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The World's Most Photorealistic Vector Art

Keira

{illustration by Paul Bush}

If I didn't know it already, I wouldn't discern that the gallery below is made up of drawings. Yes! They are NOT photographs. Vector drawings using gradient mesh to be specific. Except for Bert Monroy, all of the vector art displayed here are 100% made from Adobe Illustrator.

Whether for challenge, or for pushing the boundaries of what the Illustrator can do, or just for the sheer pleasure of creating, these brilliant artists have dazzled, wowed, and amazed me with the pyrotechnic showcasing of their technical mastery.

 

WAYNE FORREST

Male, Canada, Adobe Illustrator

OUTLINE OUTLINE OUTLINE

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HALIM GHODBANE

Male, Algeria, Adobe Illustrator

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REGGIE GILBERT

Male, USA, Adobe Illustrator

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HIGHSIDE

Male, Japan, Adobe Illustrator

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KOJI MASUI

Male, Japan, Adobe Illustrator

OUTLINE OUTLINE OUTLINE

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USSA METHAWITTAYAKUL

Female, Thailand, Adobe Illustrator

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YUKIO MIYAMOTO

Male, Japan, Adobe Illustrator

OUTLINE OUTLINE OUTLINE

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BERT MONROY

Male, USA, Adobe Illustrator/Photoshop

 

TAKASHI MORISAKI

Male, Japan, Adobe Illustrator

OUTLINE OUTLINE OUTLINE

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HENKE SVENSSON

Male, Sweden, Adobe Illustrator

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ANN PAIDRICK

Female, USA, Adobe Illustrator

 

AROUND THE WORLD

PAUL BROOKE PISAN

 

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175 comments so far

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comment by AnDrEw
29 July, 2006 22:14  
me
holee thats fucking amazing... can u show me how to do it...
comment by laemo
29 July, 2006 22:15  
me
This is some very high quality stuff. Jaw dropping material I must say!
comment by counie
29 July, 2006 22:17  
me
wow!!
comment by britoboy
29 July, 2006 22:26  
me
There must be a semi-automatic tool to help this guys do this. If not, i think that is a TON of mouse dragging involved.
comment by optikal
29 July, 2006 22:33  
me
To britboy:
More like many hours on a professional tablet.
Mouse? That's for suckers!

These people are amazingly talented.
comment by Jason
29 July, 2006 22:42  
me
I've been doing vector art for a long while.

Tablets are for drawing, not vector art. It's actually harder to do vector art with a tablet than a mouse since it's so precise.
comment by henry
29 July, 2006 22:52  
me
to be honest i'm not impressed, these guys are just recreating photographs. if they were creating these images from their imaginations then that would be something different.

however, i am impressed at the amount of time they wasted doing this.
comment by CaspianV2399
29 July, 2006 22:55  
me
I agree with jaw dropping. Can't think of anything else to say because it's just impressive.
comment by Jake
30 July, 2006 00:01  
me
To Henry:
You're not impressed? Okay. Let us see your completely brand new vector art. Not based off of photos. Look how detailed thier meshes are; that takes time, and quite a bit of skill.

I have been doing vector art in Illustrator for years, and achieving that level of quality is difficult. Even if you ARE working from a photograph.

So... put up, or shut up.
comment by Jon
30 July, 2006 00:02  
me
do a nude knightley!
comment by Peter
30 July, 2006 01:08  
me
With the "nude Knightley", yeah, this could go down a a bad direction of false tabloids & such.
comment by Eric DuMond
30 July, 2006 01:17  
me
This art is utterly amazing.

My father works in graphic design and this is a lot of work to do even from a photograph. Hats off to these talented people.
comment by Frederick
30 July, 2006 01:51  
me
To Henry: You're an ass... as Jake said, put up or shut up.

As for the art, amazing. Thank you artists for sharing.
comment by josh
30 July, 2006 03:22  
me
To Henry: Yeah, you're a hating idiot.

To not give this any credit is just a testament to how much of an elitist prick you must be.
comment by Hui Zhou
30 July, 2006 03:29  
me
Certainly it requires great skills.

But I agree with henry in certain degree. Why waste time do what photoshop can do in much less time?

For those who know more details on how they do those and why they do those, speak up.
comment by tsu
30 July, 2006 03:48  
me
You guys obviously don't understand the benefits of having a vector image over a raster image. If you don't know what the differences are then you should shut up.
comment by Derkles
30 July, 2006 03:54  
me
A vector image scales up and down without ANY loss of resolution. So, yes, vector is superior to raster in this respect.

There are tools that can translate raster into vector, but no tool can perform like the hands of a skilled draftsman.
comment by Douglas
30 July, 2006 05:52  
me
Point worth emphasizing: these are great draftsmen. Not artists.
comment by Janessa
30 July, 2006 05:59  
me
Yeah, these are incredible vectors.

And yes I do understand the importance of vector images... it is not just point and click-drag with a moouse... if you think it is, try it. Really try and make something nice like they did. I promise you won't be able too simply.

Vector imaging is what the print ad and product world needs more of. Photoshop can only go so far in comparison for ease of use for the final image on a commercial level.

