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The Realism Challenge: Drawing and Painting Secrets from a Modern Master of Hyperrealism
A captivating, step-by-step guide that teaches artists to draw and paint exact duplicates of common objects, rendered in the trompe l'oeil, hyperrealistic style of artist Mark Crilley's popular YouTube video series. Are You Up to the Challenge? With just watercolors, colored pencils, and white gouache, artist Mark Crilley takes you step-by-step through his process for producing stunning, hyperrealistic recreations of everyday items. Based on Crilley’s mega-popular “Realism Challenge” YouTube videos, The Realism Challenge contains thirty lessons demonstrating how to render mirror-like duplicates in the trompe l’oeil tradition of everything from shells, leaves, and candy bars to your very own still life arrangements. Each lesson builds off the previous one, as you’ll master essential artistic techniques like creating drop shadows, adding highlights, and building from light to dark. Learn the secrets of one of hyperrealism’s biggest stars. Come take . . . The Realism Challenge!
162 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 5, 2015
131 people are currently reading
315 people want to read
About the author
Mark Crilley
115 books367 followersMark Crilley is an American comic book creator and children's book author/illustrator. He is the creator of Miki Falls, Akiko, and Brody's Ghost. He is also noted for his instructional videos for drawing in the manga-style. Crilley distributes drawing advice to artists via YouTube videos and his DeviantArt account. In August 2010, he starred in some how to draw videos for Funimation on demand. Mark Crilley's wife is Miki Crilley who he named Miki Falls after. The two have a daughter, Mio, and a son, Matthew.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
March 16, 2015
~3.5
I read The Realism Challenge not because I want to learn to draw hyperrealistic still lives, but because hyperrealism--essentially the same school as "trompe l'oeil"-- requires the ability to see not what one expects but what is truly there, in shape and shadow and reflection. I hoped that this would be applicable to other forms of drawing.
The book starts out with a discussion of the author's initial YouTube video, "Realism Challenge: Crumpled Paper," in which Crilley first crumples a piece of paper, then draws its hypperrealistic likeness beside it. The book provides a series of lessons in which Crilley describes his "rules" and "tricks" for hyperrealism, in everything from the materials (Bristol paper, watercolors, colored pencils, and white gouache) to using a ruler to correctly capture angles and relative sizes. The lessons include household items such as paper, eggshells, popcorn, mushrooms, torn cardboard, seashells, cookies, an autumn leaf, and even a piece of toast, but it also includes traditionally challenging surfaces such as porcelain, wood, lace, glass, and tin foil. The most impressive piece, to me at least, was a plastic water bottle partially filled with water. Crilley captures the complex shadows and reflections effortlessly.
Hyperrealism is an interesting style. Crilley continually instructs the reader to look at what is really there; he suggests using a ruler to get the sizes right and never "guess" the complex contours. Rather than loosely draw in the rough edges of torn paper, he emphasizes the importance of forcing oneself to follow the precise curves and angles. The book doesn't speak in generalities; instead, each lesson is effectively a walkthrough "tutorial" of an individual image. It certainly makes the book more practical if you want to try these particular drawings, but it does make it harder to generalize. One thing he doesn't mention--and I desperately want to know--is how long each piece takes him. After reading the book, it seems to me that there aren't any easy tricks--just lots and lots of precision and work.
Overall, the book was a fast and interesting read, but I'm unconvinced that it is more widely applicable. My particular interest is in figure study, and the painstaking, ruler-oriented tactics for hyperrealism don't seem to scale to other areas. All the same, several of the principles, such as Crilley's careful observation of shadows and slow color gradations, are more widely applicable. Most interesting of all, I think, was the way in which Crilley views the simple everyday objects, from a half-eaten Twix bar to a rusty button, as forms and texture with the potential to become art.
~~I received an advanced reader copy of this book through Netgalley from the publisher, Ten Speed Press, in exchange for my honest review.~~
I read The Realism Challenge not because I want to learn to draw hyperrealistic still lives, but because hyperrealism--essentially the same school as "trompe l'oeil"-- requires the ability to see not what one expects but what is truly there, in shape and shadow and reflection. I hoped that this would be applicable to other forms of drawing.
