In the painting called: "La Bellezza Del Tempo", the eyes of the woman are the eyes of a dead person. Very creepy.
While I do really appreciate the skill, I never liked this kind of extreme realism.
And here I am and I can't even draw a stick person 😂😂😂 fml!!!!! 😂😂😂
Wow!!! Truly Amazing! To have that much control over hue and light is truly a gift!!!
My brain is having trouble even comprehending how it can be SO realistic! Amazing!!
At 1st I disagreed with the title because the 1st pic does look like a painting, but because of the pores, the closer you get, the more realistic the picture is & that's pretty cool.
Load More Replies...Good gravy! I don't think I could capture this level of detail with an actual camera! What a breathtaking skill!
Wow, these are stunning! Some of them there's a bit of lighting difference and it's clearly a painting, but others are just so real, it's "realer" than a photo, like the person is right there real. Very well done!
the amount of studying of the human body you must have done to create these must be through the roof gorgeous paintings wow pure talent.
Photorealism is the highest form of visual art. All artists aspire to it, at least initially, whether they admit it or not.
This are like an angel drew these, who else could have done such detail!
Ohmygosh I love these so much! When I first saw the picture and hadn't read the title yet, I honestly thought that the girl was real and all of the extra details were added by a computer or something! Amazing work!
I wish I could cover my walls with his Absolutely stunning paintings.
I’m so in love with his paintings I just want to collect as many as I can safely cover my walls with. His stunning details leave me breathless.
If I didn't know better I would bet money that those are photo's. Incredible.
Amazing. Patrick Ching from Hawai`i does very realistic artwork, but this is amazing! Ehukai-5a3...563ac5.jpg
absolutely out of this world to be this talented...OMG I'm blown away...words fail me but wow
Although I will say that the pores and lace blouse are incredibly realistic
These are absolutely amazing! And I do agree they are realistic but I wouldn't confuse them for photographs. That is not taking away from his incredible talent, just stating a personal opinion, I am a photographer and I also draw (nowhere near as amazingly as this artist) and there is a definite contrast in lighting and texture of a photo and a painting.
This is talent, beauty, and amazingness all tied up into this masterpiece.
In the painting called: "La Bellezza Del Tempo", the eyes of the woman are the eyes of a dead person. Very creepy.
While I do really appreciate the skill, I never liked this kind of extreme realism.
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