Some intriguing pieces of art can fool the eye. No doubt you have glimpsed such works on deviantART before – you believe you’re about to view a photograph when you click the thumbnail, but upon finally viewing the image in full, you realise that you’re looking at a piece that demonstrates a mastery of texture and lighting and most definitely hasn’t been captured with a camera, but rather with the artist’s brush, pencil, graphics tablet or mouse – and their skill. This is a feature for those of you learning and experienced artists alike, who strive to achieve accurate and believable studies of landscape, objects, animals, people and the rest of the world around us.

The first volume of ‘That’s NOT a photo?!’ was received very well indeed and thus I’d like to expand on things a little in this second article – now I would like to provide a short commentary to accompany and flatter each individual piece (please excuse the subsequent vertical length of the article!).

Traditional Art – Pencil or Charcoal Drawings
To create a realistic drawing, an artist requires knowledge of how to translate colour into tonal values, and then represent these values complete with textures on the paper:
~steviewonder99’s “Geese in Flight” is an impressive display of lighting – the forms of the birds are accurately shaped by the heavy shadows on their underbellies and the strong highlights caused by the sun above them.
The glass and spoon impressed me in particular in ~einai’s “Egg, Glass and Spoon”. Shading the effects of light refraction in water can be a challenge but this example is a very admirable effort indeed.
It was hard to pick one of *dizzykid’s drawings to feature (do admire the whole gallery!) but eventually I settled on “Smitty Drawing” as it represents this artist’s incredible ability to recreate realistic skin texture and facial expression (and personality!)
Admire the convincing, shining texture ~SWL has rendered in “Gibson L5 Wes Montgomery” – the reflections are beautiful!
Believable snow can be an awkward subject to draw and ~stupratt manages it beautifully. Coupled with the heavy, dark tones of the tree and cabin, “Reclusion” becomes a believable scene.

Traditional Art – Paint and Pastels
Painting accurately requires an eye for colour and a confident hand at the reins of a rather unpredictable medium:
Look at that gaping maw! ~Serpantqueen has captured a dauntingly realistic “Roar”. Take a look at the fine strands of fur on the chin and cheeks of the tiger.
When *Denis-Peterson was suggested to me, I needed a crane to pick my jaw back up from the floor. Not only are his paintings stunningly realistic in a technical sense, but they illustrate poignant, real-world situations. I strongly encourage you to browse his gallery. You won’t be disappointed.
A deceptively simple study - ~hardcore-pixee has paid a lot of attention to even the delicate pattern in the tiniest of the two shells in “Shells2”.
Even in ‘full view’, you’d be forgiven for thinking that *Simzzzz has put “Confession” into the wrong gallery and that it ought to be in Photographs. Hands are frequently described as one of the most difficult subjects to paint but this artist makes it look easy throughout his gallery!
A delicately managed pastel piece, *Jumprabbit’s “Emma Pastel 2” displays careful consideration to skin tone and texture.

Digital Art – Painting and Airbrushing
A realistic digital painting requires patience for details, and such artists work hard to recreate natural and real textures with ‘virtual’ brushes:
Although against a simple background, ~TheNass’s “Inspiration” exhibits spectacular harsh lighting on the arms and the clothing.
*Onionpie’s softly-shaded “Rhesus” is a good example of excellent lighting. There isn’t a shadow forgotten, from the one cast over the monkey’s eye to those over the branches.
No doubt most of you artists have seen *eskarinacircus’s “Lya” before, but this time have another look and admire the careful detailing of the folding-fan, the flower hair-piece, the mirror-frame and the wallpaper.
A closer look at ~ruiagneloup’s “Fresh Air” reveals a rougher style of painting, but attractive lighting makes this scene seem real, as well as emotive.
Well, this sure convinced me! I live under a rock as far as musicians are concerned so I don’t recognise the subject of “Anthony” but that didn’t stop me from being stunned by *claudiasutton’s skill in creating skin, hair and cloth (and sweat and stubble!).

This concludes this volume - I hope you have enjoyed looking at the featured pieces. I am very sorry for not including Vector art this time round; I simply haven't managed to find an appropriate selection - but whenever I find said selections in the future I assure you Vector pieces will be included in a future article. The same applies to any other categories for which I find suitable pieces. I would be interested in including 3D pieces in a future article too (either traditional or digital sculpting) so if you know of any artists who pay great attention to texture in 3D pieces and can accurately render believable objects, and you'd like to see them here, please suggest them - suggestions of any pieces at all, in fact, are appreciated. Keep on painting, drawing and all that, folks.