The book starts out with a discussion of the author's initial YouTube video, "Realism Challenge: Crumpled Paper," in which Crilley first crumples a piece of paper, then draws its hypperrealistic likeness beside it. The book provides a series of lessons in which Crilley describes his "rules" and "tricks" for hyperrealism, in everything from the materials (Bristol paper, watercolors, colored pencils, and white gouache) to using a ruler to correctly capture angles and relative sizes. The lessons include household items such as paper, eggshells, popcorn, mushrooms, torn cardboard, seashells, cookies, an autumn leaf, and even a piece of toast, but it also includes traditionally challenging surfaces such as porcelain, wood, lace, glass, and tin foil. The most impressive piece, to me at least, was a plastic water bottle partially filled with water. Crilley captures the complex shadows and reflections effortlessly.
Hyperrealism is an interesting style. Crilley continually instructs the reader to look at what is really there; he suggests using a ruler to get the sizes right and never "guess" the complex contours. Rather than loosely draw in the rough edges of torn paper, he emphasizes the importance of forcing oneself to follow the precise curves and angles. The book doesn't speak in generalities; instead, each lesson is effectively a walkthrough "tutorial" of an individual image. It certainly makes the book more practical if you want to try these particular drawings, but it does make it harder to generalize. One thing he doesn't mention--and I desperately want to know--is how long each piece takes him. After reading the book, it seems to me that there aren't any easy tricks--just lots and lots of precision and work.
Overall, the book was a fast and interesting read, but I'm unconvinced that it is more widely applicable. My particular interest is in figure study, and the painstaking, ruler-oriented tactics for hyperrealism don't seem to scale to other areas. All the same, several of the principles, such as Crilley's careful observation of shadows and slow color gradations, are more widely applicable. Most interesting of all, I think, was the way in which Crilley views the simple everyday objects, from a half-eaten Twix bar to a rusty button, as forms and texture with the potential to become art.
~~I received an advanced reader copy of this book through Netgalley from the publisher, Ten Speed Press, in exchange for my honest review.~~
December 21, 2019
Absolutely gorgeous, Mark Crilley captures the exact art on here, with totally easy step by step pictures, I had completed a real-life drawing within 10 minutes of reading it, thanks to his format and quick teaching, straight to the point, but still tossed in with fun little tips! Highly recommend.
August 19, 2015
I like this guy from the beginning, he's upfront and honest and knows what he's talking about and no, my professors never had an answer as to what 'the rules' are either. In my opinion there are no rules. Art is what the artist says it is, but also what the viewer says. It exists on multiple levels and planes on thought and the question of 'is that art?' will forever be argued and disagreed upon.
Mark Crilley in The Realism Challenge goes back to the basics of art, bringing artists a cheat sheet, a 'how to' step by step guide on how to produce realistic drawings and illustrations following his own personal techniques.
When I was attending a Fine Arts program, in our drawing classes we were required to produce details completely in pencil with basic cross hatching that in all honesty is never used in illustrations and in no way looks realistic.
Crilley takes you beyond the classroom basics and propels your skills forward into mixed media techniques that will make your work come to life.
The idea of using black colored pencil for shadows rather than a darker shade of pencil lead is new to me, as well as using watercolor for base coloring techniques.
These techniques are first and foremost Crilley's chosen methods and clearly they work. The Realism Challenge is definitely a challenge, it takes years of practice and trial and error to find what works for you as an artist, this book is simply a good guide to get you going in the right direction.
Throughout the book, Crilley is training you to look closer and notice the subtle and unnoticeable. It's a good technique, once you start noticing the details, they can never be unseen and the challenges he provides are more than enough to keep you busy. There are dozens of surface types covered in the book and if you pay attention to his side notes, there are great tips and lessons to be learned.
I did hope he would get into why he chooses to use watercolor at certain times, to get into more of the technical aspect of his chosen mediums, but I suppose that's something the reader will have to figure out for themselves.
