Lili Yuan is only 26 and her incredible art with photorealistic details has been impressing her viewers on the internet for the past three years when she began her painting practice. This artist, born in Hangzhou, China, didn’t take a single art class and is completely self-taught.
By the time this artist moved to Jacksonville in Florida, USA, and enrolled in Florida State College at Jacksonville, she had established herself as a naturally gifted artist. All this was thanks to her studying at various institutes in different cities of China and several countries since she was only 13. This made her independent and open to new cultures and experiences and helped her lay a good foundation for her future. It comes as no surprise that most of her works are based on her life’s exposures and experiences.
Yuan is an oil painter and a part-time photographer. Because most of her paintings are based on photography, they appear hyper-realistic. She’s passionate about colors and uses the rich tones of oil paints to give her paintings a life of their own. Added to this is her skill of rendering her subjects in the correct proportions and scales.
Yuan’s art journey actually began with her water series. One of her paintings from this series shows an overhead view of a woman in a red dress, sitting immersed in water in complete tranquility. Another one shows a woman standing submerged up to her chest and splashing water on her face. The details of every drop are so well captured that it has to be seen to be believed. Her subjects include cultures from around the world that infuse a sort of freshness to her works.
Yuan’s home studio near Ortega in southwest Jacksonville is strewn with her artworks in different phases of completion. And her completed ones are simply out of this world. It’s no surprise that her outstanding works attracted honors and recognition almost immediately. By combining both painting and photography, she has been able to develop her own unique style.
Most of Yuan’s paintings are showcased on Instagram, where she enjoys a viewership of over 79,000 followers.
Lili Yuan