The hand-drawn illustrations of Marcello Barenghi appear so realistic it makes us forget that they’re just drawings. His illustrations of fruits and other objects are so lifelike that it seems you can simply reach out and pick them up! It’s not surprising that he attracts a viewership of over 540,000 on Instagram alone.
Marcello, born and raised in Milan, Italy, got the genes of an artist from his father, who loved drawing, painting, clay modeling, and building plane models. He grew up looking at paintings and models suspended from the ceilings in his home.
That Marcello will become an artist, like his father, was a foregone conclusion for his parents. And he didn’t disappoint, they still possess his first drawing, rather doodling that turned out 3D when he was barely 18 months old. Probably this was an indication of things to come!
From his elementary school days, Marcello started drawing his favorite cartoons and comic characters. So good was he, that when he was only 11, he entered a TV contest and won a computer by drawing the caricature of Gaetano Scirea, the famous Italian football player.
It was only natural for Marcello to get enrolled in an art school. He attended the Art School ‘Boccioni’ in Milan, where he learned the techniques of watercolor, tempera and 3D clay modeling. However, the entry of computer graphics marked the end of traditional illustrations. Sadly, after 20 years in the art field, he was forced to stop drawing.
Marcello tried his hand at a regular job but lost it in 2013. Sitting at home unemployed, he chanced upon some drawing videos on YouTube. This is when he decided to open his own YouTube channel to offer drawing tutorials. And there has been no looking back since then.
Marcello Barenghi:
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