As a guide in hyper realism, The Realism Challenge is a great step by step introduction into realistic drawing. Ultimately, it's up to the artist to practice and perfect, and if you're truly interested in producing more realistic work, The Realism Challenge will help get you there.
I was given this book to review by Blogging for Books
Mark Crilley in The Realism Challenge goes back to the basics of art, bringing artists a cheat sheet, a 'how to' step by step guide on how to produce realistic drawings and illustrations following his own personal techniques.
When I was attending a Fine Arts program, in our drawing classes we were required to produce details completely in pencil with basic cross hatching that in all honesty is never used in illustrations and in no way looks realistic.
Crilley takes you beyond the classroom basics and propels your skills forward into mixed media techniques that will make your work come to life.
The idea of using black colored pencil for shadows rather than a darker shade of pencil lead is new to me, as well as using watercolor for base coloring techniques.
These techniques are first and foremost Crilley's chosen methods and clearly they work. The Realism Challenge is definitely a challenge, it takes years of practice and trial and error to find what works for you as an artist, this book is simply a good guide to get you going in the right direction.
Throughout the book, Crilley is training you to look closer and notice the subtle and unnoticeable. It's a good technique, once you start noticing the details, they can never be unseen and the challenges he provides are more than enough to keep you busy. There are dozens of surface types covered in the book and if you pay attention to his side notes, there are great tips and lessons to be learned.
I did hope he would get into why he chooses to use watercolor at certain times, to get into more of the technical aspect of his chosen mediums, but I suppose that's something the reader will have to figure out for themselves.
As a guide in hyper realism, The Realism Challenge is a great step by step introduction into realistic drawing. Ultimately, it's up to the artist to practice and perfect, and if you're truly interested in producing more realistic work, The Realism Challenge will help get you there.
I was given this book to review by Blogging for Books
May 3, 2015
"The Realism Challenge" is a how-to art book on the hyperrealistic style of illustration. The author's step-by-step lessons use Bristol board paper, graphite pencils (usually just for the initial work), colored pencils (for color detail), and watercolor (for larger areas of color). He assumed that you're familiar with using graphite, colored pencils, and watercolor, but he also gave hints about how to get certain effects with them in case you're a beginner. You could probably get away with just colored pencils if you don't have or wish to use watercolor.
This book was very good at teaching the reader the skills needed to make hyperrealistic illustrations. Once learned, those skills can be applied to hyperrealistic illustration of any subject. He broke each step down enough that I could both understand and see what he was doing at that point in the illustration. I have currently completed some of the initial lessons/challenges, and my drawing has definitely improved. I'm not sure if I have enough patience and love of detail to do some of the later challenges, though.
I think this book would be a great help to anyone just starting with hyperrealism--or with any drawing, for that matter, as it forces you to really see the object you're drawing. It's appropriate for teenagers and adults as long as you have the patience to put in the necessary detail. And we're talking a lot of hours (though not necessarily all at one time) for the later projects.
The Challenges:
BLACK & WHITE: torn paper, crumbled paper, broken eggshell
BASIC COLOR: popcorn, sliced mushroom
BASIC TEXTURE IN COLOR: piece of cardboard, seashells, cookie
BRIGHT COLORS: Fall leaf, toast with jam
ADVANCED SURFACES: piece of porcelain plate, carved wood head, cut rose, folded lace doily, strawberries
TRANSPARENT OBJECTS: clear glass bottle, clear glass box, marbles (and a piece of string), clear plastic bottle, assortment of glass objects
METALLIC SURFACES: spoon, crinkled tin foil, rusted chrome hub, metal Christmas bell, assortment of metallic objects
MANUFACTURED OBJECTS: plastic turtles, torn envelope with stamps, metal salt and pepper shakers, candy bar with shiny packaging, assortment of all types
I received this book as an ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.
This book was very good at teaching the reader the skills needed to make hyperrealistic illustrations. Once learned, those skills can be applied to hyperrealistic illustration of any subject. He broke each step down enough that I could both understand and see what he was doing at that point in the illustration. I have currently completed some of the initial lessons/challenges, and my drawing has definitely improved. I'm not sure if I have enough patience and love of detail to do some of the later challenges, though.
