3D modeling or 3D CGI Illustration has become somewhat sophisticated in recent years, but still often plagued from an unnaturalness and artificiality except in the hands of South Korean Soa Lee and a few other adept 3D artists. Soa’s lustrous career started from being a traditional cell animator, to being one of the most highly-prized 3D artist of our time. It isn’t hard to figure out why. Her female characters and fantasy-themed images appear fluid, dreamy, sublime, picturesque and have a naturalism, or a “classical painting” quality that isn’t often present in 3D renderings. Soa’s finessed command of rendering and knowledge of compositional techniques reflect her drawing skills (she starts each piece with pencil sketches) and principles learned from traditional western fine art painting. They also have a remarkable sense of detail, color, texture, lighting and motion...

No, these are not photos, but actual paintings by the great Iman Maleki! Maleki was born in Teheran, Iran in 1976 and was always fascinated with the magic of painting. He was only 15 when he started to study with the greatest realist painter in Iran, Morteza Katouzian. Since then he has had many successful showings of his paintings. His most important exhibitions so far include the “Exhibition of Realist painters of Iran” in the Contemporary Museum of Art in Teheran (1999), the “Group Exhibition of KARA Studio Painters” in the SABZ galerie (1998) and the SA’AD ABAD Palace (2003). He is now considered to be the best realist painter in the world because of his unbelievable talent and painting technique. Below are the compilation of his most magnificent real paintings...

Like many artists of their generation, English brothers Jake and Dinos Chapman allude to an incredible amount historical reference in their work. This is particularly evident in a series (aptly) named “Hell” (1999–2000), of which portrays an apocalyptic vision of hell on Earth as war, Nazi atrocities, concentration camps, and mass executions with thousands of miniature figures taken apart and put together again. These were arranged in nine glass cases laid out in the shape of a swastika and later destroyed by the artists. Dinos Chapman is reported to have shrugged off the loss, saying, “We will just make it again… It is only art.”