Portraits of perfection: No, they're not photos, but pencil drawings by a young genius...

K & R

Incredible!

I would have bet serious money that any of those were photographs.......

It makes me so happy to see he is on his way to a bright new life. Inspiring!

Julie--who cannot draw anything more complex than a stick figure

They make one a remarkably talented, skilled draftsman.

Sorry, but a Genius breaks forms, invents the new. Photo realism is 50+ years old. "Genius" is overused.

But that word...

Beethoven was a Genius. Picasso. Davinci. Coltrane. Hendrix.

I've known a lot of people talented at the craft, but few that can transcend the mechanical act.

I'm blown away by the work but I wouldn't call it genius either.
On Edit---I shouldnt have commented without reading first......it doesn't seem that he's autistic. I need to see the video and read the article in depth to get a better understanding.

Anyway. ..here's the rest of my original post, which is still interesting. IMO


There's a woman with severe autism who paints real works of autustic genius. Combines obsessive detail with fantasy colors and idiosyncratic symbolism to create strange and breathtaking dreamworlds.
Her mother wrote two incredibly eloquent, insightful and powerful books about her and about the experience of raising her.

The second book is called "Exiting Nirvana" and contains prints of some of her work. Amazing.
You can google the book and learn more.

.... I can't remember the name of the first book. Haven't read the first one yet but I've read the second ones about three times so far. I think I've had it about ten years now.

The drawings are simply amazing! No matter how long you stare at them, your mind has trouble believing they are anything but a photograph!

PS...no it is not just coping!

Great find!
Thank you!

I believe he is using a technique called pencil printing. The tip off is, he needs to work from a photograph.

He puts a negative in an enlarger, and projects it on a blank sheet of paper. Then, using a pencil, he fills in the paper until it all looks like the same tone. And it's finished. The lightest parts of the negative get the most density.

When you turn on the lights, you have a photographic print, except done with a pencil.

I have done a few of these and even when I explain how it's done, people think I'm a great artist. I can't draw.

Notice that you never see the guy doing the work.

--imm

gen·ius
/ˈjēnyəs/
Noun

1. Exceptional intellectual or creative power or other natural ability.
2. A person who is exceptionally intelligent or creative, either generally or in some particular respect: "musical genius".

Yeah, he is, by definition, a genius. Jesus Christ what does one have to do to impress some folks here?

Methinks there may be some frustrated "artists" in this thread.

Look, "Genius" is the difference between invention, creativity, and skill. The difference between Joe Satriani (virtuostic technical skill) and Jimi Hendrix (new techniques, new expression, soul). Sure, the blizzard of notes that Satriani plays is impressive, but that doesn't mean he's a Genius. He's a Virtuoso.

You want to use the word "Genius" so broadly, go ahead. I want there to be some differentiation. Virtuoso, Savant, these aren't bad words, and they're more accurate here. At least to this "Frustrated Artist Who Is Just Jealous".