you rock.

these are awesome.

speaking as someone who has tried for my drawing life to do glass and water. ..

very very cool. . .where is my pencil?

!extraordinario! es increible que alguien pueda dibujar de esta forma.

Linda Huber, una maestra en el dibujo con carboncillo…

Impresionante galeria de Linda Huber, una artista que sólo necesita un lapiz para crear unas obras que parecen fotografías…

NICE COLLECTION

excelent, very nice

HO-LEE CRAP! These are amazing!

It’s a stretch to call this women a “master”.

Look up Chuck Close. He did the same thing, but on 10 foot tall canvases.

Absolutely beautiful

it’s lovely that she has learned photo-realistic skills with pencil, but these are all copied from photographs and feel lifeless. i’d love to see her apply this technique to drawing from life instead of magazines.

it surely would be good, but i think she needs too much time to perform each one of that paintings

Very very good, really, congratulations for the reality you reach

Espectacular. La del agua está realmente impresionante.

ARgghghgh!!! how do you do it?!!?
Amazing!

Thank you for this feature, I appreciate it very much and thank you for all the kind comments too! Oh and I should mention that I started out drawing from life, I still can draw most anything I see but I do prefer to draw from photos for various reasons. Many of the above drawings were commissions, others were drawn for fun and some for much needed practice because an artist never stops growing. :)

Take care and thank you once again. ~Linda

just like relm from ff3(us)

great works!! really amazing!!!! I’m very very impressed. I love the detail…

Beautiful Drawings.

[...] Si hay talento, que se note. Y así es en el caso de Linda Huber, algunas de cuyas aptitudes “fotográficas” con lápiz y papel pueden apreciarse en http://www.here2see.com/the-master-of-graphite-pencil-linda-huber/ [...]

Maravilloso

MaryLeeWalsh:

what has the size of the canvas to do with being masterful? What an ignorant comment.

Absolutely awesome. She’s a master of pencil indeed

fantastic. i aspire to this level of art.

Fantastics! enhorabona i no paris de treballar

Amazing artist!she is a class apart.Excellent collection of drawings.

damn good

Great!!!! the graphite have her master . :)

I am SpellBound..Paintings are amazing

These are amazing and I love to draw in my spare time but never have I been able to do anything like this. I love your work and dont care if its from a picture or not its still amazing. I would love to have one of your drawings or have you draw one for me. Keep up the awesome job.

Increible, excelente, buenisima !

Absolute amazing. Her ability to acquire the subtle shading of the subject and then transfer it to paper is incredible.

They should CAT scan her while she’s drawing to see what lights up.

How authentic are these drawings to the artist ?. Is this merely an act of being able to copy well ?. Is this how good art is measured by the general public ? .

Maravilloso, gracias por traer belleza al mundo!

Like the art! Very nice work!

They’re good, very accurate, but photo realism is not a new thing. Any half decent artist could do this if they had the time.

Very original drawings. Thanks.

I love how she draws the water… it is so hard to be that rigorous. The fourth drawing is Lilu from the 5th element… i love it :D

i felt like i was looking through a black and white photo gallery…

Very impressive, for those of you that question whether this is art; one person’s art can be another person’s idea of obscenity. Appreciate the natural talent for what it is, her chosen method and subject matter are up to her.

Right on Kay!

And for those of you filled with negativity, let’s see you do better. These are beautiful whether YOU like them or not.

At least, I didn’t see the usual “Photoshopped!” comment. Thanks for that.

Wow - incredible!

Stunning work … what an eye for detail! I’d like to see any of the people who’ve had one negative thing to say about these images to do anything half as good…

Cheesy… These are just photos placed on a projector and basically traced.

they look like photographs
incredible

Gorgeous! I love your skills! ::sip:: <3 MB

Fantastic work; this level of skill should be showing in New York galleries.

i just wanna say to all the negative comments: youre all a bunch of jealous idiots! i have bee drawing since i was 2yrs. old in fact in my line of work im required to sometimes duplicate images using a stencil, its not easy and even if she used a projector its still very time consuming and requires a lot of patience. if you feel you have the right or obligation to critic her work lets see you do better! i am personally inspired by this womans work. as far as Chuck Close and his 10 foot canvas also in my line of work we say bigger is better because bigger is easier! the last thing id like to mention is the fact that drawing from an image(or still-life) is the hardest thing to do! like the old chinese proverb: its easier to draw a dragon than it is to draw a dog, because no-one has ever seen a dragon so if you screw it up whos gonna know? a dog on the other hand everyone has seen so if you make a mistake everyone will see it!

lindas work is inspirational if you dont have anything nice to say about it get off your computer and get your happy ass to work at mcdonalds before you get written up again for being late! we artist are getting paid to do what we love! not flippin patties at a dead end job

I have checked back here a couple of times (btw my site tracker lead me here in the first place)….I know not everyone is going to like what and how I draw and that’s fine. I do thank those that left sweet comments!

In response to the others: I could never trace what is seen in my drawings and I don’t think anyone else could either. I do however use a grid for the outline and then work from the references to draw all the details. I will say drawing in this style is something I personally LOVE. Since I am a commissioned artist I draw what the client wants and guess what, they want realism :), they want a portrait that looks just like their loved one and this is why they contact me.

On my site I have a few (not great) videos showing how I draw, the last drawing (on the Drawing board page) was done just by looking at the image on the computer screen because I was out of ink and could not print the reference out.

Oh and I believe most artists can draw as I do, it just takes patience and lots of practice. I spend more time giving helpful critics to other artist then drawing and have seen 100’s improve over the years.

Take care and Merrry Christmas! ~Linda
http://midtel.net/~imaginee

[...] del Arte de Linda aqui Compartelo por: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover [...]

CHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESY!

Very nice.

The negative comments really have little to no merit.

To all the idiots who just dismiss ‘negative comments’ as innately stupid and worthless, constructive criticism and advice is often more valuable to an artist as a shower of compliments.

These drawings show beautiful pencil rendering skills ..but personally i find there is something about the drawings as a whole that seems quite kitsch.

fidgety_sam, you just sound like an idiot, “Right on Kay!
And for those of you filled with negativity, let’s see you do better. These are beautiful whether YOU like them or not.”

For those of us ‘filled with negativity’, I ask you what is the point of displaying art and dismissing all criticisms. If you’re going to act like that you may as well give up as an artist, if one is stubborn enough to not take advice, then one deserves to be stuck in the artistic rut the rest of his life. And I can’t even go into the levels of stupidity in the sentence ‘these are beautiful whether YOU like them or not’. I dare you to work it out for yourself.

Wow!!!
Amazing!
That blur effect in the last one looks like photoshop at the tip of the branch!!!

I never thought this level of absolute realism would be possible!!!

My word. You simply amaze me. Even if these are photoshopped, you did a damn good job, not that i think they are. High five for you. If i had any artistic ability what-so-ever, i would defiantly spend the next week trying to do this lol.

as the people from India say, “Holy Cow” these are amazing

You’re brilliant!

@Daniel, who posted on December 19th…
The negative comments aren’t constructive criticism, genius.
Constructive criticism is, when describing something artistic like this, explaining what doesn’t look good about the art, so the person can try and fix it when they try something similar later.
Someone saying “ZOMG, THAT’S CHEESY/PHOTOSHOPPED!” is NOT constructive, it’s simply being an idiot because you can’t make art like this person, and you find it difficult to wrap your mind around someone being able to create art this realistic.
I personally love this work, and think it looks amazing.
I agree with Jesse (Dec 18th), I’ve taken a few drawing classes, and it is WAY easier to draw the bigger the canvas is.
Kudos to you, Linda, you’re awesome at what you do.

†

I dunno… you guys have to learn to take critisism…. its one of the most valuable tools to an artist.

You shouldn’t be bashing people just because they’re critiquing her

me he quedado sin palabras, esto si que es ser un artista. dios mio, que belleza….

I have found through the years that people who question anothers artistic ability do so out of envy. Sure this lady is doing work that a photocopier could make a copy of, but the art is in the control of the tool, the mastery of the pencil. I would assume this same group of people also consider photoshoped pictures “art”.

[...] LINDA HUBER , espero que veais estos dibujos con grafito, ya me direis qué os parecen, venga intentarlo vosotros… [...]

Truly amazing pencil work. The images are diverse, then as a commissioned artist I guess they would be.
When you do your own work, no commission, is there anything that you favour as a subject?

