Swedish painter passes off self-portrait as a photo, gets it printed on his driving licence - Polidicks

[img]http://imgkk.com/i/hpi2.jpg[/img] [url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-20739778[/url] [quote=BBC News][B]Fredrik Saker's driving licence does not look exceptional.[/B] His severe face stares out from the plastic issued by the Swedish Transport Agency. It does not flatter him. But it is highly unusual because the likeness on the licence is a self-portrait, not a photograph. The 29-year-old Swedish artist wanted to prove to himself that he was good enough to paint a work that could pass as a photograph. And, as he told the BBC, his work now has an official seal of approval. "I was a bit surprised but very satisfied when I received the licence. "I was happy with the painting, but I was nervous. Perhaps it would not get through." Mr Saker had studied the code of the Swedish Transport Board before he submitted his likeness. It required a photo to be submitted that was a recent likeness. But nowhere did specify that the photograph had to be of the subject. So Mr Saker thought a photograph of a self-portrait would do just as well. The Swedish Transport Board told the newspaper Dagens Nyheter: "We have examined the original documents and compared them with his previous driving licence. The picture we have received looks like any other photo, so we have had no reason to question it." To get the official stamp of approval, Mr Saker worked on his self-portrait for about 100 hours with brushes he termed ridiculously fine, with barely any bristles. The technique may hark back to the art of the 16th Century miniaturists like Nicholas Hilliard, but Mr Saker's inspiration has been technology and questions of identity. "The picture's title is 'This is not me'," he told the BBC, "after Magritte, whose 'Ceci n'est pas une pipe" sat beneath a picture of a pipe. "Like Magritte, I want to question of what is true and what is false, and question what a picture or a photo actually is. "Since I have a history of Alzheimer's (the most common form of dementia), strokes and other brain-related illnesses in my family, I know that the human mind and perception can change in a matter of seconds, and what appears true to one person can be exactly the opposite to someone else." Another inspiration was the Norwegian-born artist, Kjartan Slettemark, who made a career through questions of identity and travelled round Europe in the 1970s on a passport in which his head and beard had been superimposed on a photograph of the US president, Richard Nixon. For his licence, Mr Saker deliberately set out to paint himself as he is - on a bad day. "I don't look good. My face is flushed and I am having a bad hair day. "None of my friends ever says, 'Look at my driving licence, don't I look good? "This picture is a milestone. It's a sign that my painting is getting better. Now I am embarking on another eight to 10 similar paintings. I start shooting a couple of people in the next couple of weeks and we will soon be reapplying for licences." Mr Saker intends to exhibit all the paintings when they are completed, but for now, policemen can get a free viewing if ever they stop him on Sweden's roads.[/quote]

Had me fooled.

It's probably not distinctable from a real photo anyway on that small format.

Honestly, the only way I could tell that it was a painting, was because his neck looked a bit odd.

[QUOTE=Paul McCartney;38842342]Honestly, the only way I could tell that it was a painting, was because his neck looked a bit odd.[/QUOTE] The edges around the beard are clearly brush strokes

[QUOTE=Desuh;38842334]It's probably not distinctable from a real photo anyway on that small format.[/QUOTE] That's not a word

Somebody should draw themselves with mspaint and try to use that

well these kind of things would be expected when your middle name is Danger

[QUOTE=J!m;38842543]well these kind of things would be expected when your middle name is Danger[/QUOTE] And his last name is Säker (safe)

[QUOTE=KingKombat;38842389]The edges around the beard are clearly brush strokes[/QUOTE] Maybe they're clear if you're an artist looking through a microscope.

[QUOTE=Warship;38842502]Somebody should draw themselves with mspaint and try to use that[/QUOTE] Pixel by pixel with the pencil tool and manually calculated and selected colors. :v:

The only thing that threw me off were the eyes. They're a bit flat and not twinkly.

wow, I'm surprised they have black and white photos on their licenses there. That seems like something that would be a hindrance for identifying someone, not being able to see their eye color/hair color

[QUOTE=notlabbet;38853753]wow, I'm surprised they have black and white photos on their licenses there. That seems like something that would be a hindrance for identifying someone, not being able to see their eye color/hair color[/QUOTE] Well, with the cost of ink being about the same as albino baby blood, it's probably better just to go with black and white

[QUOTE=Warship;38842502]Somebody should draw themselves with mspaint and try to use that[/QUOTE] Plutonia could probably do it.

[QUOTE=BreenIsALie;38853776]Well, with the cost of ink being about the same as albino baby blood, it's probably better just to go with black and white[/QUOTE] well, America has been doing color photo IDs for ages. I can look at my dad's first driver's license and its in color.

[QUOTE=notlabbet;38853753]wow, I'm surprised they have black and white photos on their licenses there. That seems like something that would be a hindrance for identifying someone, not being able to see their eye color/hair color[/QUOTE] It's done that way to make facial features stand out. The shape of your face is far less likely to change than eye/hair color.

Is it just me or is the neck really obvious? The face is very realistic, but the neck just jumps out at me.

[QUOTE=BreenIsALie;38853776]Well, with the cost of ink being about the same as albino baby blood, it's probably better just to go with black and white[/QUOTE] It's not [I]that[/I] expensive. Remember, the only bit that [I]isn't[/I] in color on the driver's license is the photograph. But it's not ink, drivers licenses are laser etches (to prevent counterfeiting), which is why they're in black and white.

[QUOTE=mac338;38854067]It's not [I]that[/I] expensive. Remember, the only bit that [I]isn't[/I] in color on the driver's license is the photograph. But it's not ink, drivers licenses are laser etches (to prevent counterfeiting), which is why they're in black and white.[/QUOTE] Interesting, I had no idea. I guess America's way of anti-counterfeiting ID photos is to put some extreme watermark on them. [img]http://a.scpr.org/i/2796edcb31c3b073cd04a9320c9d6423/5796-six.jpg[/img] as such

Really well done portrait, but for 100 hours of work I'm not extremely convinced. Then again, direct frontal lighting like that really flattens out the facial features making it much more difficult. [QUOTE=Grocel;38852903]Pixel by pixel with the pencil tool and manually calculated and selected colors. [/QUOTE] There is photorealistic pixel art out there FYI.

Those damn pesky swedes.

[B][I]DO THE IMPOSSIBLE PAINT THE UNPAINTABLE ROW ROW FIGHT DA POWAH[/I][/B]