Hariprasad Sukumaran’s startling lifelike artworks can deceive one’s eyes to mistake them for photographs. The assistant professor hailing from Nilambur is proficient in creating hyperrealistic landscapes and breathtakingly detailed portraits. Hariprasad etches every wisp of hair, all the minuscule details and different textures of skin onto his canvas, using all kinds of medium, including oil, acrylic, watercolour and graphite. Recently, he has been using charcoal and it has easily become one of his favourites.
Hariprasad started drawing in his childhood at the age of five. From a young age, he has been interested in realistic artworks, especially portraits. During earlier days he never knew that a world of hyperrealism existed and it had umpteen possibilities. It all began with one of his paintings titled ‘Beauty’. He dedicated time and effort to recreate a high definition photograph of an African woman captured by an African photographer. “I believe the acrylic painting ‘Beauty’ to be one of my first hyperrealistic works.
However, I didn’t start painting with that aim, it came naturally with the effort I put in. When I posted it in several art groups on social media, people claimed the artwork to be fake, and that I shared the original photograph itself. Some even said it is impossible to create a hyperrealistic image using acrylic. That was when I found out that there is something beyond realistic,” says Hariprasad, who teaches Genetics and plant breeding in Vellore.
Hariprasad then decided to do more hyperrealistic artworks, by sourcing high definition photographs that inspire him. Though it’s been five years since he started painting hyperrealistic art, even now people question his skills and tag his works to be photoshopped. “As an artist, I consider these comments to be my achievement,” quips Hariprasad.
Making it hyperrealistic
Hariprasad’s portraits of animals and humans will leave everyone in awe. The artist claims that apart from incorporating the minuscule detailings, an artwork should also have the light and shadow effect. “When light and shadow are played well in the painting, they can give one the illusion of hyperrealism,” adds the young painter.
His greatest flex, is undoubtedly, his replication of the reflection that is seen through a person’s eyes. Since he gives more importance to the emotion of the portrait, eyes are shrewdly observed. Some of his artworks even detail the reflection of a building! “Every image has an emotion of its own, and it often gets reflected in a person’s eyes. So eyes are given more importance and it’ll be highly detailed,” he says.
Crossing borders
The 28-year-old’s original realistic artwork, ‘Nostalgia’, a live painting of his cousin, got selected to auction at Poland Art Exhibition (Student Artworks Foundation, Poland). Since the painting couldn’t reach on time, the representatives showcased a video presentation instead. Later the artwork was bought by a UK resident. Hariprasad also take classes online in hyperrealism at Hariarts Academy. The artist is planning to create charcoal artworks on a larger canvas and exhibit them. “I believe charcoal is one of the best mediums that fit hyperrealism, and a bigger sized canvas can enable one to do detailings more precisely,” he says.
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