Verdaderamente espectacular, tanto la calidad como la expresión conseguida, creo que incluso mejor que el natural. Felicidades eres la mejor sin duda.

Simply SPECTACULAR!!!

impresionante, al principio creía que eran fotos pero despues caí en lo cierto, están hechos de carboncillo

I think these are fantastic, such attention to detail.

amazing……..you’re such a talent!!! OMG!

looks photoshoopped

=P

Definatly Photoshopped.

Wonderful work simply wonderful…perfecto

Los he visto mejores pero promete … jajaja es boma ¡¡FANTASTICO!!

Los dibujos que más me han gustado: los niños, el collie, el caballo y el Ford Mustang.

ESTOS DIBUJOS SON DE UNA BELLEZA ESPECTACULAR. COMO SE PUEDE CONSEGUIR ESE BRILLO EN LOS OJOS PINTANDO A CARBONCILLO? ES ARTE SIN DUDA.GRACIAS POR DELEITARNOS CON ESTA BELLEZA.

Really amazing technique. The eye treatment on the kids is a bit scary though, don’t you think?

Hay algunos que no parecen que se an una pintura sino fotografias como la de la copa.

Soooo sureal and life like, just reach out and touch them.
Put in a very classy showing at a Museum.

Technically? Wonderful. Clearly took a lot of work to get to this point. Obviously, there’s been a lot of sweat and blood poured into the detail.

Artistically? Nothing there. Most of these are photo-referenced. All the soul, composition, and other artistry of the images are someone else’s creation. Linda Huber made all of these pictures, but there is no Linda Huber in any of these pictures. Unless, of course, she took the picture, but all the celebrities and Sears-style portraits indicate otherwise.

The second picture proves it most clearly. As a photographer and illustrator, I can tell you that the photo she took this from was poorly lit. She didn’t even make the easy artistic decision to change the lighting to make it better suited to graphite. Where’s the heart? Where’s the soul of the picture? It’s lost in the detail.

The point being that if these pictures evoked feeling in you, it’s not really her doing. It’s whoever took the picture, composed it, lit it, spent hours thinking about the meaning of the technique rather than the technique itself.

If she likes what she does, then I’m not one to stop her. But don’t think she’s an artistic genius. She’s skilled, clearly; but in terms of the art of it she’s missing the forest for the trees.

If I come across as angry, it’s because I feel like that if she has such obvious skill, then what a waste to spend it on such superficial pieces!

If you draw with the eyes you are a technician.
If you draw with your eyes and heart you are a craftsman
If you draw with your eyes, heart and soul you are an artist.

There is nothing wrong with being a technician or craftsman, but they are not artists.

I just wanted to say that these are beautiful - as someone who draws photo realistic graphite drawings, I aspire to this level of talent. For all you out there saying that these were traced… just because the ability to draw like this isn’t common doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Like the artist said, attention to detail and patience do make a huge difference in the quality of the finished work. Pretentious, petty jealousy isn’t going to get you anywhere

A one in a billion type of talent, truly photo-realistic.

Bravo

Bradley, *lol*
That second photo was taken by me with a friends cheap camera, I drew the photo and gave it to my friend because she is a big fan of the singer. Two of the dog photos are mine(collie and older dog)…. The little boy holding the book is my son 21 years ago and once again the photo was taken by me. Eleven of the above drawings were commissions (photos belong to the client), the rest were drawn for fun, a gift or as practice (many were practice). Oh and besides the Liv, Jen and Monroe all of the photos I used were free stock or I have full permission to use them.

’shopped.

As Bradley points out, these are technically beautiful, but artistically challenged. I would know; I have the same problem. I used to be a “photocopier” of sorts with images, but I got so incredibly bored with it. I yearned to be more of an artist. I may have gotten excellent with technique, but I never learned how to incorporate creativity into my graphite drawings, and I therefore never considered my work “art.” It was more a hobby, something to keep my hands busy, leaving my mind to wander.

It appears as thought it is the same with these pieces. If the artist enjoys her work, that’s fantastic. I’m simply sharing my humble experiences with perfecting technique and not incorporating the creative aspects. There are many, many people who can draw like this. What makes an individual artist extraordinary is how they use their talent to show the world their own vision.

Sorry for my English - it is school-knowledge only.
I read all what has been said so far here.

To leave a comment as a painter (watercolor), I really know, how difficult it is to draw or to paint the reality.
In my opinion it is often more difficult than to paint or draw in expressive or impressive style, because there you can often forget the difficulty of placing shortened proportions, the right placing of shadows, the micro-fine lines which we can discover within these nice pictures.

What is tried here from some people is - to let us know, what art is.
But this not been found out since centuries you guys!
Nobody will ever explain and define art - therefore it will be good enough that the majority here is satisfied with what is shown.
In some statements is said that there is a
“missing soul” or - that “this is not Linda”.
Of course she is it.
Because she D I D it - but what did you?

I can not give you a definition of what is art - because I heard one billion explanations.
In my opinion (and only mine) it is something what is done, which is not replicable in the exact way by another one.
Therefore everything is art - quite equal whether a child has painted or drawn a tree or Caspar David Friedrich (my favourite painter) has done it.
Everything is art - and that makes art so wonderful - and it helps nothing to think to deep about the clearest definition.
Enjoy what you see or not, but do not try to be a teacher who knows it better than others - because nobody knows it.

Carry on with what you can and enjoy dear Linda - for me you are a great artist!

BTW
You can reach me via igel2003@gmx.de

Es realmente increible, me encantaria ver esas manos capaces de crear estas obras de arte.
Sin duda es un Don

Wonderful, wonderful work. I’m not convinced the glass isn’t a photo! Was that one an sxc image? Keep up the remarkable work.

That’s really amazing work !

To be honest, these suck. It’s so blatantly obvious that this person just looked at images, probably even projected them onto paper then traced with graphite. There is a quality you get from drawing something yourself that gets lost when you trace or re create things. Look at any art student’s portfolio (mine included) and you will see many studies just like this, some even with color using paint and pastel and stuff. This is basic grunt work that art students are made to do in school. People who are impressed by this have never drawn something amazing on their own.

i have been an artist most of my life, it is how i make my living. i have heard many things as a definition of what art is, ( i agree with klaus “everything is art”) but the definition simply put is “man made” anything created by man(or woman) is art. this is the definition they give you in art classes in college. some people will say that god made is art as well but its not considered art until something man made has captured it as such. if i shit in a glass gold rimmed bowl and put a crucifix in it some people will be extremely offended and some will consider it a masterpiece. beauty is in the eye of the beholder, it doesnt matter how she does these drawings or if everyone considers them art she is very gifted and needs no negative remarks from idiots that couldnt draw a stick figure if they traced it! if someone feels they can give her advice or tips that would improve her abilities thats one thing. but i hate stupid fucks that call her a photocopier! if you people can “photocopy” better lets see you do it!
otherwise SHUT UP!!!

Breathtaking

These are incredible. I love seeing the work of masters. I know tons of people who are GREAT with ink and pencil, but they are still a world away from this level of ability. Just unreal.

My god….. your technical skill is amazing. Though I am betting your works are am improvement over actual photographs…. real artistic talent here.

Seriously- wow.

Sean

The goal with my drawings has been to show others what can be done with this incredible medium. It does not the recognition that it deserves and hopefully through our drawings we can others the beauty that can be achieved with pencil. Incredible drawings and keep up the awesome work.

excellent work…

i agree w/ many of the posts:

1. most of the negative comments do seem only out of jealousy because they are not constructive. there are really only one or two with constructive criticism

2. read linda’s explainations - she doesn’t trace, or photoshop, she grids (which, i hear, is a very common practice), and a good deal of her work is commissioned….which means she isn’t choosing her own subjects!

3. who’s to say what is and isn’t art? this has been argued over for centuries, with many great artist’s works not being appreciated until after they’ve died.

4. and yea, ok, i believe that there are other artists out there that can do this, maybe even to this degree of skill, but that doesn’t mean we can’t appreciate what Linda’s done here.

and al - you’re right. most people will never create anything this beautiful in their life. you say you’re an artist, let’s see some of your works.

Lovely!! I especially like the light bulb. The details is amazing.

Excellent piece of work……….
Ur skills really speak a lot and keep us wandering with mouth wide open………
U rock, all the best!

Wow. Unreal. Or really real I should say.

-d

Why is there ALWAYS, at least, one idiot who has to type: “shopped”? is their mind so limited, that they are not able to understand, that there are people with talent, who have developed their skills rather than run around typing: “shopped”?

