Hyperrealism in the paintings of Mike Dasras

Hyperrealism is a relatively new direction in painting, which is gaining popularity among artists today. This style is characterized by the incredible accuracy of the picture being drawn, which is sometimes difficult to distinguish from high-resolution photography.

The works of Mike Dargas, a former tattoo artist from Cologne, found their grateful audience in the early 2000s. Now he is one of the most famous artists promoting hyperrealism with his brush. When Mike was eight, he sold his first work; at eleven, the boy copied the works of great artists, drawing them with crayons on the square in front of Cologne Cathedral. However, Dasras never thought that he would connect his life so closely with the visual arts.

At the age of 20, Mike has already earned a reputation as a professional tattoo artist, having received several awards and grants. The artist found inspiration in the works of Dali, Caravaggio and the modern surrealist Hans Giger. In the end, after 14 years of a successful tattoo career, Mike changed the human body to a canvas and took up a brush.

The characters of Dasras' paintings are ordinary people whom you meet on the street every day: men and women, old and young, strong and weak — there is a place for everyone on Mike's canvases. The artist subjectively evaluates future models and chooses only those faces that are attractive by his own standards. His portraits are full of sensuality and emotional nuances, each is a real encyclopedia of human essence.

Now Dasras is working on a series of portraits of women whose faces are doused with honey. If you have thought about the sexual subtext, then the artist's vision of the theme itself has nothing to do with "high eros". In fact, honey symbolizes gold, and each portrait should make the viewer think about how fast the demands of society are growing and how rapidly we are wasting natural resources.

The process of creating a portrait begins with a photo that Mike takes on his own. Before each photo shoot, the artist formulates a certain idea that he wants to convey, although the result is always unpredictable — and that's all the fun. If Mike is happy with the frame, he takes the photo to his studio, where he transfers it to the canvas. Mike spends several weeks creating one portrait. Often an artist works on two paintings at the same time.