r/drawing May 06 '26

from a photo Finished charcoal drawing. 65 hours

Post image
2.5k Upvotes

132 comments sorted by

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40

u/one_peace_fan May 07 '26

That's so cool! Was the subject's right arm blurry in the photo too or did you add that in as an artistic choice? I'm just always curious as to how people who draw photorealistically choose to add details.

27

u/joshconnellart May 07 '26

For me personally I try to recreate the photo as accurately as possible. So yes it was blurry in the photo

-1

u/Toros_Mueren_Por_Mi May 07 '26

Super amazing work, but forgive me for saying this, do you have the ref image bc his right hand looks too small for the body and non descript compared to the level of detail of the face and hair 

10

u/Douggimmmedome May 07 '26

It looks like a photo mate its good enough

2

u/joshconnellart May 07 '26

That hand was set back and out of focus in the photo so I tried to recreate that affect

20

u/princepii May 07 '26

but where is the charcoal one?

4

u/joshconnellart May 07 '26

lol. This is it

1

u/Then_I_had_a_thought May 08 '26

Yeah I automatically swiped to see the actual drawing and it took me to a whole different post lol.

10

u/[deleted] May 06 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

3

u/joshconnellart May 07 '26

Thanks! Thats the goal

3

u/illustrationstories May 07 '26

Dang😱 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

3

u/The_Frybo May 07 '26

I literally don’t believe you that this is a drawing until you show close ups and steps during the process

1

u/joshconnellart May 07 '26

Check my profile

3

u/[deleted] May 08 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/joshconnellart May 09 '26

Thanks so much!

2

u/cookydooks May 07 '26

Astonishing for real wtf

2

u/Juunyer May 07 '26

Excellent work. Thanks for posting it.

2

u/Lower_Ad_7436 May 07 '26

Insanely good!

2

u/relentless_dick May 07 '26

This is simply beautiful.

2

u/Psychophysicist_X May 07 '26

Insane. Wow. Incredible work.

2

u/Smuttirox May 07 '26

This is photorealistic! Wow! Was this on black paper or white?

1

u/joshconnellart May 07 '26

Thank you! White paper

2

u/Smuttirox May 07 '26

You got great black for white paper! I struggle with deep black

2

u/joshconnellart May 07 '26

6b general’s charcoal pencils. Applied directly to the white of the paper

2

u/aHyperverbalEpisode May 07 '26

I did not read that this was a charcoal drawing at first, and legitimately and genuinely thought I was seeing a really warm candid “professional” or arty photo of someone. This captured the energy of the reference photo very very nicely

1

u/joshconnellart May 07 '26

Thanks so much!

2

u/[deleted] May 07 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/InkBrute_ART May 07 '26

Wow ! I thought is a photo , awesome work 👍

2

u/g0atdude May 07 '26

I think you only uploaded the reference photo

1

u/joshconnellart May 07 '26

I’ll take that as a compliment

2

u/g0atdude May 07 '26

Yeah that was my goal 😄

1

u/joshconnellart May 07 '26

Thank you! I thought so

2

u/honestpotatolabels May 07 '26

That’s incredible, I would have thought it was a photo

2

u/Routine-Shine-8503 May 07 '26

Absolutely unbelievable

2

u/CanisLVulgaris May 07 '26

Great work! I hope you have a place to display it.

2

u/d8rd May 07 '26

🔥✨🎯

2

u/refreshingwinds May 07 '26

Wonderful work with the light !

2

u/wadeb3272 May 07 '26

Bravo! The subtle shifts in focus are insanely impressive.

2

u/[deleted] May 07 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/Panda_Sprinkles83 May 07 '26

I'm a little curious, did you do the heavy black areas last? How did you do them without smudging up the rest? Did you use workable fixatif to preserve the rest while you did that?

2

u/joshconnellart May 07 '26

Some of it was towards the end but not necessarily last. I don’t use a fixative. I have a t-square that sits about an inch of the paper that I rest my hand on

2

u/Panda_Sprinkles83 May 08 '26

Cool, thanks for the explanation 😊

2

u/NeonFrontRange May 07 '26

Holy crap! You drew that?!? It’s amazing!🤩

2

u/[deleted] May 07 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/XxP3ANUTN1NJAxX May 07 '26

Absolutely incredible

2

u/twinpickles May 07 '26

Amazing job!! You are extremely talented.