Denny Doran is lightdecades better

Some of the best work I have ever seen. Just Loved it!!

[...] Article Source: The Master Of Graphite Pencil - Linda Huber | Here2See [...]

Absolutely amazing - Monroe, the glass of water and the light bulb are about as close to a photo as you can get.

omg, thats kinda awesome ;>

These are amazing, extremely talented.

wonderful collection

“It’s pretty, but is it art?” - Oscar Wilde

Copying photographs with a pencil in this excellent quality is craft at very high level, but it’s definitely not art.

Ask Chuck Close.

Wow, those are awesome. Very nice talent you got there, be proud of what you can do, because not many can do it near as well as you.

WOW! You are amazing! Some of those you can’t even tell if it’s a drawing or a picture! You have incredible talent and I know that it will serve you well!

The comments here are much more entertaining than the gallery itself. Needless to say, these are very well executed (I like the Monroe in particular), but am not otherwise particularly captivated by the subject matter. ‘Grats.

Art is personal - and the appreciation of art is a matter of personal taste.
Some of the negative comments are pathetic,to say the least and are anything BUT constructive.No matter how well or how badly one paints or draws, there will ALWAYS be people who love or hate your work…

I agree with the statement that Lisandro made:

“The goal with my drawings has been to show others what can be done with this incredible medium.”

Why do we like to see athletes perfectly execute golf swings or divers make no splash or even snowboarders spin numerous times and perfectly land their tricks…

or as artists, hear guitarists and drummers play at lightning speed and painters perfectly render human faces?

…I feel that it shows just what people can do, pushes boundaries to the point that they no longer exist, and inspire people on what has yet to be done

I’ll agree that Linda’s work is on the technical side and pushes those boundaries…a master in her own right.

amazing, wonderful, what an artist!!

Technically brilliant but… what’s the point? I mean, what’s the point of exactly copying a photo? The photo is already there anyway, so why copy it without adding anyting personal? This is not creation and, therefore, it’s not art. It’s a brilliant technique but it’s dull, with no life. It’s just a copy of life.

Do something new! Create something that wasn’t there before and started to exist when you created it!

Ha god these are so trashy, some of the first ones made me laugh. Unless its a full circle vibe where its meant to be awful then its genius.

From all the big masters from the past, how many do you remember that limited themselves to simply copy reality?

Did da Vinci, Miguel Angelo, van Gogh, Picasso, Dali, whoever, just copy reality? No. Those who just copy reality, even showing brilliant technical skills, are doomed to be forgotten or thrown into the last pages of some book or the last rooms of some gallery. History will not remember them. They are not important.

So, Linda, unless she does something new with her skills, unless she brings something new to the world, will be forgotten the minute she stops drawing.

Linda’s images are not “visions from her soul”, are simply images from her pencil. And that’s a big difference.

What an Amazing talent!!!

very nice
http://cyberssystem.blogspot.com

To Artur-
“From all the big masters from the past, how many do you remember that limited themselves to simply copy reality?

Did da Vinci, Miguel Angelo, van Gogh, Picasso, Dali, whoever, just copy reality? No. ”

Sorry but many of those did do exactly that atleast to begin with. In particular Picasso could recreate a human face exactly before he began to experiment and Da Vinci used his very exact, realistic drawings to design his many inventions. Get your facts straight please, Ta.

These show an amazing skill, I personally find them a little lifeless but then some of the children and dogs practically leap off the page! well done Linda x

Very beautiful works! Like a photos! IT’s really amazing!

To Emasaurus:
You wrote “Da Vinci used his very exact, realistic drawings to design his many inventions.”

Doing realistic drawings has nothing to do with copying reality. Of all people, you surely can not say that da Vinci copied reality! He created things that didn’t exist before. Anyway, his drawings of his inventions were not realistic, they were sketches. You should get your facts straight.

The fact that other masters, like Picasso, at a certain point in their lifes, copied reality is acceptable, of course, because one must train. You are taking a little piece of history and bending it to your will. That training phase of the old masters is very different from what Linda is doing. She copies reality ALWAYS, she NEVER creates anything. And that can not be said of any of the great masters.

linda i would like to see u do 1 with a rasta man or wonan ,………ppl who sing over other pples songs are still artist ,y cant linda draw over other stuff an still be an artist,,,,,your work is the bloodclat best iv ever seen

someone ask y they even bother to draw pics,,,,,,,,,,even though shes drawing over the same exact thing it looks more special an captivating as a drawing.empress linda bless up.

I am motivated by your work.

I’ve enjoyed reading the discussion on this work almost as much as I enjoyed viewing the work itself and feel compelled to add my two cents.

The technical skill with graphite far surpasses anything that I’ve ever hoped to achieve in any media. I think this alone warrants the praised received in this forum, as well as commissions for work.

I would agree that the work leaves something to be desired stylistically, but I do not think it is wholly artistically lacking. The expression in portraiture is radiant and captivating. Further, even though composition was determined by the photographic sources, it is the artist’s eye that has selected which sources to use, so kudos to Linda for her sense of composition as well.

As she has reiterated, many of these drawings were done as practice so, if it helps, think of these as student work so you can appreciate the talent that is clearly developing and being refined here.

Technically skillful, but emotionally inept. Sorry.

Not that there is anything wrong with practicing representational drawing as a student. It’s a good starting point. My last comment was a little harsh.

But really, the aim of an artist is to develop original concepts. I just don’t find this type of drawing to be very creative.

good painting maybe, but the pictures are the most boring and kitchiest stuff, i’ve ever seen… who needs someone to draw standard pictures like that, if there are filters for gimp and photoshop?

Absolutely stunning - amazing realism, particularly the last one.

and for the last two comments, I must say how woefully pitiful it must be to have that much need to be so arrogant. Imagine, thinking your perceptions of ‘art’ are the only ones that exist. I am amazed joghurt didn’t just leave a post saying it was photoshopped, like so many other morons I see on so many other sites.

Now my original comment has appeared. Sorry for the confusion.

some who cannot see very deep claim this is copying…well so is photography…so is anything…the beauty is in what the artist puts into their reflection and interpretation of what they see…

these are simply amazing…they are photorealism, however, they have such personal sensitivity to them, and lush emotional underpinning…if people can’t see that, then it is their inability to see, not the artist’s limitation…this woman is truly amazing…her works of people, animals are amazing…and as for the cars…as a california guy i love cars…she has not just caught the shape and tone of the cars she draws, but the spirit that the designers imbued in these wonderful machines…this woman really sees

i thank her for sharing her vision with the rest of us!

Wow. That is amazing work. I am not rich, but I would pay to own some of your art.

WoW … .. .

Ummm… is this even possible?! Incredible. I’ve never seen anything like this before.

‘Shopped - I can tell from the pixels.

Ya know… just for shitz ‘n giggles….

photoshopped

I would love to see the original photo side by side with the finished drawing.

I like these a lot. And since beauty/art is in the eye of the beholder…. for me, they are certainly beautiful art.

Is it something I would want to do? No. Would I commission her to do one for me? Yes! Absolutely!

I admire the time and effort and patience Linda has used to perfect her craft. Especially in this day and age where people tend to go for the “quick fix” to produce “art” and images, prefering to pay just a little for the mass-produced photoshopped images printed on canvas rather than paying the price for a hand crafted original from a master at their craft. I can guarantee that even if Linda was to do another picture from the same photo, it would not be identical (not that I’d be able to pick it, necessarily!).

I love this work and I think my favourite image here would have to be the rose.

Thanks for sharing these!

These are very good drawings! I haven’t seen this much talent in a long time. Being a self taught artist myself I can surely appreciate the time and effort that this master has put into her pictures.

This is kick-ass

You rock lady.

I don’t see why people get into comment arguments over things like this. This is art, and you are entitled to your opinion. Clearly Linda knows how to take criticism, for in her comments you can see that she takes it extremely well. Most amazing artworks you find on the internet will have at least one “SHOPPED!” comment, because some people simply cannot believe that things this beautiful can be a reality. However, they can be.

I personally think these are beautiful, amazing artworks. This is a skill not many others have and it should be cherished. Appreciate the beauty in life, because there is not enough of it.

Hi Linda, boy these are really nice graphite drawings. check out my gallery I would love to get to know you. Hope you will start a gallery at Stars-portraits.com it is a splendid web site and all the artists there are so much fun and very suportive. Lots of fun have a ball and hope to hear from you!!

