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Self-Taught Artist Highlights Wildlife’s Alluring Details in Photorealistic Paintings

Self-taught artist Franziska Treptow finds daily inspiration in nature’s splendor, a source she often refers to in her realistic drawings and paintings. Her tiny brush strokes and subtle shading techniques depict creatures both large and small, including wild cats, birds, and fish. One of her most impressive pieces—and the greatest demonstration of her artistic skill—is an up-close view of a leopard, highlighting the countless hairs that line its majestic face. If it weren’t for Treptow’s in-progress shots, we might think that the image was a photograph.

The innate allure of animals and flowers was what initially triggered Treptow’s need to produce art. “I see beauty in every detail of my subjects,” she writes on her website. “The viewer sees my perspective of the flora and fauna.” Often soft but sometimes bold, these varying visual styles represent the dualities present in our world.

Franziska Treptow: Website | Instagram | Saatchi Art

Sara Barnes

Sara Barnes is a Staff Editor at My Modern Met, Manager of My Modern Met Store, and co-host of the My Modern Met Top Artist Podcast. As an illustrator and writer living in Seattle, she chronicles illustration, embroidery, and beyond through her blog Brown Paper Bag and Instagram @brwnpaperbag. She wrote a book about embroidery artist Sarah K. Benning titled 'Embroidered Life' that was published by Chronicle Books in 2019. Sara is a graduate of the Maryland Institute College of Art. She earned her BFA in Illustration in 2008 and MFA in Illustration Practice in 2013.
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