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A Few Realistic Paint Examples

To see more and discover the full range of casts we do in every material visit the Examples page.

Realistic Paint Finishes

Our plain white resin casts may have a realistic paint finish applied to create disturbingly lifelike sculptures. The type of paint used will depend on the desired effect and the intended location of the piece. For instance outdoor or marine environment pieces will need different treatments from indoor ones.

The finishes we create are not the high detail realism of waxworks or movie special effects. Although we could do this, the price of these treatments would put them out of the range of most individuals and we prefer a more artsy than hyperreal effect. Our realistic paint finishes are all charged individually but due to the time and skill required they do substantially increase the price of the casts.

History

The painting of figurative sculptures has a long history. Artists have long sought to create realistic depictions of their subjects. The combination of sculpture and painting was hence inevitable. We’re familiar for instance with the exquisite painting and inlay on ancient Egyptian artefacts as they have generally survived with their paint intact. What is less widely known is how brightly painted the ancient Roman and Greek marbles and bronzes were. What are familiar to us as plain marble statues were originally painted, although few have survived to tell the tale. They look very unfamiliar now when reproduced in their original colour schemes as is now popular in museum collections.

This historical painting was generally an attempt at realism although they look more like toy soldiers or mannequins than highly realistic works of contemporary masters like Duane Hanson, John de Andrea and more recently The Chapman BrothersRon Mueck. They have influenced and been influenced by the work of movie SFX technicians who create highly realistic wounds, corpses, body parts and creatures using these same methods.