This is awesome!
I myself am a graphic artist but after seeing your work i believe i need much training.
This is simply amazing.You have a gift.
Congratulations!!
Ever tried to draw from imagination?

The wine glass is amaaaazzzzziiinnnggg!

Why are there so many cynical people in the world :(… i just hope for all you knockers that one day you can just be happy and content in yourself to simply just appreciate something for what it is.
Linda - WOW you have a gift that i think is amazing
Merry Christmas .. Linda and all

@Loser

Loser Says:

‘Shopped - I can tell from the pixels.

You truly are a loser. I am a graphic designer and I can tell you these are not photoshopped. “I can tell by the pixels”-You sound like an idiot. Just because you know what photoshop and pixels are… I hate that people can no longer appreciate talent for what it is without branding everything “shopped” or fake.

With regards to the copying, i agree with johnnyjohnny. Art is mostly copying in some shape or form. Drawing from life is still copying isnt it? And photography?

Linda - This work is truely beautiful, a level of talent that most people will never reach. Inspiring stuff… The lightbulb is my favourite. I hope your success continues to grow.

Merry Xmas to all

’shopped!

Those are INCREDIBLE. You are phenomenally talented!

Beautiful. Thank you.

these are technically accurate drawings, but have absolutely nothing to do with art. incredibly corny, too.

You are amazing!
THIS IS ART, and I don’t give a heck about what anyone says!
Art is bringing to life what you see and feel, and it is up to us to see beyond the mastership and deep inside the artist’s soul.
You art is alive, even in the objects.
My respects

I don’t understand why so many people have to bash here. Offering constructive criticism is one thing, to be negative for no reason really isn’t called for.

The drawings are amazing, and there is a lot of talent involved here. To act like its no big deal that she was able to recreate a photograph with such accuracy is silly. Even after years of training there are plenty of so called “artist” who could not do the job she has done.

Art is very personal. I am personally not impressed by most “modern” art. To me most of it looks like crap and does not require much if any talent. For instance I don’t think someone like Jackson Pollack was very talented. Anyone can splatter a bunch of paint on a canvas and call it “art”. But his paintings have sold for a ton of money, so more power to him.

I also don’t think putting a crucifix in a jar of urine is “art” and requires no talent, but some people disagree.

Likewise the fact that people have commissioned Linda’s work, that people have thought so much of it that they are willing to pay for it has to count for something.

WOW! She is really a master!

Woah! I actually mistook some of those drawings for photograhs! AMAZING!

After the first artist was born there came almost immediately after the first critic, the afterbirth.

very impressive

Not so good, amateurish

First: For those of you getting pissed about the “’shopped” comments. Go look up 4chan and /b/.

Second: The drawings here are impressive. Some more so than others. A few feel like they’re incomplete if they’re intended as photorealistic artworks. The inanimate objects are stunning and would qualify as photorealism quite easily especially the wine glass. The portraits fall a bit short in that they are still recognizable as being drawn, due to the textures, and some of the marks showing through. There’s nothing wrong with that of course, but I hesitate to call it photorealism. They’re good drawings, but not necessarily photorealistic. At which point we’re talking about the semantics of the original poster’s comments. Overall, my honest opinion is that some of them need just a bit more to really start shining while others are excellent, which is pretty normal for any portfolio. I’d like to see some pieces that were drawn from imagination keeping in mind that even drawings from imagination typically use some source materials.

And lastly: for the person who asked what size matters. Go look at some photos of graffiti and then find the real piece. You’ll notice that in a photograph where the original image is scaled down, that some of the details become lost or less noticeable. There’s almost no such thing as a perfectly hard-edged line in graffiti, yet when you take the image off the wall where it’s 10 ft x 10 ft and resize it to 2 ft x 2 ft, the fuzz on the edge of lines and some of the drips begin to dissapear. The same thing happens in digital artwork. When viewed larger the individual pixels are no longer visible.

For those of you too lazy to read that here’s the too long/didn’t read version: It’s good work, but not the next Michelangelo. Nobody is. everyone needs practice. Stop putting it on a pedestal or throwing it in the dirt. Just shut the f**k up, say something intelligent and click stumble again.

Linda; Your transcriptions are remarkable; I think you surely must employ a camera lucida, but nevertheless, you have an incredible sense of precision not to mention sensitivity and control and patience! Congratulations on your adept!!
KM

Awesome, mind Blowing, brilliant!!

Some of them are so flawless that sometimes it looks more a B&W picture than a handmade drawing!!!!

Oh my gosh! Some of them where just taken but I like them!

I’m drawn more to the drawings in which you employed a bit more trompe l’oeil. The pieces that “pop” less could benefit by more of that technique (”trick of the eye”). While photo-realism is a great talent and skill, I believe you could create more feeling and emotion by drawing what wouldn’t exactly be in a photo, but would trick the viewers eye and engender more emotion. You do that well around the eyes in most of the portraits, though it can be expanded.

Nice work. Keep at it.

Art is art.
I don’t like country music, but I couldn’t do it. It makes people who do like it feel good. So it’s art.

That’s all that matters.
As long as Linda’s clients are happy with her work, as long as SHE is happy with her work, it’s art.

I had a woman in my class at art school when I was younger who could make paintings as realistic as these. I watched her, personally. She put a photo that her client gave her, taped it in a good spot, and spent weeks - even months - perfecting it. Sure, it was an exact replica, but the point was it was handmade. That adds something special to it, in my opinion. To think that instead of hanging something on the wall you clicked a button to create, you’re hanging up something that took countless hours and tons of dedication and passion to create. (Don’t misunderstand and think I’m dogging on photography, which is my preferred form of art - it just honestly does take more time and patience for a painting/drawing.)

I’d love to have something like that. It only matters that it’s special to those involved in the transaction.

Beautiful work, Linda!

omg for anyone who criticizes this girl, shut the hell up, this is seriously talented and amazing I can’t even remotely fathom being able to do anything at all close to this good. People need to stop acting so self righteous and just let this girl do what she loves and what shes great at.

Amazing. I cannot believe someone can do this with just a pencil!

You are a awesome artist !!!!!!!!!

these are too perfect. like a machine did it not a human. why dont you take photographs instead? why waste so much energy and draw so same that its like a photograph?

i didnt get any taste of art or any connection with who you are in these works.

Linda, I love that you answer posts from time to time and give us a real person and artist to hear and see. You are a professional and are expert at your style and what you love most. I am very impressed by what I see here and always feel very lucky to look into the world of an artist. My son is an artist, but never the realism style, he is more of a character and cartoonist inspiring to animation, but always growing. Just a different artist. I was a musician and could never draw. It is a gift you have and you have used it creatively and functionally for your life as well as the enjoyment of others. That is to be commended. Keep it up.

well i know from looking at these that the artist is dedicated and passionate and well rounded and etc. etc…..need i go on? if i had this sort of talent i wouldn’t just give it up and take pictures instead, anyone can take a picture but this is a gift. if all these were simply photographs they wouldn’t hold any significance (no offence to the artist), they would just be pictures. jealous much? haha

Well done, but really crappy subjects. Being able to copy a photograph is a skill used by an artist but it doesn’t make you an artist. You have to have original ideas, creation, inspiration for that. I don’t see that there. Still, it would sell to old ladies with nothing better to do than waste away looking at a picture of a baby.

Vapid. Really vapid.

these are stunning! flawless!

All of these look fantastic, really stunning and, in their own way, beauftiful. Personally I do not like photo realism or copying from photos but that is only my opinion and taste.

Oh wow. Those must have taken forever! If I hadn’t known those were pencil, I would have taken them for photographs!

Awesome. I used to draw years ago. Nothing like this though.

To Gail, I would love to comment much more but to be honest I’m a bit overwhelmed and not to sure what to say, so I just been reading along :).

To all: thank you for the well throughout comments and as in life I will take the good with the bad! Oh and I have never and will never claim to be a master artist, I just love to draw in this style and if my drawings make other’s happy then that’s all the better! Merry Christmas and happy Holidays! ~Linda .

Hello Linda,

Let me start by saying, I think your work is great. I am a “tagger” on myspace & I use paintshop pro, I could never come close to what you do.
With that being said, I have never been into the human stuff, more of the toonish stuff, but I find you picture of the baby on the arm stunning.
The horse looks kinda lifeless, however your dog pictures are stunning. I love the shelter dog, you can see the depression in his eyes and the as he is looking out at someone hoping they would pick him.
Your rose, glass of water & lightbulb are just amazing, it is very tricky to draw water, sure I can do a wiggle line & say its a wave, but you capture something in yours =).
The horse picture is missing life due to his eyes, they look blank, kinda like if you bring a animal to a taxideterst, you can tell its glass eye.
The dog pictures are great because most artist do not take the time to get the flow of the hair, in your pictures you get that & that is what brings life to them, but that shelter dog is just to perfect I love it. (perfect in a good way , that you can feel the emotions of the poor puppy).
Maria K

The shading and everything is really good, but the subject matter is just generic trash.