I think this book would be a great help to anyone just starting with hyperrealism--or with any drawing, for that matter, as it forces you to really see the object you're drawing. It's appropriate for teenagers and adults as long as you have the patience to put in the necessary detail. And we're talking a lot of hours (though not necessarily all at one time) for the later projects.
The Challenges:
BLACK & WHITE: torn paper, crumbled paper, broken eggshell
BASIC COLOR: popcorn, sliced mushroom
BASIC TEXTURE IN COLOR: piece of cardboard, seashells, cookie
BRIGHT COLORS: Fall leaf, toast with jam
ADVANCED SURFACES: piece of porcelain plate, carved wood head, cut rose, folded lace doily, strawberries
TRANSPARENT OBJECTS: clear glass bottle, clear glass box, marbles (and a piece of string), clear plastic bottle, assortment of glass objects
METALLIC SURFACES: spoon, crinkled tin foil, rusted chrome hub, metal Christmas bell, assortment of metallic objects
MANUFACTURED OBJECTS: plastic turtles, torn envelope with stamps, metal salt and pepper shakers, candy bar with shiny packaging, assortment of all types
I received this book as an ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.
April 9, 2015
Hyperrealism is one of those tricky things with me. Ask me about it on a Tuesday and I might be all, “This is fascinating!” Ask me the next day and I might be all, “Is this just about technique? Is that what we’re celebrating?” But even though I’m often on the fence about it, I feel like deep down we are all suckers for a good tromp l’oeil.
Mark Crilley is a total pro when it comes to drawing. I don’t think anyone would deny that, from manga to hyperrealism the guy can do some amazing things with color pencils and water color. You’ve probably drooled over his YouTube videos; I have! So when he put out an instructional book about his realism drawings I thought hey, that’s awesome, let’s check it out.
The book is written in such an encouraging way that you believe anyone can do this, even you! Which might be true, but here’s the deal, there are absolutely zero shortcuts. If you think this book is going to teach you how to draw perfect versions of objects instantly, you’re going to get frustrated quickly. If you enjoy tedious details and have the patience of Job, then you should really look into this type of drawing.
Crilley is great at encouraging, and I love how he is so willing to share his creative ideas and skills. I think he also does a good job at explaining how one should layer color, and also why shadows are important.
The problem I had with the book is that since it’s teaching you to draw objects as realistically as possible and to scale, that basically it’s like, “Look at your object. Now draw it exactly how it looks.” So I really I feel like if you don’t already have an aptitude for drawing, this isn’t a great book to start with for that kind of thing. If you have some basic drawing skills under your belt, you could most definitely do the first four or so challenges.
Honestly, I would love to see a video series with Crilley in the style of Bob Ross.
Mark Crilley is a total pro when it comes to drawing. I don’t think anyone would deny that, from manga to hyperrealism the guy can do some amazing things with color pencils and water color. You’ve probably drooled over his YouTube videos; I have! So when he put out an instructional book about his realism drawings I thought hey, that’s awesome, let’s check it out.
The book is written in such an encouraging way that you believe anyone can do this, even you! Which might be true, but here’s the deal, there are absolutely zero shortcuts. If you think this book is going to teach you how to draw perfect versions of objects instantly, you’re going to get frustrated quickly. If you enjoy tedious details and have the patience of Job, then you should really look into this type of drawing.
Crilley is great at encouraging, and I love how he is so willing to share his creative ideas and skills. I think he also does a good job at explaining how one should layer color, and also why shadows are important.
The problem I had with the book is that since it’s teaching you to draw objects as realistically as possible and to scale, that basically it’s like, “Look at your object. Now draw it exactly how it looks.” So I really I feel like if you don’t already have an aptitude for drawing, this isn’t a great book to start with for that kind of thing. If you have some basic drawing skills under your belt, you could most definitely do the first four or so challenges.
Honestly, I would love to see a video series with Crilley in the style of Bob Ross.
February 11, 2025
Crilley, Mark. The Realism Challenge: Drawing and Painting Secrets from a Modern Master of Hyperrealism. Watson-Guptill, 2015.
