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This Russian Street Artist Draws Photorealistic Live Portraits And Each One Takes Up To An Hour (102 New Pics)
Interview With Artist
You have probably seen a street artist drawing portraits and selling them for passersby. Perhaps you even bought a drawing of yourself and now have it hung on the wall or somewhere in one of your drawers. Street artists can demonstrate great talent and accuracy. However, usually, they are underrated and have their works sold for small prices. It is unbelievable how these artists finish an artwork in such a short time on the spot while working in quite disruptive surroundings.
Meet Nikolay Yarakhtin, a street artist born in Cheboksary, capital of the Chuvashia Republic, Russia. He works on the streets of St. Petersburg, Russia, and uses only pencils and fumes in order to draw a perfect portrait. This man has been transferring all the anatomical characteristics and peculiar marks of different faces to blank canvases for 30 years. Interested to see his work? Then check it out! You can also see his previous drawings here.
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#1
J Garza 4 years ago
First of all, this is a very skilled artist. No doubt. Drawing a live model (and making it look right)is one of the hardest things to do as an artist. What always bothers me is when they take a picture and just duplicate it. This is the complete opposite of why people began drawing in the first place. It was originally used to capture an image before the invention of the photograph. The photo is the advancement of the drawn image. So duplicating an existing photo is working backwards. The original photo IS the artwork. The drawing simply a skilled copy. It's like having your car pulled by a horse...the car is the advancement. Not just the ramblings of a lunatic here, I also hold a Fine Arts Degree and have taught at the college level (in case you were wondering). : )
The artist told Bored Panda that after graduating from the School of Arts in 1996, he decided to try drawing people on the streets. The first place he started his "street art" was the central amusement park, which was right in the center of town.
Nikolay decided to draw people on the streets to earn some money. "I realized that things were going well and that inspired me to continue and I do that until this very day."
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Debi Gallagher 4 years ago
This one is so good that if they were the same size it would be hard to tell which is the photo.
It takes around one hour to draw a portrait of a person. Most of the time, when people see their portrait, they are satisfied with the result of Nikolay's work. "I can see that from the smile on their faces."
During the Covid-19 pandemic, the artist couldn't work much on the streets. However, people were ordering portraits of themselves online. Nikolay was receiving pictures of people and turning them into hand-drawn portraits. "The online orders were wonderful, I worked very hard."
Nikolay revealed that after the portraits were featured on Bored Panda, people started to recognize his artwork all around the world. "It was amazing. I really enjoyed the first article about my art and I am very happy that I got this opportunity to feature my works again. I am blessed."
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Danae Valdez 4 years ago
I love how they are so accurately drawn. But you can see their soul peeking out behind their eyes.
According to Nikolay, the secret of his realistic-looking portraits is hiding in the way he sees a figure. He was taught to look at the figure as a whole, rather than a set of details.
"I would like to give this advice to aspiring artists: to start with the simplest study of the construction of the human head. Believe me, this is essential for the realistic drawing."
#8
Marco Conti 3 years ago
I think his eye level is a little lower than the camera. He is seeing less hair. Also, when she posed she had her hair slightly different. Look at the ear.
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PeachPossum 4 years ago
Yes, Kate Winslet in Titanic. No, it is not photoshopped. The artist uses only pencils. Did you not read the introduction?
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What do you think ?
Debi Gallagher 4 years ago
It would take me all day to upvote and/or comment on the very height of talent in a lot of these artists. A lot of these are just incredible.
Bored koala 4 years ago
Абсолютная красота! So beautiful! Im (starting) in art and i hope to be even half as good as this one day. Thank you for showing your talent. Спасибо большое
Fritz Baumeister 4 years ago
Here's this guy with all this amazing talent making peanuts on the street and yet Hunter Biden's "art" sells for hundreds of thousands of dollars. There is something seriously wrong with the world.
Joe Chelena 4 years ago
Do you really have to add your stupid A$$ politics to this?
Load More Replies... Debi Gallagher 4 years ago
It would take me all day to upvote and/or comment on the very height of talent in a lot of these artists. A lot of these are just incredible.
Bored koala 4 years ago
Абсолютная красота! So beautiful! Im (starting) in art and i hope to be even half as good as this one day. Thank you for showing your talent. Спасибо большое
Fritz Baumeister 4 years ago
Here's this guy with all this amazing talent making peanuts on the street and yet Hunter Biden's "art" sells for hundreds of thousands of dollars. There is something seriously wrong with the world.
Joe Chelena 4 years ago
Do you really have to add your stupid A$$ politics to this?
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