Its beautiful work. As to not being emotional enough, I get choked up just looking at the Mustang. Now thats art:)

she cheated…using a “light source” perhaps the one your looking at? hello…

wow these are impressive

damn, i cannot believe these are not real, verry nice job

Uh-Oh Hot Dog!

Unbelievable! I can hardly believe this level of skill can exist. How many years did it take you to get this good? You think you’ve practiced a million times?

I myself once dreamed of being able to make photograph clear drawings using graphite pencils.

I think you’ve reconvinced me that this is possible.

really cool stuff.
keep it up..

কাঁচের গ্লাসে পানি ঢালার ছবিটা আর বিজলী-বাতি - এই দুইটা মারাত্নক হয়েছে । ক্যামেরা দিয়েও এত ভাল হয় না ।

The goblet and light bulbs are superb. Not even a camera could produce such realistic images !

maravilloso enternecedor unas obras de arte
me han emocionado

Shes v. good but the best, IMHO, are magic realists like Antonio Lopez Garcia. Great mastery must contain some sort of unique cerebral or conceptual contribution, surely ?
She doesnt claim mastery anyway just a love of the process.

Very well executed, nevertheless, and undeserving of the vitriolic comments found in this thread. I dont get some of these angry posts - seem to be sorely lacking in social skills - the same social skills that leave these opinionistas tongue tie and shuffling their feet when they might speak up and be accountable for their words.

Wow, this is extremely impressive. But the realism of some of these pieces are make me smell something fishy, I truly think there were some digital additions to some of these. Like those water pictures? C’mon.

Just my opinion.

As someone who can do this (I’m not even bragging, I bet anyone could do it with enough practice) let me tell you that it’s not talent. In fact, these basically require a suppression of talent to produce. You have to turn yourself into a human photocopier and really, what’s the point? Don’t get me wrong, it requires a lot of skill, a lot of patience and it’s commendable, it’s just not particularly artistic. I do this sort of thing for studies to learn about a subject but I don’t make it my life’s work.

congrats, you are a very, very slow camera.

Ok, what I said was somewhat unfair. The accuracy and precision that you have is remarkable. However, you need to get away from photographs. You are essentially (not technically) copying pixel for pixel what is in the image. This limits your expression to that of the original image. Try drawing from life, and getting away from the ultra-realism (you can always go back) I’m sure what you draw can say a lot more than “look, i can get a likeness.”

This is the most amazing art work I have ever seen, it is so clear and vivid! NICE WORK!

Moderately good pencil technique used only to copy someone else’s art and composition, using someone else’s photos, lighting, poses, execution, etc….

Not “negativity”. Fact. If she had attempted to alter, add to, or transcend the original artist/photographer’s work, I would reconsider. She did not.

As it is presented here, this is just so-so copying, commonly found in the portfolios of most if not all kitsch artists you can find sitting on the sidewalk with an easel and a pencil looking for a buck to sketch your portrait for entertainment. Check out their samples of movie star sketches copied from photos. Same thing.

Work on your creative originality Linda. Transcend copying others’ art. Any college art student turning in work like this would get a mediocre to failing grade.

Those are very impressive. I wish I could draw…keep up the good work.

I would fail the majority of you for missing or seeing only one side of this. No, I do not see originality in these images. No, they do not stir my imagination. They do say this individual is an excellent artist from a great many viewpoints (tone, positive/negative space, proportion, etc.), though lacking in what may easily be overcome with positive words, not a lot of this shit!

Before I sold my first piece, a lot of ‘friends’ said it was nice, but well…..

Stick to it and grow.

Its very nice to see this pics .. Its impossible to draw this kind of pics ….
I am really happy to see this pics .. i want to meet the person who drawed these pictures.

Nirosh

You are truly talented. Gifted in fact!

I for one, love the work.

Secondly, I did not see one bit of constructive crit on these comments.

I saw “Wow, that’s traced, or so and so is better”

“these are all copied from photographs and feel lifeless”

————-

Those comments were ignorant

Let’s give an example of constructive crit, shall we?

“I really love your work, perhaps next time you could make such and such a little darker? I think it would look really amazing that way as well”

Now, all of you, Shut up.

wow, this is quit the collection

They are very realistic. People who say there aren’t very good: why don’t you try and match these?

Linda, your renderings are awesome and inspiring. I also appreciate your comments. For those of you who say some of the images are “lifeless”, remember that many of her drawings are commissioned and we do not know what the original art looked like or perhaps we do because Linda was able to create a DRAWING of the original as it actually is.
For you idiots that think this is Photoshopped, you try doing this and I bet you can’t. As far as seeing the pixels, don’t forget that images on the web is generallt 72 dpi and your monitirs are probably not very good either.
In any case, Linda’s drawings are inspiring pieces of art that any art student would love to be able to create.
Brian ~ Graphic Design Student.

these are absolutely amazing.

my computer scrolled down the page at first and i thought i stumbled on to a photo gallery :D

keep up the incredible work

holy crap thats good

This is absolutely amazing! Artists like this are definitely a gift to the world. Good post keep it up!!

I don’t care what other people consider what “art” is. To me, art is an abstract idea like love. It has no true definition for the meaning changes from person to person.

Linda,
Your work is great. You have a talent that brings you joy. Keep drawing.
A new fan,
David Dixon
AKA Dsquared

Wow, I don’t want to wade through all the comments….however, I must say I had to go back up and re-read because I thought the first picture was a photograph. Excellent work, I only wish I could control my hand to give such detail and realism. Definitely takes skill and talent, and to those who don’t believe so, well that’s your opinion and you are entitled.

Linda what fantastic work you do,they are just so cool

Linda deserves all the positive superlative adjectives: Inspirational, excellent, most amazing, just grand.. Well done and thank you for sharing.

OK Everyone, shut the hell up…

IF you paid attention to Linda’s comments, you would actually realise that most of these were her own photos, and the rest were photos that she was given to by A CLIENT! SHE CAN’T ALTER THE CLIENT’S PICTURE! SHE CAN’T GO AGAINST THE DESIRE OF THE CLIENT!

And that “Photocopy” term…

Do you realise, that everything we take a picture of, is merely a copy! Sure… Lighting may be different… BUT IN THE END, YOU STILL MADE A DUPLICATE OF SOMETHING THAT ALREADY EXISTED! However, last time i checked, A real life human made of graphite didn’t exist, now did they… THE FACT THAT LINDA DREW SOMETHING, MEANS THAT SHE PUT SOMETHING INTO CREATION, SHE DIDN’T COPY! in the case of the portraits… WHEN’S THE LAST TIME YOU SAW A HUMAN MADE OF GRAPHITE?! They are original.

Lastly, The Definition of Art… Okay to be blunt, Art has no meaning, art is just a word. “Art” has no relevance to what Linda and previous people of her practice have done. What Linda has done is, create something beautiful, that didn’t already exist. Real Life and Photos; they are the same thing, if you took 2 photos at the same time, they would be the same thing, they would be duplicates, they would have the same skill used to take the picture in the first place. However, if someone draws/paints something, no one else can possibly mimic every single technique of the artist, because that’s what’s UNIQUE about it… I hope that i shut up the retarded pitiful pieces of scum that suffer from a common case of jealousy.

I’m not even gonna bother on the Shopped comments…

You do have a right to helpful criticism but don’t be stupid about it, ya wankers…

Congratulations Linda, You have created many things that did not exist before. You created 2-dimensional (that look 3-dimensional) living graphite portraits. You should be honored.

You have done beautiful work! Keep it up so we can see more.

i agree with Artiste’s comment to MaryLeeWalsh, it was a very ignorant comment. and to the comment on tracing these: i highly doubt that is how she achieved these fantastic pieces of art. and even if it was, it doesnt matter how the end result was achieved, they are still beautiful.
all artists of all kinds are inspired by different things, including photos or paintings. it is an incredible feat to replicate something or at least have the courage to try.

Great to look at but this is not art done from still life or from a living thing but a photo. this sort of art can be done by anyone that has the time and the use of a projector, a good graphics pad, and a £150.art computer program.
Sorry but my grand children can produce the same thing. they look nice and thats all.

