Are WanJin Kim's hand artworks life-like or not and why?
Taking a closer look at what really makes hands look realistic or not.
We’re going to do an artist analysis and have a deeper dive to see whether if WanJin Kim’s hand drawings look realistic or not.
We’ll be looking at a whole bunch of different paintings and drawings to give you an example of why they look more realistic or not so realistic.
"Secret Sunset no. 01" 1507 by Wanjin Kim
"Secret Sunset no. 02" by Wanjin Kim
"Secret Sunset no. 03" by Wanjin Kim
"Linked Hands" by Wanjin Kim
"Joined Hands" by Wanjin Kim
"Hands Touching the Light" by Wanjin Kim
Does WanJin Kim’s hand drawing and paintings look realistic or not?
The answer is it depends on which artwork. Some look more realistic and some do not. And I will explain the reason why. But just in general, his artworks have a more surreal and not as life-like and photorealistic aspect to them.
Oil painting VS. Colored Pencils
Depending on what the hand artworks were created with. Art materials play a big role when it comes to making it more realistic or not. Paint tends to blend a lot easier compared with colored pencils. But that does not mean we can not get a photorealistic and life-like-looking hand drawing with colored pencils. Technique and how we polish and render the drawings or paintings make a big difference as well.
Wanjin Kim’s Oil Paintings
Now let’s take a look at the more realistic-looking ones out of all of his artworks. The oil paintings had a better result in creating a more life-like look to it. And here are the reasons why.
The Values and Lighting. Getting the correct value and color to create the illusion of it looking life-life and photorealistic.
The toned background helps separate the hands from the background creating more contrast and letting us know that they are separate and different textures.
Smoother transition in the values and color. Making it feel like skin.
WanJin Kim’s Colored Pencil Drawings
Now let’s take a look at his colored Pencil drawings. These don’t look as life-like and realistic compared to the oil paintings and here are the main reasons why.
The colors are really high chroma and intense. Making it look very natural to see on the skin. Mostly the use of neon pink colors and also greens, blues, purples, reds, and oranges. This painting shows a great example of a hand that looks very surreal and imaginary.
The toned background is the same tone as the hand. So there isn’t as much of a clear separation between the hand and the background. They tend to blend in together and having no shadow in the background also tells us that it’s not realistic and
Visible hatching and cross-hatching. This will automatically tell us that it’s a drawing, and artwork and not a real-life or photorealistic. The way we render and polish the skin makes a big difference in whether it looks realistic and life-like or not. The skin does have skin texture, but it’s not like how WanJin Kim drew it.
But in the end, It depends on what the artist wants to depict and express by creating their artwork in a certain way. So if your plan is to have a more life-like feel to your drawing and paintings, I would use a different technique and art style than WanJin Kim. But if you like that surreal and magical aspect of it, then you can learn from him.
Also Keep in mind that if it does not look realistic or photorealist, does not mean it’s not 3-dimensional. You can still make the subject 3-dimensional but have it not look life-like and photorealistic.
Mini Exercise for you!
This week, try and see if you can add some of these tips and advice to your hand drawings or any other artwork you’d like to create. If you want a more surreal and imaginary effect like WanJin Kim’s art, you can use the main key things I mentioned to create that effect. If you want a more realistic look to your artwork, keep an eye out for the correct value and color and also how you polish and render your drawing/painting.
Have fun exploring!
You can follow WanJin Kim on Instagram @willeys_art
What did you discover?
I’m curious to see your thoughts on WanJin Kim’s hand drawing and paintings and If you also discovered something new about it, I would love to know! (You can comment and share your thoughts below!)
Thank you for reading my fun little discovery and I hope you also get to learn and share your discoveries too!
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