Perfecto. Su dibujo es absolutamente perfecto. Si bien dentro de esta corriente pictórica, que inaugura la década de los setenta, el dibujo cobra una notable importancia, no es menor la importancia que posee la escultura: las piezas de Ron Mueck (no title/Boy) John Andrea (Seated figure), Steve Gibson (Sleeping man) y Jeff Koons (Dirty) también son impresionantes.
Images and texts belong to their respective authors. The information for this image has been compiled from Art History (Book) and Discover Art (Magazine). [Las imágenes y los textos pertenecen a sus respectivos autores. La información de esta imagen ha sido recopilada a partir de Historia del arte (Rafols, 4ª ed., 2002); Revista Descubrir el arte (2003 y ss.)]
Perfecto. Su dibujo es absolutamente perfecto. Si bien dentro de esta corriente pictórica, que inaugura la década de los setenta, el dibujo cobra una notable importancia, no es menor la importancia que posee la escultura: las piezas de Ron Mueck (no title/Boy) John Andrea (Seated figure), Steve Gibson (Sleeping man) y Jeff Koons (Dirty) también son impresionantes.
Images and texts belong to their respective authors. The information for this image has been compiled from Art History (Book) and Discover Art (Magazine). [Las imágenes y los textos pertenecen a sus respectivos autores. La información de esta imagen ha sido recopilada a partir de Historia del arte (Rafols, 4ª ed., 2002); Revista Descubrir el arte (2003 y ss.)]
September 28, 2019
Interesting Challenges
I was a little skeptical that this book would proffer any advice that others already hadn’t. However, the side-by-side method is useful. Or even just laying your object on a piece of paper the same as you work on to see how the shadows fall. It teaches you - again - to look. Really look, observe and create what you see, not what you think you see. I thought I’d be using watercolour pencils instead of watercolour, not being great with watercolour. However, this is improved following the examples and I produced a piece of mushroom picture that did actually look like the manky piece of mushroom I chose as my object.
I was a little skeptical that this book would proffer any advice that others already hadn’t. However, the side-by-side method is useful. Or even just laying your object on a piece of paper the same as you work on to see how the shadows fall. It teaches you - again - to look. Really look, observe and create what you see, not what you think you see. I thought I’d be using watercolour pencils instead of watercolour, not being great with watercolour. However, this is improved following the examples and I produced a piece of mushroom picture that did actually look like the manky piece of mushroom I chose as my object.
July 7, 2020
One of the best hyperrealism and colored pencil technique books I've read. It definitely assumes you have an intermediate level of sketching and art ability as well as good quality materials. But for the artist who really wants to try some of the insane realism capabilities of colored pencils, this book is a great foundation.
July 20, 2020
Great book!
This was a good book for me.. I had become bored with my artwork and needed to focus on my drawing skills. Mark has done a fantastic job at creating really nice artwork out of some
Everyday objects. I haven't actually started any of the projects in the book but have read it twice! Now to get started...
This was a good book for me.. I had become bored with my artwork and needed to focus on my drawing skills. Mark has done a fantastic job at creating really nice artwork out of some
Everyday objects. I haven't actually started any of the projects in the book but have read it twice! Now to get started...
March 10, 2018
Some great drawings that I think will take me a while to be able to do. I hope to be able to get there eventually.
August 25, 2019
Excelente
Es un libro muy bien realizado, fácil de seguir, utilizando poco material.
Lo recomiendo ampliamente.
Puede ser útil para personas de distintas edades
Es un libro muy bien realizado, fácil de seguir, utilizando poco material.
Lo recomiendo ampliamente.
Puede ser útil para personas de distintas edades
November 24, 2019
The book doesn't include any techniques that will be a surprise, but shows them employed by a master of realism alongside photos of the object.
November 2, 2021
This book is very good at grasping the steps of making realistic art.
August 27, 2019
Very easily explained for a beginner artist, or hobbyist. I didnt finish the book along with studies, because I enjoy too many things and had to choose what to focus on and what to leave behind for later. Anyway i would surely recommend trying to draw along, and the author also has a very good youtube channel with quality techniques and fun content, a very down to earth guy with a sense of humour (markcrilley).