Oh. This is the sort of thing I was forced to do in school. It seemed lame at the time.

This is truly one of the most interesting debates that I have read in a long time. Thank you to all, I have enjoyed reading along and loved seeing so many individual well thought-out comments!

As it’s been said countless times “Art is in the eye of the beholder” my drawings may not be art to some and to some they may be. Some may see me as a draftsman, some a master artist, I honestly never thought much about what I am and personally don’t care for labels, I only know I like to draw.

My drawings take days and weeks to finish, so it makes sense to me to use photos. The photo is my reference but also my knowledge of drawing a person is too…I can draw only from memory but to be honest my memory does not retain all the tiny details that I like to draw so photo references are needed. My thoughts are: A photo taken of a person is a copy of real life, a drawing of that photo is a copy of real life…. since that person is not here for me to see, simply put I will use the photos to try and create lifelike drawings.

Oh I did want to mention something….out of the 25 drawings posted above 20 of them are from 2004 and 2005, I will say my recent work is better, I have more control over the graphite….and yes many of the reference photos are taken by me, many more are given to me by the client for commissions, and many are free stock photos or celeb photos drawn for fun and practice.

So yes see me as whatever you like and see my drawings as something a child can do with a computer if you like, I really have no problem with that. Just know I plan to keep taking a nicely sharpened pencil point to a white sheet of paper and drawing what I see in life… It’s not only fun but relaxing to draw, and I do believe everyone can draw as I do with practice and tons of patience. :) ~Linda

Great! Let’s see some stuff you didn’t draw from a photograph now

Absolutely the most incredibel painting i’ve seen for a very long time.

fucking awesome!!

Fantastic! Thank you

I’m so jealous xD

Linda,
amazing quality and professional work. I had to do this in art school but mine never looked this detailed. It’s along the lines of botanical illustrations. I can see you spent a lot of time doing these.

BTW, I’ve read several of these comments and I pity those who leave negative feedback. That explains how negativity is directly related to ignorance.
AMB- maxgirl

To Justin: Here is one drawn from life, it’s my hand, not the best drawing but it was a fun study to do…

http://img296.imageshack.us/img296/7646/handstudyda6.jpg

Absolutely amazing, fantastic work Linda! I’m in awe of your skill; it’s one thing to be able to draw what you yourself can create, but to be able to perfectly replicate is another talent in itself!

What I’d like to know is, why does everyone feel the need to argue over this? If you don’t like it, don’t look at it; this is one person’s opinion on a totally different person’s art. No one has asked for criticism. If you want to criticize it, go to Linda’s website and tell her yourself. Sitting here arguing back and forth about it on a simple comment website is a waste of time.

But again, I love this work. I’d love to be able to do stuff like this..

Congratulations Linda for reaching this level of fine precision and transparency in your paintings. I am an amateur painter myself and am trying to experiment with pencils through practice and repetitions. Your paintings are indeed very inspiring. I have a question for you though: How do you “clean up’ the dark areas for final touch ups. Do you use molding eraser or do you use white paint? Also what kind of paper do you prefer? Again, your work is more than pefect.

Oh geez. I am not an artist myself, but a writer. Still, I find myself captivated by art, and this graphite artist was absolutely amazing. I’m over here on the other side of your screen thinking “That can be done with just a pencil?” Absolutely amazing!

to all who are trying to bash, whether in defense of the negative, of the negative bashers, listen to yourselves. do you think the artist wants to hear this crap?i know from personal experience that most artists love feedback, and learn a great deal from it. I don’t understand why you have to cause drama, and snip back and forth. i do think however that people who say things that demean the level of achievement that Linda has, is insulting and unnecessary. She draws, end it there, if you think an artist you know is good, don’t say thinks that demean this one, simply say if you like this artist check out so and so. For those who bash the not so nice comments, stop, just give a feedback so as to stop the complaining and look over it, stop taking their words to heart. They think so they say, leave it at that.

For Linda, your work in masterfully penciled and it looks fabulous. I draw a lot in my spare time and love the art work of fellow enthusiasts. I sincerely hope that more people with your kind of talent are willing to show the rest of use what can be if you do.

For anyone who wants to converse more on this, or complain to me about how wrong i am please send it to my e-mail:

rar1918@hotmail.com

I’ll reply to each and everyone even if you don’t like my words.
Art is Beautiful, every kind, from figure paintings done by children to doodles on a notepad of an executive, everyone can be masterful, just love it when you do.

Rob

I am just an ole East Texas country boy but I do know what I like and don’t like. Linda, I like your work and I do not like snobs who can’t.

you go girl!!!

Linda, you are very skilled as a technical artist and it’s clear you’re pushing the medium as far as it can go. Bravo.

That being said, your work doesn’t do your technical skill justice. I’d like to see something that isn’t commissioned and isn’t from a photo reference. This type of skill, as impressive as it is, is something that can be learned and taught (in your case, self-taught if one works hard enough at it). It’s clear you’ve worked very hard to reach the level of craftsmanship you’ve attained, and for that I applaud you. But, don’t limit yourself to photo references and cookie-cutter imagery. Technical skill is one thing and creative skill are something else completely, and you’ve already got the former down pat.

God, some people just loovvee to put others down. I think these drawings are AMAZING - so what if they were copied from a photo or w/e - they still look really hard to draw!! Wish I had the same amount of patience to draw some of these lol

I would call Huber an excellent technician, but not a great artist. A commercial artist, yes…but a great artist, no.

Huber says “My thoughts are: A photo taken of a person is a copy of real life, a drawing of that photo is a copy of real life.” I would strongly disagree. A drawing of a photo…particularly someone else’s photo…is a copy of a photo. To say it’s a copy of real life dismisses the work that the photographer put into the composition, the lighting, the film speed, etc. Those celebrity photos that show up in magazines don’t “just happen.” They are the result of a lot of work, an eye for detail and the thumbprint of personal style.

If I were a commercial photographer and saw one of my images used without my permission…and then watched someone else (like Huber) take credit for the image…I’d be really angry.

If Huber photographs the subjects herself, that’s one thing. But my guess is that she’s used the works of other photographers…and unless I missed it…she doesn’t give the photographer credit (as in “from a photograph by Hurrell”). That to me is theft.

If it’s not your original idea…it’s someone else’s. To me, anyway, good art is about originality…not just technique.

I think Huber’s work is technically advanced. But they have a cold quality to them…flat, 2-dimensional…no life. They’re drawings of photographs…not drawings of live subjects. To me, anyway, it’s instantly obvious.

And just my own opinion…the ones of the doe-eyed kids are a bit on the creepy side. Funny thing is…because the eyes are slightly exaggerated, those portraits are also her most original and her most interesting. I may not personally like them, but I certainly appreciate them.

To PhillyTom:

You misunderstood when I was talking about a photo being a copy of life, it was not said to diminish the photographers work in any way. It was said because I do not know most of the people I draw (in person) so the photo is a copy of them and then my drawing is a copy of the person.

On my site I do give credit to the photographers, some can be seen with the artwork on the Drawing Board pages. Since most of the drawings are commissions the client snapped the photo so no credit needs to be given. Many of the artwork is from free stock photos, I do contact the owners of these photos when I plan to sell prints or the original artwork, for the most part this is not required nor is given them credit for the photo. Some of the celebrities I drew for fun and practice I don’t have permission for but some I do.

Oh and as stated before some of the photos were taken by me… I have a great love for photography and an even greater respect for photographers! :) ~Linda

Amazing works! No matter what they say:)

she is a master. they never said the only master. anyone these pictures are amazing and i wish i could draw that way.

i meant anyway

These are amazing. Photo-realism is an amazing talent and is very very difficult to accomplish. In a way being this good is dangerous, because your end result is essentially a photograph which people instinctively dismiss. I think it is almost psychological; the more real it is, the more people just say “meh, it’s just like a photo, big deal” and they forget how difficult is to actually draw something like that. I find it kind of fascinating because the camera essentially spawned the modern art world as we know it, so this comment section is almost like a microcosm of an introductory art history class.

In the modern fine art world, yes, this kind of work is not very highly valued. That is fine, but that isn’t this artists fault. She is doing what she is doing, and apparently making a living doing it, which is much more than about 99.9% of “artists”
can say. The criticisms on these comments are basically attacking her for not pursuing a different art form or avenue for using her talents to making money. That is beyond stupid and does not constitute a valid critique in any sense.

