A Japanese artist has been creating buzz on social media for her photorealistic oil paintings.
Artist Kei Mieno surprised Japanese netizens after she tweeted about some of her works on May 10. The featured works looked more like photographs rather than oil paintings. Her Twitter post has gathered over 46,000 retweets and 127,000 likes, as of this writing.
The 33-year-old painter from Hiroshima City University College of Art specializes in realism, according to her website’s English profile.
One of her more intricate works feature a girl soaking in what appears to be shallow waters. The detail of the water ripples, the girl’s wet clothing, and the wet look of her hair all make the artwork difficult to differentiate from a regular photograph.
Neither does zooming in make it easier to tell whether it is a painting or photograph, thanks to Mieno’s mastery of depicting light and shadow.
Her patience in reproducing every strand of hair in her works is also remarkable.
✍🏻#art #oilpainting #wip #油絵 pic.twitter.com/ORmo4PqvJy
— 三重野 慶Art (@mienokei) April 30, 2018
Her painting of a girl’s profile shows how much work has been put into recreating the look of real hair.
Her painting of a laughing girl shows more of her skill with light and shadow. The right side of the painting features a strong yellow light source. On the left side, the shadows on the girl’s face show a subtle gradient which follows the soft grooves on her cheek muscles, flexing as she laughs.
Her works were recently featured in the Gallery Suchi Small Collection exhibit. The show ran from April 18 to May 6 at the Hoki Museum, Gallery 4 Small Hall in Chiba, Japan.
Mieno also offers painting workshops on watercolor and oil. When not painting or teaching, she picks up a camera for some actual photography. JB
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