We are so accustomed to celebrity photos being photoshopped that it becomes a big deal when an authentic image gets leaked.

Singers, models, actresses – you name it, their photos almost always get photoshopped, regardless of the image’s final use.

This 20-year-old Spanish artist has been very busy retouching celebrities as well, but not quite as you’d expect. David Lopera doesn’t slim waists, make legs skinnier or hide double chins. On the contrary, the bigger the better as far as Lopera is concerned, as he tries to convey the message that big is also beautiful.

Lopera told DIYP he was inspired to create these images after he noticed how overweight women were being treated.

His first image was of Katy Perry and he has been very busy since posting it to his DeviantArt account last year, creating over 200 “super-sized” images.

Most images take a day or two to complete with a total of 6-8 hours invested in each one, but according to Lopera it is time well spent.

Stating that all his images are based on real photos, he explains a bit about his work process:

“First, I search a high resolution image and good quality. Depending on the body shape I do one time morph or another. I used to start with the face and the extremities. Then I search another image for can combine the current body with the searched image. I adjust the shadow and light and that’s it”.

Lopera says he’s received a lot of negative feedback as people aren’t used to seeing overweight women depicted as beautiful, confident and seductive, but the love for his work has been pouring in as well.

In fact about 5% of his images were commissioned work, while the rest were requested via DeviantArt or Facebook.

All too often we see skinny promoted as the only form of beauty, and it’s reached a point where ads are banned due to being suspected of encouraging anorexia. Even if plump (as Lopera calls it) it not your cup of tea, you must admit his approach is refreshing.

Opinions differ whether photoshopping women to appear fatter is any different than making them thinner, since the web is full of real plus-sized women trying to promote the ‘big is beautiful’ mantra, but Lopera’s intentions are most definitely positive.

Lopera stresses that he is not promoting obesity or unhealthy living, “I just want to people accept the big women a little bit more”.

[via Business Insider]