Fine Art: Oh, Have Mercy

5 responses to “Fine Art: Oh, Have Mercy”

1. 

   zambayoshi

   February 1, 2017 at 10:28 am

   Wow, some of those are unbelievably vivid. The Mercy I thought was a cosplay at first.

   1. 

      angorafish

      February 1, 2017 at 7:51 pm

      Looks like Photoshopped real photos to me. Still art, but calling it “illustration” seems a bit misleading.

      1. 

         zombiejesus

         February 2, 2017 at 10:02 am

         Hard to say if it’s hyperrealism or retouched photos. His profile only says “digital artist”which suggests the latter but could mean anything these days.

         1. 

            angorafish

            February 2, 2017 at 8:48 pm

            Yep, he definitely just retouches other people’s photographs.

            Although he at least acknowledges some of the original authors in his links, all his “reference images” appear to be more or less randomly ripped from google, and it’s not hard to imagine that he’s neither sought nor been given permission to use them (he makes no claim to them being used with permission) and, under the circumstances, I’d imagine that he’s going to have trouble claiming any kind of fair use protection.

            All up, looks to me like Kotaku is setting themselves up for a potential DMCA takedown, as a bare minimum.

            See, for example,

            https://www.artstation.com/artwork/n4BBE

            vs

            https://www.facebook.com/aleksandrav.photography/photos/pb.417732038345139.-2207520000.1450968032./417803311671345/?type=3&theater

            While this one is just acknowledged as “Original reference by awesome unknown photographer” which is no copyright defense at all.

            https://www.artstation.com/artwork/EJnBe

            Although it appears that the image is a barely modified version of the apparent original here https://www.artstation.com/artwork/lZD55

2. 

   ashumz

   February 1, 2017 at 11:58 am

   That Kerrigan though <3