September 7, 2015
I wanted to read The Realism Challenge not for myself but for my daughter who has always loved art, I thought I could point out some of the techniques shown in the book to her. When I brought this up to her she became very excited, I didn’t know this beforehand but she’s watched Mark Crilley’s YouTube video “Realism Challenge: Crumbled Paper” several times. She explained that the videos he makes shows how he draws in time lapse. He places a real life object (crumpled paper) on screen first and then he begins drawing the object in real time. When he has completed his drawing it will look like the mirror image of the real life object. This concept sounded very fascinating! Due to her excitement and obvious knowledge of Mark Crilley we both decided to read the book and try a few lessons for fun. Now, I am no artist but I found his instructions and step by step process to be very clear and easy to follow. I only tried the first few challenges with the torn & folded paper and was surprised that when I followed his steps, and went very slowly, then I actually duplicated my real life object pretty well. Of course, these first few exercises were the easy ones! My daughter tried some of his more difficult challenges later in his book and they turned out really amazing, her roses especially.
The challenges in this book start out very basic and then increase slowly in difficulty. This allows the reader and/or artist to truly grasp his techniques and instructions, in fact he states throughout the book to repeat the challenges, to make sure you’ve really grasped the different techniques before moving on. This is a book that I believe anyone with varying degrees of artistic ability would enjoy. Mark Crilley gives great insight to his process and really makes you feel like you can complete these challenges easily. I also found his section on art supplies to be very helpful and informative. I tend to spend a lot of money when I buy paint, brushes, paper, etc. for my daughter since I don’t know what’s best in terms of brands. It was nice to read about and gain some insight on which supplies are worth investing your money in and which ones aren’t. Highly recommend and I know were already planning on purchasing The Realism Challenge once it’s released, my daughter wants to continue perfecting her new techniques.
**I received a complimentary advanced copy of this book from the publisher, Ten Speed Press and NetGalley in exchange for my honest review**
The challenges in this book start out very basic and then increase slowly in difficulty. This allows the reader and/or artist to truly grasp his techniques and instructions, in fact he states throughout the book to repeat the challenges, to make sure you’ve really grasped the different techniques before moving on. This is a book that I believe anyone with varying degrees of artistic ability would enjoy. Mark Crilley gives great insight to his process and really makes you feel like you can complete these challenges easily. I also found his section on art supplies to be very helpful and informative. I tend to spend a lot of money when I buy paint, brushes, paper, etc. for my daughter since I don’t know what’s best in terms of brands. It was nice to read about and gain some insight on which supplies are worth investing your money in and which ones aren’t. Highly recommend and I know were already planning on purchasing The Realism Challenge once it’s released, my daughter wants to continue perfecting her new techniques.
**I received a complimentary advanced copy of this book from the publisher, Ten Speed Press and NetGalley in exchange for my honest review**
October 8, 2015
The Realism Challenge: Drawing and Painting Secrets from a Modern Master of Hyperrealism includes amazing comparison shots of real objects side by side with their finished illustrations. Although the finished illustrations in his title are a little intimidating the suggestions and tips included will help anyone improve their artwork. The step-by-step instructions are succinct and to the point. Images of the works in progress help to clarify each step. Mark Crilley presents a calm and encouraging tone throughout The Realism Challenge. This title gives aspiring artists many projects that will be useful in developing their skill. As Crilley mentions in the beginning of The Realism Challenge: Drawing and Painting Secrets from a Modern Master of Hyperrealism there are also videos online demonstrating the techniques described in the book.
NOTE: I received this book from the Blogging for Books program in exchange for this review
NOTE: I received this book from the Blogging for Books program in exchange for this review
June 22, 2015
With challenging realistic drawing tutorials, it is a well written book and the pictures are awesome. This book has made so much difference in my drawing ability! I highly recommend this book.
November 22, 2015
excellent work
A great book with an amazing amount of great exercises. I would recommend it for anyone wanting to improve their realistic drawing skills.
A great book with an amazing amount of great exercises. I would recommend it for anyone wanting to improve their realistic drawing skills.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews