With so many superhero movies coming out recently, many have forgotten about comic books. Fortunately, a Canadian artist intends to bring them to public attention again, in a very unique manner.
Canadian artist Jason de Graaf, who could pass as a Dutch any day of the week with such a name, is the creator of some hyperrealistic paintings of toys. After a first glance at the following photos, one would most probably say that a few action figures were photographed on top of some comic books. In fact, the action figures and other objects are painted so realistically that they create the impression of multidimensionality. The first image includes Lucky Luke, the hero of a Belgian comic book. According to the artist, these paintings were made using acrylic colors. This explains why everything looks so vivid!
Since Asterix was brought to life by a French, I’m rather sure that the comic books are more popular in Europe than in the U.S. (or the rest of the world, for that matter). While I haven’t put my hands on the Asterix comics, I’ve watched cartoons, as well as a few films featuring the newly Russified Gerard Depardieu in the role of Obelix, the wacky Gaul’s companion.
After Lucky Luke and Asterix, the Canadian painter presents us some incredibly realistic marbles sitting on various surfaces. I’m quite fond of these objects, as I had many of these in my childhood. If I remember correctly, they were part of a Chinese checkers game. The problems is… I lost all my marbles!
Jason de Graaf stated: “My paintings are about staging an alternate reality, an illusion of verisimilitude on the painted surface. I try to use objects as a vehicle to express myself, tell a story or least hint at something beyond what is actually painted. Therefore I try to choose objects that have meaning to me or are artifacts from my life.”
Judging by his statement, it is clear that de Graaf grew up reading French and Belgian comic books that were popular in (I assume) the French-speaking part of Canada.
This Canadian artist proved that creative people can easily trick the brains of the others. The ones who are curious about his other works of art should check out Jason de Graaf‘s website.
If you liked this post, please check this cool 3D anime toy figure and 123D Catch, the iPad app that turns images into 3D objects.
