Hyperrealist artists try to replicate reality, or at least attempt to manipulate the human eye. Because of that, many of their works explored the use of vibrant colors. For example feminine and erotic daydreaming scenes by Soey Milk, or the subtle and fuzzy portraits of Manuela Landroyo. Not like that trend, Nigerian artist Arinze Stanley has another approach. His drawings always designed in black and white, are made only with graphite and charcoal pencils. The result, Stanley's painting looks like a human portrait by a classical photographer. Like hyperrealita paintings of chrome masks by Kip Omolade, the details on Arinze's paintings are amazing and beautiful, framing the many faces and extraordinary personalities of his photographic friends. Remarkably again some of his unfinished illustrations will trigger the same thrilling sensation after his painting is over.
Image : Arinze Stanley
Stanley is from the Imo Province on the eastern side of Nigeria, but spent most of his life in the capital Lagos. He already has a drawing interest since childhood. People may think he was in art education or something. In fact, he did not learn formal art at all.
Stanley always expresses himself through the pictures. It started long ago, though he never got any art training. "I managed to practice God's grace in the art of drawing, I always liked to make realistic pictures, but my passion became stronger in 2012 when I found hyperrealist artists like Kelvin Okafor, Joel Rea and Emanuele Dascanio." said Stanley when interviewed by The Creators Project.
Image : Arinze Stanley Drawings 1
What Stanley likes about Okafor, Rea and Dascanio is the level of discipline they exhibit in creative process. He is also very interested in how the hyperrealist artist artists are able to articulate powerful messages through the art of using what Stanley calls "simple media" consisting of pencils and paints.
When asked about the tools he uses, he explains that he only uses the drawing tools as simple as possible from charcoal pencils to graphite pencils. He also often experimented with lots of techniques like cross-scratching and scratching, but he always thought that things just flowed on paper.
"Sometimes it seems as though I have no power over my pencil," he said. "It feels like a transfer of energy, often I feel like transferring energy to blank paper through my pencils and it becomes a work of art."
Image : Arinze Stanley Drawings 2
Stanley is not sure how long it takes to finish each piece because he likes to forget time during the creative process. He simply estimates that a work that details close to the photo takes 200 to 300 hours.
As it appears in his pictures, Stanley likes to highlight everything about the whereabouts of Africa. Moreover, the images are an opportunity to explore and display the values and "unspoiled deep emotions" of humanity in general.
Ideally, Stanley wants to connect with people, creating an "artist-audiences" bond when his works are displayed. He wants the eyes of the audience to focus on the details in the picture but can also feel the unique expression of each subject, which includes a spectrum of emotions such as reflection, caring, fatigue, humor, and shock.
Image : Arinze Stanley Drawings 3
Stanley already held the inaugural exhibition last year at Omenka Gallery of the Capital of Lagos. He performed with nine other artists who are equally deep in the art of realist genre. The exhibition is one of many signs that the arts are not only healthy, but also at local, regional and international levels.
Stanley said that the arts in Nigeria are growing rapidly and are starting to attract global attention, one thing that he really loves about the arts of Nigeria is the level of diversity in the arts. There are many types of art in Africa from contemporary to local, and others. Though he says that art is thriving in Nigeria, he still feels there are many unspoiled things.
And there's about Arinze Stanley makes amazing pictures that look alive and can fool the eyes. Hiperalism is becoming a trend in his country. Hope you like it and give more knowledge for you all. Follow @AllAboutArts for more interesting things about arts. See you in my next post guys...
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