What Would George Washington Look Like If He Were Alive Today?

Most of us know at least a little something about the first president of the United States, George Washington. He served in office from 1789 until 1797, but most of us are either familiar with the “fake news” about him chopping down a cherry tree, or perhaps we have heard about his wooden teeth. We may even know what he looked like since his face is on the one-dollar bill.

Although that may have been what George Washington looked like back in the late 1700s, we may wonder what he would look like today. That is where George Aquilla Hardy comes in. He is famous for his photorealistic drawings, and he decided to take on George Washington as one of his subjects.

Hardy says that he did more than simply look at the more famous paintings of George Washington. He also looked for people who were somewhat his doppelgänger, looking at their common features and doing what he could to get the picture as realistic as possible. Some of the people that he referenced when doing this photorealistic drawing included Michael Douglas, Glenn Close, and Roger Williams.

After putting everything together, he blended the people by using Photoshop in order to create a digital image that is as realistic as possible. When you look at his picture of George Washington, it looks like somebody you would see when you were walking down the street. The image may be a mash-up of digital images, but it looks realistic.

According to MyModernMet, Hardy says: “Firstly, thank you all for the amazing support and reaction to the image. As an individual whom as a child said ‘I want to be an artist’ I’m really quite taken back by the response.” He went on to say that he may have done things a little differently if he knew that it would get this much attention. He may even go back at some point to redo the image.

Others have also used a similar technique after being inspired by Hardy’s work. They used additional presidents, such as Abraham Lincoln and Benjamin Franklin.