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Photorealism is a style of painting that tries to replicate the look of a photograph.
The goal is to create an image that looks like it’s been taken with a camera and printed on canvas or paper.
The term “photorealism” was coined in the 1960s by Louis K. Meisel, who wrote several books on this subject and founded the Photorealist art Movement in New York City in 1969.
The origins of photorealism go back much further than that though–to around 1660 when Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer made his famous painting Girl with a Pearl Earring.
This piece was so realistic it fooled people into believing it was actually just another photograph!
The Photorealism Art Movement
Photorealism is a style of painting that strives to reproduce the appearance of photographs.
It emerged in the mid-20th century as part of the broader Photographic Movement, which includes other related genres such as photojournalism and street photography.
The movement began in America around 1940 and gained momentum after World War II with artists like Ralph Goings, Robert Bechtle and Richard Estes leading the way with their hyperrealistic renderings of everyday objects like cars or food items.
Photorealist paintings are characterized by their use of photographic techniques such as camera lucida drawings or images projected onto canvas through a lens (called projection painting).
They often depict scenes from daily life such as parks, urban landscapes or interiors.
Characteristics Of Photorealism Art
Photorealism is a style of painting that aims to accurately represent the visual appearance of a scene or object.
It may be considered as a branch of hyperrealism and is often confused with it, but it can also be distinguished by the fact that photorealists use photography as their source material rather than drawings or digital manipulations.
Photorealist paintings are often characterized by their high level of detail and use of techniques such as sfumato (smoky effect) and chiaroscuro (light-to-dark shading).
In general, photorealist paintings look like photographs because they aim to create this illusion through careful attention to detail and realistic approaches to light, shadowing & coloring.
Types Of Photorealism Art
Photorealism art is a style of painting that strives to create the illusion of a photograph.
The artist uses various techniques to achieve this effect, including airbrushing, stippling and other methods.
The result is a hyperrealistic painting that looks like it could be mistaken for an actual photograph if you weren’t paying close attention.
There are several different types of photorealistic paintings:
Painting
Paintings made with traditional media (oil paints) on canvas or board that attempt to mimic photographs in their composition and detail.
Drawing
Drawings made using pencils or ink pens on paper that also attempt to mimic photographs in their composition and detail but have more freedom than paintings because they’re not restricted by the size of the canvas/board surface area available for their subject matter.
However, there are still limitations due to how small you can make your lines before they become illegible when viewed up close at normal viewing distances (about 12 inches away from where you’re standing).
Printmaking
Prints created through any one or combination of processes involving intaglio engraving (etching), lithography (etching), relief printing via letterpress machines, etc, all done digitally now too!