If I had a valid critique, I would give it, but I don’t. This art-form is about representing reality on paper in pencil. These drawings do this amazingly well. There really is not much to critique beyond that; criticizing this field of art in general is irrelevant unless you just are a negative person or have some sort of problem with appreciating another person’s talents when they differ from yours.

To Linda Huber,

Thanks for the clarification. I honestly didn’t check your website to see if you credited photographers, so it’s nice to know you give credit where credit is due.

I also hope I didn’t come off as trying to diminish your work. On the contrary…you are extraordinarily talented. And I truly think your portraits of children have a very unique quality that makes them your own, regardless of whether or not they originated in photography (yours or anyone else’s). “Creepy” might not have been the best choice of words to describe them….but they do have a very unique edge to them which I find fascinating.

You’ve been a great sport in participating in this discussion. It’s easy to sit in a chair and criticize someone else’s work (particularly if you’re like me and don’t have any of your own to show), so I appreciate your thoughtful response.

You obviously have a great passion for the work you do, and I wish you the best of luck in the future.

To PhillyTom:
Thank you, I appreciate you taking the time to respond back :)

Oh and I love drawing eyes and tend to add more to give them a deep penetrating look.

close-up of a portrait:
http://img365.imageshack.us/img365/8901/babycloseup2zn5.jpg

greatings…

I have already seen it somethere…

hello…

exellent…

Respond
http://img365.imageshack.us/img365/8901/babycloseup2zn5.jpg

That is a beautiful picture

hey…

Not enought information…

What can i say,fantastic!!!Of all i liked animals the best:)))

these are so pretty. you really captured the unique purity and warmth of children and dogs, i think :]

You “artists” who are coming up with, at best, mediocre reasons to critique these pieces are so full of shit. You are just unreasonably resentful (we used to call this “butthurt” in the day) that Linda Gets paid thousands of dollars per commissioned piece while you sit in your dorm room creating “original masterpieces” of bullshit.

I would love to see Bradley or Artur give us their website of their insightful, deep, emotional, philosophical art and see what people around the world say about it.

It seems like you should take your “open mind” down to the coffeeshop on the corner and tell all of your deep and incredibly artistic friends about Linda and how sucky she is, then maybe she will be nice enough to invite you over to your dream home and teach you a few things about technique.

I’m sure Linda is very versed in great art of all kinds, and she also knows that the judgmental artists think portraits, etc. are “cheesy.”

The good news for Linda is, if the only critique that the “true artists” can say is “uuuughhhh this is NOT ‘true’ art! You just drew it from SOMEONE ELSE’S photo! Even if it is your own!” then she is in good shape ;).

The life of your subjects leaps right off the page for me. Your talent is amazing. Don’t pay attention to your critics who want you to depart from what you do so well. Keep on keeping on. Follow your heart and your muse.

P.S. I’d love to have you do a portrait of my Lewellwyn Setter but I doubt I could afford it. Nevertheless I love your work.

To Dick Patterson:
I have been drawing in this style so long that I don’t think I will be stopping anytime soon. I have fun and also get paid to have fun, I couldn’t ask for anything better. Oh and you would be surprised to learn my prices are very reasonable.

To tash:
I honestly do not take any offence to the negative comments about my work. I’m a pencil artist that loves to draw, loves portraits, not only in pencil buy in photography and paint, to capture a persons true self for all to see is very rewarding. I do hope to continue doing what I love forever. :)

To Linda:

I wouldn’t imagine you take too much offense. EVERY artist gets critiqued, no matter who. there is no way to please everyone. Some people would call your work cheesy, I think most would recognize what you do as an amazing achievement in hand-eye coordination. I used to draw a lot more as a young child and teenager; although my drawing has gotten sparse over the years, I understand the difficulty and the hours upon hours of practice it takes to achieve your level of accuracy. Bravo!

I felt the need to rant because I PERSONALLY am offended when people can’t just appreciate things for what they are. If anything, modern artists are lucky that the public appreciation for art has expanded to appreciate the kind of mastery you create to more emotional and “original” art pieces. That really didn’t show up until last century.

I just think that young artists should give respect where respect is due. Call me old-fashioned!

Thanks for sharing your work with us.

PS: Thats not to say that your pieces are NOT emotional. As other people have posted, your work is mistaken for photographs because of the emotion that is depicted. Though I’m sure I don’t have to explain the difference between your art and modern art. That is the point I was trying to make.

Originality is also in the eye of the beholder. Being described as having a “flawless hand” I think would make you qualify.

Linda, You are a genius……..Gos Bless You!!
Susie

Impressive portfolio. you are very hard worker. Can you give some tips for pencil portrait.

Impressive portfolio. you are very hard worker. Can you give some tips for pencil portrait. Like what type of pencils and papers etc.

I usually don’t post on these boards but I just wanted to say something. I don’t agree with the critical posts here. I don’t like people trying to define Art. Telling us what is and what isn’t art. I’ve seen things that some have considered art. It’s all about its appeal to you. I see many types of art that have no meaning to me. But there’s someone out there that will have a totally different reaction to it. And that doesn’t give me the right to tell them it’s not art and they should just get a life. I’m not professional anything by any means, but I draw and I do pencil portraits for family and friends.
I guess the main thing I want to say is get off your high horses and respect the talent. It’s not an easy thing to do what Linda is doing. It takes dedication a sharp eye and incredible patience. Don’t tell me it’s not art. Especially in a world where I could throw paint all over a canvas and call it art.

To Murali Krishnam:

I mostly use a 3b mechanical pencil and a blending stump, my favorite paper is Bristol Board….I have lots of tips on my website:
http://midtel.net/~imaginee

Very good work. I mite add that I am an artiest my self. I am a water color man. I do very good work, I think its world class. I lost something I had back when I was 13 or 14, the ability to shade like you do. I can remember when I would draw cars I made the chrome and the paint look so real. I lost that over the years. I guess it was replaced with the color I use now where the pencil shading once was. keep up the good work…….K.T.A.

carol nash…

It is amazing that you wrote a decent blurb regarding Interview with Tom Nelson of Janeology ” The Plot. I just did a quick search on carol nash and was fascinated! Nice job!…

How amazing are these drawings, the second liv tyler one is just brilliant. great job

cool. very precise.
not to be a downer, but..
remember, artists like this copy from photos.

which is still pretty impressive,
however,
it has less heart.

[...] Master of graphite pencils These are incredibly realistic looking and how she does it as well. [...]

WoW these images are really beautiful … very inspiring

Keep up the great work !!

I am as amazed at the debate as I am at Linda’s considerable talent. I think that those on the fringe on both sides - “photoshopped, cheesy” and “negative, jealous” don’t really add much to the conversation.
If I could make a music parallel: Linda seems to me like a great, really great, cover band, maybe the best Beatles cover band you ever heard. Right next door is an original, maybe not-so-polished band. There will be some that will stay with the first and some who go next door. I think what the most sincere and thoughtful people in the debate want is for Linda to play her own song so that she can reach more people with that talent she has honed for so long. Sadly for those who want her to expand her subject matter, she seems, by her comments, to be satisfied to keep doing what she is good at. Those who love her work will be happy.
Whatever she chooses, I wish her well, and continued success.

Yeahh its pretty good, I could do better though.. Three and a half out of Five

WTF ! ARE YOU SERIOUS ?!?!?! Id Like to see some proof you Loser (Hancock)
These Drawings are awesome, Damn your a freak at drawing!!

….hello linda huber…….wow !
………now let me see how i start
this message of thanks
..1 ….your work took my breath away
..2 ..if this is LIFE ,then give me more
..please
..3 .. your drawings give art a new meaning

……..THANK YOU LINDA… THANK YOU
bruce

These are AH-MAZING.

I think these are amazing. For the critics, I agree you can have good technical ability & lack soul. That said, I think the incredible level of detail here IS art. Whether you are working from a photo or not I think you have to be able to feel a connection with your subject to get that deeply into it. I could be wrong, but for me to get anywhere near that detailed in a work I have to be totally immersed in it. At any rate, I think this is fantastic work & thanks for sharing it!

Superbly done! I am awestruck. As a fellow artist. I greatly appreciate the realism.

The water….blew my mind

beautiful drawings, thanks for sharing

Awsome! thanks for sharing!

For all you negative people out there lets see your artistic ability! Way to go Linda I wish that I had the ability to draw like that, let alone draw at all. You are simply amazing.

