The photograph of this lady may seem normal, but you may be amazed by the secret behind

At first glance, these portraits may look like they have been captured by a DSLR camera but the truth is, they are actually drawn on computer!

These amazing digital paintings are created by Irakli Nadar, a 28-year-old artist from Georgia.

Just look at the details of the paintings

They could be mistaken as series of photos that are just applied with layers of filters.

Irakli’s impressive techniques have definitely produced perfect results that are both admirable and enviable by many other artists. However, he also has a fair share in criticism as some of his artworks are based on photos that he found on the Internet.

He also admitted to using Photoshop to help him visualise the final result of his paintings.

Once he is satisfied with the composition draft on Photoshop, he begins to start painting on the digital painting software on his computer  

Irakli strongly feels that his way of doing work is the one that helps him to produce these hyper-realistic paintings.

“Why do I bother with editing my photo-reference? It’s simple. I wouldn’t be able to tell whether it’d make for a good painting when I start painting it from scratch,” Irakli said

“Popular opinion — or the loudest one anyway — holds that using photographs in a painting is cheating,” the artist adds.

“Moreover, copying is another thing that this community frowns upon, but you actually learn a great deal from copying. To tell you the truth, it may well be the fastest way to improve as an artist”

Due to his stance, he often gets accused of ‘photobashing’, a process where a photo is applied with a filter to make it look like it has been painted. In other words, he gets criticised for producing unoriginal artworks.

Yet, Irakli said that his artworks are original and to dodge increasing criticisms from others, he begins to upload his video of the painting process from scratch on his social media.

He even sometimes live-streams his painting sessions

This aspiring artist has gained many followers on his social media ever since he begins to upload his videos of painting his artworks.

“At first I got very angry and sad, because I knew true process behind my art. Though haters gave me more motivation to work harder and to achieve my goals. Then I did start to record process videos, I even live-streamed my painting process and it helped a lot, but hate is still there.” Irakli said.

It is understandable why many doubt his talent, these paintings look too surreal!

However, all the hatred and criticism does not bring him down. He said, “All these taught me that the more you succeed, more they try to take you down.”

“The only thing that stops you from achieving your goals is giving up. Movement is life and you should continue to progress no matter what happens,” Irakli further added

According to Irakli, superb stroke and colour techniques can make these portraits look super realistic but what is more important is to have confidence in ourselves.

“Of course, there’s technique, inhuman amounts of practice and maybe even something we don’t know about yet. However, the most important thing is that you now know you can attain it,” he emphasised

Irakli said that there are many techniques for portrait painting. You just have to choose which technique best describes your talent and perspective.

These hyper-realistic digital paintings can be created through a digital painting software and all you need is practice and confidence.

In order to create a visually stunning image, you should always practise and try to produce a better result every time.

After all, success cannot be attained overnight so be consistent and confident!

If you want to have a further look at his artworks, watch the video of him painting one of his portraits here or go to his page on ArtStation!

Photo credits: Facebook | Irakli Nadar