Artist Uses Pencils to Create Hyperrealistic Drawings of Paint

From just looking at the work of artist Cj Hendry that you see below you’d probably think that they’re artistic photographs of acrylic paints that have been smeared across a blank canvas in a haphazard yet expressive way, but you’d be wrong. They are actually far more impressive, as each of them has been hand drawn by Hendry using coloured pencils as part of a series the artist is calling Complimentary Colors.

The end result of which is a set of drawings that achieved hyperrealism in that they trick the eye into believing they really are glossy blobs of paint despite the fact that they’re entirely 2D – their 3D appearance achieved through Hendry’s clever use of colour and tone to create depth.

Previously to this series the Australian artist worked almost entirely in black and white, however the change was brought about after being commissioned by fashion brand Christian Louboutin to create artwork for an exhibition in Art Basel Hong Kong.

Because it was Hendry’s first colour project it presented some challenges along the way, the most difficult being the complexity of the colours used and the time it took to complete just one drawing which could take anywhere between a day or four weeks.

Although this probably looks like paint smeared on a canvas…

Artist Cj Hendry actually uses the coloured pencils you see below, as well as a lot of patience and skill to create the hyperrealistic blobs of paint.