“I thought they were photos!” Japanese artist’s exquisite work earns plaudits online

Artist Hiroki Saito 斉藤洋樹 (@kiriehiro) posted the works he has made so far on his Twitter account, to overwhelming praise and astonishment.

The reason? These aren't photos, paintings, drawings or computer-rendered illustrations but painstakingly realized works of kiri-e 切り絵. Literally meaning "cut drawings," kiri-e is created with paper and a blade. For Hiroki Saito, who works in large formats of A4 and even A3 size, it can take up to 4 months to produce one work. The results, however, are well worth the effort, as you can see below.

Let's take a look at some of his masterpieces:

Reproduced with permission from Hiroki Saito 斉藤洋樹 (@kiriehiro)

Reproduced with permission from Hiroki Saito 斉藤洋樹 (@kiriehiro)

Reproduced with permission from Hiroki Saito 斉藤洋樹 (@kiriehiro)

Reproduced with permission from Hiroki Saito 斉藤洋樹 (@kiriehiro)

It's hard to believe that these are only made of paper. When asked about his methods, Mr. Saito replied that he uses backlighting for some of his works to enhance them.

I cut black paper and put washi (traditional Japanese paper) and colored cellophane tape behind it. Depending on the mood I'm trying to convey, I modulate the colors in this way. For some of the works, I add backlighting to further accentuate and decorate the work.

Mr. Hiroki Saito

He has perfected his own original technique to create such subtle color variations in the spaces within the black paper which he cuts out to create the design.

This work is an example of one which took him all of four months to complete: