Photo realism isn't just simply copying a photo and then its done. There is a lot of thought and consideration in translating a photo into, lets say for instance, a graphite likeness. It just isn't that easy. I'm not talking about the technical demand of being able to see and lay down lines. I'm not talking about talent and ability (which A LOT if not all people have) - I am most absolutely talking about the thought process required and considered in making something as simple as graphite act and perform like the real life motions in a picture.
Lets take hair for instance, there isn't any way in the world that an artist can make you believe you are looking at art realism by just simply looking and copying each strand of hair. There is no depth to a decision like that, and that reflects immensely into the visual aspect of the piece. The depth of the decision is determining dark and light spots, compromising what will stay and what will be sacrificed for the believability of the picture. Every single mark on the paper serves a purpose and has to have thought behind it. Everything you are seeing or that you are not seeing in art is for a reason. Sometimes and most often the success of photo realistic drawing is about what DOESN'T make it in the picture. Much like live theatre performances, the life of a drawing is in the suspension of disbelief.
So, we all get the right/left side of the brain theory, and only seeing what our brain is interpreting and "allowing" us to see - but when you are drawing it - it is almost like you are re teaching the brain to NOT interpret information. Drawing like this is sometimes the reverse act of seeing and understand a picture. This doesn't make since, I get it - why don't you look at it this way...
The brain will take in all of the variables of any given situation and will "make sense" of it and then tell you what you are seeing, it isn't this complicated in the moment - we just see what we see right? Well, not with "Big Brother" the brain on our shoulders! There are many things that the brain will essentially discard and not submit to our conscious train of thought, these little bits of information are quite noticeable when you are looking at a drawing that is represented EXACTLY as it is and for what it is. Once you begin to visually dissect a photo, there are many things you will notice that didn't quite occur when you were looking at the picture as a whole, cohesive visual. So this is where the artist begins to grind the brain's clutch and force it into "reverse". The artist in these moments and situations are left with hundreds if not thousands of decisions of what should and should not be included to make their final image the product they want.
In photo realism, the artists brain has to be aware of how a viewer's brain is going to calculate and report the image back to them. Since we are used to looking at the faces and photos of people, animals, and objects it is a much more natural process for the brain to "whip up" it's well known visual recipes of what it knows and what it actually sees. The brain, not being as accustomed to seeing these people and things in graphite art will definitely "see" all the little fragments of information that when added up; isn't logical, or "learned", if you will.
So to make sense of a non sense blog post - the artist is left with the artistic process of a vast amount of techniques and demands when reproducing life. The most intricate, in my opinion, reverse engineering the brain's interpretation "process". To translate a visual image to it that makes as much sense as the real thing does, is no small task. Next time you see a piece of photo realism, take a few minutes to notice the little details, not as they contribute to the picture as a whole, but how they are constructed and comprised within themselves. These little things are all decisions of the artist, how they are made, at what intensity, with what tool, how much detail and most importantly, if they are there at all.
What is YOUR brain telling you when you see photo realistic art? Is it seeing a simple picture, a scene in the day of someone elses' life re represented or is it seeing a long and intricate series of decisions and actions made by a living breathing person in the process of creating what appears to be merely, a "copied" picture?
Tell me what you see.
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