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To begin, let’s test how sharp your vision is.
Which of these two oranges is “fake”?
Is the real Spiderman figurine on the left or the right?
Which is the impostor carrot?
On the one hand, we have a real, three-dimensional object that can be touched. On the other, a drawing that recreates the object in such realistic detail that it is practically impossible to differentiate it from the original. Illusion and deception are the calling cards of Howard Lee, known on social media for his hyper-realistic creations.
Beginnings as an art teacher
The artist, who lives and works in Newcastle in the north of England, studied Fine Art at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth. For 10 years, he worked as an art teacher in his community, teaching drawing and painting workshops for children, teenagers and adults. Lee’s interest mostly lay in expressionist painting, until he grew interested in tutorials and videos about visual deception on social media, at which point he moved towards realism. It was his students who, in 2015, encouraged him to share his own videos on the internet, and since then he has accumulated thousands of followers from all over the world on his Youtube and Instagram accounts.
The technique of deception
Fried eggs, strawberries, a slice of pizza, a burger or a handful of sweets. This master of illusion is usually inspired by food, presenting two images side by side that appear identical, but one of which turns out to be an illusion. Sometimes he reveals the trick with a practical effect, such as eating the real burger.
In order to trick the viewer’s brain, you need serious mastery of perspective, as well as techniques of light and shading. Lee also experiments with a number of colours and materials, from traditional pencils, markers, crayons and acrylic paints to less conventional ones, such as matches, food, flowers, seaweed or toothpaste, as we can see in his portraits of Messi and the Joker.
Sometimes he doesn’t compare two objects, but creates them from scratch, such as sneakers in their box, or making them blend in or even “disappear”, like in his home furniture series.
Lee has also worked with 3D optical effects, imitating the classic schoolchildren’s lined notebooks.
He is also known for his large scale project “Tree Hand Painting Illusion”, in which he creates illusions by playing with the background of trees in natural environments.
Brand collaborations
The Newcastle artist earns a living from the sale of prints on his website for a modest price, and also through commercial commissions. He has collaborated, for example, with the Guiness beer brand and the Jack Daniels whisky brand.
In the “QC Daydream Museum” project, Lee’s paintings merge with the surrounding panorama of the thermal baths of this Italian spa and wellness resort brand.
Jaguar commissioned a trio of hyper-realistic 1.5m x 1.5m images to showcase the new exterior and interior look of its new XE sedan, in which it is hard to tell the difference between art and reality. Creating these works took the British artist more than 140 hours of work.
One of his most recent projects comes from the National Gallery, for which he has devised a series in which he draws the same object at four levels of mastery: basic, simple, better and artist.
The drawing is only the start of a process that can take anything from two to three hours to 15 or 20 – Lee also records every step using the time lapse technique, edits them and uploads them to social media. There, we can continue to be dazzled by the creations of the master of illusions.
Website: https://www.howardleeart.com/