Optical illusions: photorealism and hyperrealism in painting
As painters, we are privileged to live in the modern world. Artists currently have a wide variety of reference tools to choose from. Painters of old relied heavily on their ability to observe from life when rendering form. These days, artists have many options when deciding what they will use.
While some painters choose to remain ‘purists,’ only working from life, others believe that photographs, projections, and images you have carefully manufactured in image manipulation programs are all worthy reference sources. In other words, the sky is now the limit for the modern painter. Anything you want to paint is now at your fingertips with the click of a button. This freedom leaves new room for growth in technique and concept. Contemplating art history, we see the dynamic and circular process of the art world: to reject, embrace, and reject tradition. In our time of Jackson Pollocks and Damien Hirsts, who knew we would take this obscured path back to re-embrace tradition after a long period of disregard for it.
The resourceful painter can utilize all the technology around them to produce well rendered form and harmonious composition because these tools help you to obsessively edit your way to perfection before ever reaching canvas. The results are spectacular! Painters to appreciate working from photographs are Chuck Close, and more recent, Jenny Seville, who ushered photorealism into the 21st century.
Posted on June 20th, 2012 by admin
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