Shakespeare said it best in “The Merchant of Venice”, ‘All that glisters is not gold’. Things are not always what they appear to be. At first glance you could be forgiven for thinking that this piece of hyper realistic art is a photo, but it is actually the superb creation of Mike Dargas.
Dargas’ takes all sorts of people to model for him, with no particular look or style, creating timeless pieces, which play with colours and textures. In the range which this particular piece is from, the models had honey poured on them. The piece really plays with light and texture to bring the feeling of the honey over the woman’s face to the forefront.
There is something strangely elegant about the honey running over this woman’s face, and in this moment, nothing but the sensation she is feeling matters. She looks beautiful, her lips perfect, and even the smallest detail of her is captured in this cut down version of her face. The two minute freckles on the end of her nose, and the small red mark on her cheek adding to the natural beauty.
As the viewer you can easily see and almost feel the texture of the syrupy fluid running over the skin as it splits and rivulets down the sleek cheek bones. The mouth is sensual with the tongue reaching to taste the sweet nectar as it creates its own pattern.
Dargas uses such clever techniques with his painting to fool the eye in to believing that this is a photograph from a distance, displaying mastery of the palette that he uses. Capturing the light which reflects from the honey. The neck of the model being slightly out of focus, which adds to the illusion of the piece.
The paintings are large scale which intensifies the expression on the subjects face, reinforcing what the artist set out to capture.
I am always in awe of artists which present hyper realistic work, as the knowledge of the pallet and how to use the colours to obtain this magical effect is, quite honestly a work of black magic in my opinion. I have watched many of these types of work being created, and the amount of colours and layers which go into making this perfect presentation is on a magnitude that I would not have the patience for.
If you want to find out more about Mike Dargas you can find his website here
Widowcranky 
Leave a Reply