I'm not an expert... but at least I respect hard work. Plus, at least my website doesn't give severe eye strain like Henry's eye sore of a page. It's crappy mind you compared to talented professionals, but not all out tripe at least...
comment by Danny Mackey
30 July, 2006 06:19  
me
Vector art is very useful to me. Not only can it be made to any size without interpolation, it also has other features important to photo manipulation.

Sometimes painting and cloning only go so far, manipulation vectors however, most people don't notice because of the acurate shading and so on.
comment by DHTML Guy
30 July, 2006 07:41  
me
This is very impressive.

Similar effects can be created by using flash and vectorizing Photos
comment by Mehmet Balioglu
30 July, 2006 09:25  
me
This is pure talent.

I am using illustrator too. but I could never get close these drawings.
comment by Heidi-Ann~
30 July, 2006 10:07  
me
Damn...
Looks deep in pocket to see if I could afford to hire you all!
comment by Duste
30 July, 2006 11:31  
me
Damn! Those portraits are extremely photo-realistic!
comment by Seun
30 July, 2006 14:24  
me
I'd like to see the adobe ilustrator file of one of the images to confirm authenticity.
comment by Mar4
30 July, 2006 14:24  
me
Those were simply beautiful.

There is just one question. WHY? If you are only copying a pucture why not use the picture?

Now if that was used for motion pictures or original art, that would be wonderful. It is jaw-dropping that they are all computer generated but do something original.
comment by kev
30 July, 2006 14:30  
me
wow, its kinda of cool but sad at the same time
comment by beck
30 July, 2006 15:50  
me
all I can say is WOW!
comment by Strisi
30 July, 2006 16:02  
me
Digital illustration capabilities have certainly improved since the early days of Genigraphics and Freehand, etc.

As technically impressive as this work is, it does not have the depth, radiance, warmth or transparency of a 17th century Dutch still-life painting, let alone an excellent photograph.

It's good commercial art.
comment by porn
30 July, 2006 16:25  
me
I wonder how long it will be untill the porn industry get a hold of this.
comment by francisbacon
30 July, 2006 18:19  
me
Impressive, but as impressive as a craft can be.

And the question is whether the advantage of having a vector graphic from a photo is worth 100 hours spent at making it.
comment by mari
30 July, 2006 18:36  
me
lovely!
comment by Robert
31 July, 2006 00:31  
me
It's interesting to note the skill/no skill/talent/no talent argument happening here. It certainly isn't limited to the vector art arena - all forms of art are transforming and branching into new areas - new types of creativity are emerging.

Important point: we are all arrangers.

All artists take the elements they were given and work to arrange them in new an interesting ways. The arrangement here is the accurate transformation of pixel data to vector data - it's a very specific style of arrangement, but like all other activities - there is certainly an art to it. No, it's not the same as drawing from memory - it's not supposed to be.

It's up to the perceiver to open themselves up to new ways of appreciating things - when you do, joy is yours!
comment by stock_illustration
31 July, 2006 00:42  
me
absolutely gorgeous and unbelievable...great work!
comment by Mathijs
31 July, 2006 04:07  
me
I don't want to sound to sceptic but i don't think this is possible with soley Illustrator. Are there some pdf's or ai's available as 'proof'?
comment by carl
31 July, 2006 06:24  
me
new technology creates artistic freedom wich is only limited by the vision and imagination of the artist


it's just fucking amazing. keep up the good work guys
comment by Chef_dude548
31 July, 2006 08:40  
me
This is some of the most amazing things I have ever seen! Serious props to you all!
comment by timbuktoo
31 July, 2006 11:59  
me
I'm wondering why some people consider this stuff art...and other people consider this a "mere" craft. What makes "art" superior to "craft" anyways? Doesn't it depend on the context of how the images are used?
comment by Jagan Mohan
31 July, 2006 18:04  
me
Can we get a tutorial from these incredible artists on how to managed these masterpieces please??!!
comment by Muhammad Ali
31 July, 2006 18:53  
me
I can't believe that these pics are self made and not real. I can't believe it at all.

And if it is true that these pics are made by some artists, then i must say AWESOME! Extremely well created things.
comment by haf
31 July, 2006 19:24  
me
Why won't they post the illustrator native files?
comment by v.dog
31 July, 2006 19:31  
me
To those that think it's not art:
There is an expression of art called photo-realism (check out keesbruin for example). Now what's the difference between a paintbrush and a tablet?

For millenia artists have strived to reproduce what they see, from cave paintings to the Mona Lisa. How can a more acurate portrayal be considered less of a work of art?

And to those who say it's just a question of time, I suggest you try it. It takes a rock-steady hand, an incredible eye for detail, and massive amounts of concentration, skills that take years to master, just like with any other artform.

Sometimes there's no advantage to it. Somethings are a labour of love, the pleasure of creating something by your own hand is a joy that you are hard pressed to find anywhere else. Creating art for the sake of art is part of what makes us human.
comment by Goofy
31 July, 2006 22:12  
me
They are professionals and real masters of vector graphic.

But their art is not useful at all!!! That's the main thing: to be useful for someone or something!
comment by Kazz
01 August, 2006 00:40  
me
To Goofy: Not useful?

First of all, yes, I'd say photorealistic art is entirely useful. Imagine a videogame with these backgrounds and characters.

And secondly, art doesn't even HAVE to be useful. Saying that's the "main thing" is to miss the point.
comment by Guinhill