Artist creates insanely realistic painting of Morgan Freeman using an iPad and Procreate

By Richard Devine
last updated

Simply put; this is insane. Artist Kyle Lambert has created this masterpiece that you'd be forgiven for thinking at first glance was a photograph but is actually a painting created using an iPad and the Procreate app. And a whole lot of time. About 200 hours to be precise.

Lambert has posted this time lapse video of the creation process as the image emerges, and it's absolutely unreal how realistic it is. Sure is a talented guy, but it also goes to show how awesome Procreate can be in the right hands. Grab that at the App Store from the link below, but do let me know what you think of this in the comments below.

Richard Devine
Richard Devine

Editor at iMore, part time racing driver, full time British guy. Follow him on Twitter and Google+

27 Comments
  • Wow that's amazing almost scary how close it looks to real life. This apps is a must for artistic iPad users! Great review! Sent from the iMore App
  • I caught this video yesterday via Twitter... Absolutely amazing. Art has been part of my life... well, all my life, and I'm still blown away when I see gifted people create such amazing pieces. My works in Procreate are no where near this calibre. The video is awesome.
    Well done.
  • Insane. Sent from the iMore App
  • That piece of art would deserve praise if done on canvas, as it is extremely well done. The fact that it was done on an iPad with a $6 app? Insanity is the only word to describe it. Props to Kyle and Procreate. Sent from the iMore App
  • I'm giggling at the seemingly random choice of Morgan Freeman but absolutely stunned with the process and outcome...incredible! Sent from the iMore App
  • Nice. But, Morgan Freeman? Really?
  • Morgan Freeman is the man! And so is Kyle Lambert! Really amazing work! Sent from the iMore App
  • Sick. Still can't believe it. Sent from the iMore App
  • That's really cool. Great to see the potential of iPads. Sent from the iMore App
  • Awesome, just simply Awesome. Sent from the iMore App
  • That's one of those things that you have to see to believe. Freakin' amazing! Sent from the iMore App
  • Wow. It really looks like a photograph. I'd like to see more pieces like this done on an ipad.
  • I have this app ... and literally don't understand how this is possible. Simply amazing.
  • Amazing. Simply amazing. The talent required to make something look so realistic is off the charts. I wish I had a small fraction of that kind of artistic ability. Sent from the iMore App
  • That was brilliant art. And what's more amazing is how realistic it looked. Considering it was drawn on an iPad. Procreate seems to be an extremely well engineered app. Sent from the iMore App
  • It's almost like watching a photoshop airbrush tutorial but in reverse. Instead of deleting the spots and blemishes he adds them. That is an insane eye for detail. Sent from the iMore App
  • This is just mind blowing. I teach a technology class to 8th graders and showed them this video today - it blew them away what is possible with technology. Sent from the iMore App
  • So want that app now even if there's no way I'd come anywhere close to such a result. Amazing. Sent from the iMore App
  • Its fake lads! I think this video is played reverse! FAKE!
    http://www.moviepilot.de/files/images/0486/8182/Morgan_Freeman.jpg
  • Congrats!
    You found the reference photo he used to create the, very real, painting.
    Did you think he painted this from memory? It's not fake, and if you actually watched the video you would see the process.
  • I still cant believe that this is possible. Sent from the iMore App
  • Because it's not :) its totally fake.
  • Prove it, or stop trolling.
  • I can not prove it like you can not pove it's real true one finger job! i'm just sayin what I can see! Someone is trying to make good advertisment for this app.
    But I know it is fake.
    In fact, at the end of the job, he is just erasing the paint, revealing the original painting that is under. Where people think that he is actualy adding final details. Done. The planet si fouled. :) You can check other works of the artist and you can see that none of them is like that. In some video tutorial, the artist revealing that for the details is using the "technique" were erase some paint and blend the work with the original photo details. In this Morgan Frieman "panting" case.... the artist erased everything painted, not just some detail areas. Also, you can compare original photo with the "painting" and you will see that there is not even one pixel difference betwen them.
  • Okay, now I see.. You're simply trolling.
    "Erasing the paint"!
    Are you crazy?
    If it's painting, it's impossible to erase layers of paint, especially on a computer screen.
    If it's a computer painting, then someone must have painted it, and if someone have painted it on a computing device, then logic says it's made by this dude in ProCreate on an iPad, recorded for our viewing pleasure.
    You can't take someone else's picture painted in a program and then strip seperate layers off.
    You can only do that in the program it's made in, with the original painting. Not just a copy.
    In the future, apply a bit off logic before posting nonsense in public.
  • Fake, a fraud http://www.hackerfactor.com/blog/index.php?/archives/582-Morgans-Curse.html
  • ...thats just insane, even if is a fake.