Source: © Hiroki Okuma 大熊弘樹 (@hirokiguma3) - image reproduced with permission

In astonishingly realistic painting, artist Hiroki Okuma spent months just on his model’s hair

Japanese artist Hiroki Ōkuma 大熊弘樹 has stunned his followers and other art-lovers with a viral post on his Twitter account revealing his latest oil painting.

Born in Saitama in 1988, Ōkuma completed a Masters in Oil Painting at the prestigious Tokyo University of the Arts. He creates exquisitely detailed photorealistic still lifes and gorgeous portraits, working in oil, pencil, acrylic, resin, and other media.

His latest portrait shows a woman resting peacefully on her side on white sheets and wearing a white blouse and bathed in a cool white light. The beautiful work is so realistic, thanks to Ōkuma's attention to detail, particularly the model's hair.

"This is a work for which I spent months just on the hair. I almost lost heart several times during the process, but I finally completed it."

Reproduced with permission from Hiroki Okuma (@hirokiguma3)

Reproduced with permission from Hiroki Okuma (@hirokiguma3)

Reproduced with permission from Hiroki Okuma (@hirokiguma3)

Reproduced with permission from Hiroki Okuma (@hirokiguma3)

The painting displayed in astonishing detail in his Tweet, which has already garnered 230,000 likes and 28,000 retweets at the time of writing, elicited numerous plaudits from other users. Some of the comments included:

  • "(...) I almost cried when I saw that you could express such a delicate, fragile, and soft texture of each hair with oil painting. Thank you very much for completing this work."

  • "This is... beautiful (...) It's difficult for people to express what they see, feel, and think without words. It's impressive that a single painting can contain so much information."
  • "I've never seen such perfection! I have no words! It's just fabulous (...)"

One user asked him what concept guided his expression of the model's hair, to which Ōkuma replied:

  • "I painted the hair to make it seem as if it was emitting light from within."

Other users could help but praise its astonishing realism:

  • "Wait, this isn't a photo?"
  • "I literally thought this was a photo until I saw the fourth picture."

Finally, in a comment which the artist seemed to be fond enough to retweet:

  • "I felt as if I was looking at this woman up close and personal. I can't help but admire her fragile but enchanting beauty."

Indeed, it seems clear from the reactions this painting elicited that this work represented far more than an attempt to create photographic realism. It has qualities that invite the user to come closer, to meet the work face to face.

Hopefully, the public will be granted such an opportunity at an exhibition in the not-too-distant future.

Here are a few more examples of Ōkuma's art from his Twitter account:

If you'd like to see more of Hiroki Ōkuma's gorgeous artworks, you can follow him on Twitter. He also has an Instagram account.

His most recent published work is in the November issue of the art magazine 美術の窓　Bijutsu no Mado, which you can purchase on Amazon.co.jp

By - Ben K.

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