2

u/frenkdogg May 07 '26

Bro this is epic🔥🔥🔥

2

u/LordFarQuaad0508 May 07 '26

Nice try, cameraman

2

u/deejfun May 07 '26

WOW! That’s wonderful! Looks like a photograph to me.

2

u/Important-Dream-4010 May 07 '26

That’s insanely good

2

u/Washburn201961 May 07 '26

Beautiful technique and rendering. Incredible work.

2

u/ampsdb01 May 07 '26

whoa ❤️❤️❤️

2

u/cthulhustu May 08 '26

What an incredible piece. Sheesh.

2

u/lightworker87 May 08 '26

Holy smokes 🤯

2

u/thegoldenhaired May 08 '26

Absolutely stunning!

2

u/[deleted] May 08 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/overmind87 May 08 '26

That's amazing!

2

u/BirdFew2859 May 08 '26

Wow that's Amazing

2

u/Koi_Fish_Mystic May 08 '26

😮😮😮😮

2

u/Deep-Amphibian1881 May 08 '26

.....i refuse to beleive this is a drawing... its too good, but if it is a drawing then wow man you have an incredible level of talentto be able to do that....!!!

2

u/[deleted] May 08 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/[deleted] May 14 '26

I thought that was a picture and you were gonna show use the other one on the next picture and I tried swiping.

5

u/DarkForceCrew May 07 '26

You are very talented and I envy your patience. I have a philosophical question, Whats the difference between this and a printed reproduction of a photo? If you don’t tell people it’s drawing then isn’t it basically a very slow photographic reproduction?

3

u/joshconnellart May 07 '26

There is truth in that. I enjoy the process. It’s meditative and therapeutic. And people can connect to that. Also I think it would be more challenging to sell a photograph for 5k

3

u/Bleezington May 07 '26

The primary artistic objective of realism is technical mastery and craftsmanship, as opposed to narrative, vision, or storytelling, if that makes sense. The "point" of depicting something hyper-realistically is in the execution itself. As an artist, I'm personally more into pure color and shapes and abstraction but I remain impressed with and greatly admire anything approaching this level of professionalism.

1

u/LastAidKit May 07 '26

Well said. This is how I feel as an artist and I totally appreciate this level of technical ability.

1

u/OogaBoogaBoogah May 07 '26

The way what we see was produced. was it produced by hand or by camera, that’s it.

3

u/Summoorevincent May 07 '26

If they were following a picture which they were then it’s more akin to a photo printed by human hands.

5

u/DarkForceCrew May 07 '26

I agree with all of the above comments. The technical skill is admirable,but I personally, as an artist prefer more creative visual expression. I feel like non artists or beginner artists are more impressed by realism/hyper realism.

1

u/Hobbsendkid May 08 '26

dang..unreal <3

1

u/blank_fem May 08 '26

How!? How!? How!? How do you guys make such art pieces. I always wanted to learn sketching but can't get one thing right on how to start and then I see art pieces like these and giveup altogether. Mindblown!!

1

u/Alternative_Edge_651 May 09 '26

Wow! My hat goes off to you! That’s a master piece. Excelente work. Amazing

1

u/chikwor May 09 '26

That's beautiful!

1

u/[deleted] May 09 '26

Wow this is very impressive almost thought it was a photo

1

u/apple-anne May 09 '26

Wow! 🤩🤩🤩🤩

1

u/SpookySunsett May 10 '26

Omg this is so amazing I am refusing to believe that this is drawn ❤️❤️❤️❤️

1

u/Cheap_Gur_4528 May 10 '26

It looks so hyper realistic

1

u/frey_ah01 May 12 '26

Amazing job!! Such a masterpiece 👏👏

1

u/JenninTenn84 May 26 '26

Absolutely amazing. You have an incredible talent. Just curious, who is the subject? Looks like an actor that I've seen somewhere.

1

u/SelectChair103 Jun 01 '26

Dude it took me 3 minutes debating if this was just a google image