These drawings are brilliant and technically phenomenal, and since I myself am far from this kind of level I am in awe. However having said that I would not call her the ‘master’ of graphite. Disregarding the criticisms of soullessness, as far as photo realistic detail goes there is still much better out there.

For example http://arminmersmann.artroof.com/

To Gary:

I agree 100% about Armin Mersmann’s work, he is the best pencil artist ever! I’ve known him for many years and have learned much just from looking at his work and how he draws, he is a graphite pencil master and a true inspiration! :)

I have found Linda’s drawings on DeviantArt, because I am an amateur artist and her drawings are like manuals for me. I love this kind of art because I like realism, but that doesn’t mean I don’t like other kinds of art…In my favorites section of my DA page, you can see how different my tastes are. That is why I can’t understand why people who call themselves artists can say that by dismissing her style they are giving her “constructive criticism” and I would like to tell them that for me, art comes from the soul and the love of an artist, and art is expressing that love and all your feelings. That is why I can’t in a million years understand how hate criticism like the one I’ve seen in some of the comments can come from people who call themselves artists.
These are not copied drawings, traced or Photoshopped. C’mon people, she’s a grown woman, not a teenager crying for attention, and for those of who talk but have no clue what they talk about, please, try to trace a photo and come up with a drawing of such a quality and then show it to me. I promise I will eat it.
As for the is/isn’t art discussion…if you start setting boundaries to art, then where is the freedom of expression?
If she chooses to express herself this way and she does a good job at it, then why strip her art of it’s value? You can see Linda in her art, because she has a unique style and she approaches her art in her own way.
I would like to tell her again(because I do that on DA every time I get the chence) that her art means something, brightens my days and inspires me, together with lots of other great artists, to be better and to work more to develop my style, growing as an artist .

while i do think she is incredibly talented in rendering reality, i don’t find most of these drawings all that dynamic and visually interesting with the exception of the drop on the branch and light bulb.

developing photo…

Just dropping in to say hi, thanks for writing….

TEACH ME!!

[...] The master of graphite pencil muestra una colección de dibujos de Linda Huber, una maestra del dibujo en lapiz. Sus obras reflejan una gran perfección en los trazos y hacen que nos maravillemos al verlos.  Según la misma Linda, el dibujo ha formado parte de su vida en los últimos 40 años. Autodidacta y realista son dos de las muchas cualidades con las que cuenta esta maestra del dibujo. [...]

[...] The master of graphite pencil muestra una colección de dibujos de Linda Huber, una maestra del dibujo en lapiz. Sus obras reflejan una gran perfección en los trazos y hacen que nos maravillemos al verlos. Autodidacta y realista son dos de las muchas cualidades con las que cuenta esta maestra del dibujo. [...]

OMG!! You really are awesome, congrats! :-)

Wow! Wonderful work. I don’t ever leave comments. I would like to become a successful artist someday; this is really wonderful.

What a shame people have to criticize another person’s artwork instead of critiquing their work. There are just so many ignorant people out there, you can tell how ignorant they are by their negative comments they post, and how short their comments are. I find your sketch work to be extremely impressive and inspirational.

I had visited your website back in November and was so impressed that I decided to try and push my sketch work to your level of photorealism.

I agree that artist love feedback, and learn from it, but negative feedback is just rude and insensitive. A true artist will accept any feedback and brush off negative comments as I have read.

I tend to stick to the old saying “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all”!

If you would like to see how Linda has inspired my work, go to http://www.myshadowphotography.com and click on the graphite sketches link.

may i leave a comment !!?

i just think that these are such amazing analytical and hyper realistic drawing u thing no matter if its authentic, old techniques or some deja vu. i think yet i ve never seen such reproductions with pencils, i personaly prefer other kind of drawing less realistic more creative but still i say : ” chapeau madame linda “

the drop of the branch ! is really something !

Wonderfull work…but it’s not art…just copy. Sorry.

Somewhere in history, the Art world became distorted. Linda Huber is a very gifted and talented Artist and it takes a great Artist to make a piece look real. The person that criticizes her work as being not art but just copying is most probably an Abstract Artist or a fan of lesser talent and these individuals have no Artistic ability or taste whatsoever, yet the distorted world praises them with top billing, while someone with true Artistic ability is tagged as merely a copier. Beautiful, harmonious perfections are replaced with dark, chaotic distortions. Some may say that everyone has different styles. That’s just an absurdity to excuse chaos and confusion into being in the same league or better with harmony and perfection. The “Copier” indeed, is the person that has no authentic Artistic ability and attempts to impersonate one with works that when, they are gazed upon, no one has any idea what it is.

I find that this is an interesting example of the difference between art and craft. Personally, I find these to be pure craft. I do not deny the level of technical achievement she has accomplished, however I fail to see how this woman has created an image that is compelling beyond its level of craft. These have obviously been directly copied from photographs and the artist has asserted little intervention between the content of the photograph and the content of her drawings. In essence, the work’s total lack of content, in my opinion, bars it from the arena of art.

However, as far as craft goes, this is top notch. If she combined this with some actual content, then I might be interested.

Hi Linda, i think your work have reached a level of perfection..i’m an artist as well and i’m interested in realistic pictures but in pastel not pencil so you somehow inspired me to continue drawing because i stopped for awhile..your paintings are adorable although they are copied,YOU HAVE THE TALENT..in ART everyone has his own taste,people might agree & might not, just be who you are..what matters is to enjoy it and transfer your feelings in what you are doing..its about the process of doing an artwork not just the final outcome..artists have high sensuality.. keep going on..Art has no limit.

I’d give my left hand to be able to draw that good with my right hand

Really nice drawings.

These are great drawings from photo references. Having recently started drawing again after many years, I know how hard it is to “copy” a photo with pencil and paper. (If you doubt that, give it a shot yourself, then go get Betty Edward’s Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain).

There’s certainly room for the old debate about whether a photo-realistic drawing (or painting) of a scene is “art”. To me, it’s as much “art” as cubism or impressionism, but people are free to disagree.

Amazing works of art. I have seen some stunning examples of pencil art on deviantart.com. Also check out Andy Buck - he is truly a master of pencil art. Thanks for sharing this with me and all art lovers around the world:)

wonderful thanks to bring beauty to the world= maravilloso, gracias por trear belleza al mundo in case you were wondering

It’s so easy to do. Demerit the work of another under the name of criticism, and is especially easier when the critic is without any creative talent of their own.

All that is left is non-creative, non-constructive whining. Is this the goal of which negative posters aspire?

One can imagine they must have a superlative eye for art.

You’ve done well, Linda. My eyes thank you for the candy. :)

cool, kinda. but drawing photographs (especially of celebrities) is iffy unless taken by the artist herself. would love to see the application of this skill to some more interesting ends

wow. simply amazing. how much do i have to pay you to draw me?

Hi, Linda, your drawings are so beautiful, work like this is very inspirational.
Thanks.
I’ll really proud with your comments in my drawings.
http://www.fgportraits.net

I am always amazed at the amount of detail that you put in to your artwork. I’ve read through a lot of these posts and it’s my opinion that you have an amazing talent. When I look at your artwork I feel like the images are ALIVE and that is something that very few artists can achieve. I don’t believe there are any rules that define what art is and what it isn’t and that is the beauty of art - that’s why a painting that an elephant did can can sell for thousands. :P All I can say is bravo! Keep up the great work! You most definitely have a fan here.

I too am a commission artist for realism, but must say that I’m nowhere close to your level yet Ms. Huber. And commend you on such fine works. And look forward to exchanging e-mails w/ you later.

To the negitive comments. It aways seems to get me when I am told I’m not a true artist, because I don’t splash paint on a canvas and call it art. I’ve worked in all kinds of mediums, but settle on what “I” concider to be true art. I can, and sure you can set down and sketch any past art piece that has ever been done. But don’t do so because we are our own artist.

But never mind the critics let them do what they think is a valid debate, They say you don’t express yourself and only use photos for art, When in fact you express yourself by showing that you are realistic, and very detailed in what you do. That is the expression thats being made.

I was once told by someone that Art, is Art. If you sketch an apple, or paint an apple, even take a photo of that apple it is always going to be an absractaction of that apple.

Very nice work…

Jon I agree drawing from the right side of the brain is a wonderful book…

magnificent artwork!

wow, amazing stuff…using it for my GCSE artist research:D

fantastic ,its a super job ,your pencil work excilent,i m your fan….

unbelivable works [i think are world fomus] i love your skills

plz send information my mail addres [thank you

I almost never leave comments, but these are stunning works.