Artist Born without Hands Draws Stunningly Realistic Portraits

We’ve seen a lot of hyper-realistic art here on OC, but the works of Polish artist Mariusz Kedzierski are especially stunning and awe-inspiring. That’s because he’s able to draw like a complete pro despite the fact that he has no hands. Each piece takes him at least 20 hours to complete, while his most complicated work to date required a whopping 100 hours. In seven years he has put in about 15,000 hours of work, completing over 700 drawings.

For some unknown reason, the 23-year-old from Świdnica city, in southwestern Poland, was born without hands. “There is no logical explanation,” he says. “In the past I have asked myself and God, ‘why me?’ many times. But when I accepted myself, I realized that if I would not be born without arms, I might not do what I do.”

Mariusz had several surgeries on his arms when he was younger, but none of them were effective. After his last operation at age 16, he decided not to wait any longer and simply pursue his dreams. So he started teaching himself to draw, by pressing the ends of his arms against a pencil. He later attended the E. Geppert Academy of Art and Design in Wroclaw.

Today, he’s able to create exceptionally realistic portraits using pencil on paper. One of his portraits received the second prize at the 2013 Best Global Artist Award in Vienna. For his latest project, ‘Mariusz Draws’, he traveled through Europe, drawing on the streets of Berlin, Amsterdam, London, Paris, Barcelona, Venice, Rome, and Athens. “I want to inspire people, show them that all the limits are in our heads,” he wrote for Bored Panda.

“I think that my talent is in spite of my arms,” he told Buzzfeed. “Everything comes to me naturally, so I can’t say it’s hard or easy to do without arms. I don’t know how it is to have arms because I have never had them.” And he makes portraits because he thinks he can express himself through the “feelings included in other people’s eyes.” “I love those undisturbed feelings which are written in their look,” he says.

In addition to being an artist, Mariusz hopes to become a motivational speaker some day. “I have a message to everyone, not only for disabled,” he said. “Fight for your dreams and live your own, great life. Do things that the others are afraid to do. Don’t waste your time, because it’s priceless.”