George Aquilla Hardy had some time on his hands during the pandemic. He put his artistic skills to works and created an image of what George Washington, the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797, if Washington were alive today.
| Hardy studied Washington's facial features and also searched for modern lookalikes online. According to the artist, he used "lots of source images of people with the correct features." These references include "Glenn Close, Michael Douglas, a wax work of Washington, and Roger Williams." He ultimately used Photoshop to create the final digital image.
| "He's a blend of those people really, in reference to paintings of him," Hardy said.
| A viewer could never tell Washington's face is actually a digital mash-up. Hardy did great work. After posting the image on Reddit, Hardy's Washington went viral—much to the surprise of the artist.
| "Firstly, thank you all for the amazing support and reaction to the image," he wrote. "As an individual whom as a child said 'I want to be an artist' I'm really quite taken back by the response."
| "There are many things I would have done differently with the Washington image if I had known it would garner this kind of reaction, that said, this is the first time I have to create such an image, and publicly display it. Perhaps some day I will redo the Washington image with your feedback in mind."
| Inspired by Hardy, other Redditors went to work. with eoford and when-the-fart both used face swap software to create their own present-day figures from American history.
| | Check out the present-day George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Benjamin Franklin below. | Hardy's impressive rendering inspired others to make their own present-day presidents and statesmen using face swap software. |
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