Fauxsiacs

As we’ve mentioned before, we occasionally have a lapse of design envy. It doesn’t happen too often… after all, we are a pretty terrifically creative bunch here at Barbour. But sometimes we encounter work that is just so damn brilliant. So good, in a “why didn’t we think of that?” sort of way, that we…

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Matthew Cornell Redefines Realism

When we stumbled upon the work of Florida-based painter Matthew Cornell, we were really taken with his uncanny ability to paint water so realistically. But as we delved deeper into Cornell’s body of work, particularly his series entitled Pilgrimage, we realized there was much more to this talented artist. Sure, he has tremendous skill for…

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Fantastic Fleeting Artwork

We’ve seem many artistic mediums, but never something quite like this. Some of the most recent works by artist Dino Tomic (aka AtomiccircuS) resemble chalk, but its actually… wait for it… ordinary table salt. Based in Norway, by way of Croatia, Tomic painstakingly arranges salt granules in such away that he achieves stunning variations of…

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These Are Not Photos: Incredibly Realistic Paintings by Joel Rea

Hyper-realistic drawing and painting is an incredible skill that really gives us pause. Especially in the age of high resolution cameras on just about everyone’s phone, and the proliferation of Photoshop-aided art. We sort of take realistic and surrealistic views for granted, but when we look at super-realistic art done by hand, like the work…

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Palm Portraits That Will Blow Your Mind

California-based artist and teacher Russell Powell gives new meaning to the term “hand painted.” Inspiring his young students and tens of thousands of Instagram followers, Powell has mastered the art of hand stamping, which is way more difficult than it sounds. We’re not talking elementary finger painting… Powell operates on a much higher artistic level.…

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The Brilliantly Broken Compositions of James Bullough

Traditional painterly techniques combined with a modern graphic sensibility makes for some very compelling work. American-born, Berlin-based artist James Bullough’s body of work is the perfect example of this striking juxtaposition. Bullough has a penchant for realism, but also employs a masterful geometric style that sort of fractures his compositions. And his sense of composition…

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Phenomenal Freehand Work of Andrew Wilson

We’ve all enjoyed colored pencils at one time or another, but few pull off the depth and richness when utilizing these basic tools as Ontario-based illustrator/tattoo artist Andrew Wilson. Wilson’s creations are not simply sketches, but carefully crafted works of art that would make a digital illustrator envious. We love that Wilson creates these pieces…

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Real Life Disney Royalty

Disney characters are often the subject of artwork in this particularly pop culture-centric moment in time (here and here and here), so it’s no surprise that someone has envisioned what Disney royalty might look like in “real life”. And that someone is Melbourne, Australia-based Finnish designer/illustrator/art director/photo manipulator Jirka Vinse Jonatan Väätäinen. The rise of…

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Ivan Hoo’s Hyper-realistic Drawings

Whatever you prefer to call it – hyper-realistic, super-realistic, photo-realistic – what’s real is the remarkable level of skill involved. We’re so taken with this type of art, we’ve featured it several times before (here and here and here and here). This time, it’s the work of Singapore-based artist Ivan Hoo. What makes his work…

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