It may not shock you that incredible things can be done with just a pencil and some paper, but the breathtakingly lifelike drawings of Sheila R Giovanni are bound to leave you amazed.
The Brazilian-based artist spends more than 100 hours on each project, and her attention to detail is strikingly evident. Thanks to carefully placed shading, ultrathin lines and a remarkably steady hand, Sheila’s designs look as if they’re going to jump right off the page. They’re so immaculate, in fact, that her Instagram audience is calling her an ‘art genius’ and ‘insane’ over the amount of dedication she puts into hers penciled portraits.
What makes her different from the other hyperrealist artists is that she predominantly works with pencil, while others tend to use an airbrush. With her drawings, she tends to create an emotional, social and cultural impact and her style differs from photorealism which is far more technical. She takes everyday objects and scenes, mostly including famous people and then recreates unreal drawings, which also reveal some insights into how she achieves that realistic look.
“My inspiration comes from the phrase ‘to intensify the normal,” she said.
These mind-blowingly realistic images are hand drawn illustrations. Seriously.
