Photorealism: The Art of making a painting from a

photo.

What is Photorealism? What defines it? What are the 5 characteristics

of Photorealism? Is photorealism still relevant? Learn more about the
Photorealism art movement.

Introduction
Throughout the ages, artists have worked to depict their world through their art. From the
earliest rock painters of the paleolithic age to the artist in the modernist era, representing the
world, its people, and its surroundings have been an overwhelming drive of the art world. One of
the earliest examples of Photorealism can be found in the late Roman period (147-30 B.C.),
termed Verism, derived from Latin for true.

As the art world evolved over the centuries, techniques evolved and various styles and art
movements came up. One such major art movement in the modernist era is Photorealism or the
art of a making painting from a photo. Before photography developed, artists would make
paintings directly by observing their subjects in their natural settings and replicating them on
canvas through painting. They paid particular attention to the detailing, the study of expressions
and anatomy, and the play of light and shadows. In the 1600s detail and a realistic, lifelike effect
were in high demand. These artists often used numerous layers of carefully thinned oil paint to
avoid any traces of brush strokes and build up rich and vivid colors in their work. Painting still
life images with simplistic, subtly lit backgrounds, their candles, fruits, bones, quills, and other
objects were incredibly lifelike.

Monalisa By Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci was noted for the detailing in his oil painting portrait works, which he
mastered by studying the human anatomy. Other artists like Monet, focussed their efforts on
studying light and shading, trying to replicate the effect on their canvas. Dutch masters like
Johannes Vermeer used similar fine brush strokes to achieve highly realistic portraits and
paintings.

It can be said Photorealism, the art of making a painting from a photo, is a movement
associated with the development of the camera and its technology. The principles of realism and
likeness have existed throughout the history of art for much longer than the camera existed.

During the early stages, as camera technology developed, it rocked the foundations and
principles of painting. Traditionally as an art form, paintings offered pictures of the scenes,
people, and the world around us, but a photograph was suddenly able to do the same thing in a
fraction of a second. Artists and painters had to reevaluate their own goals, methods, and styles
they used to accomplish them. Over time, photorealists warmly embraced photographs as the
primary source material to gather information to make a painting from a photo. Initially, the
artists went to great lengths to hide the fact, that the painting was made from a photo, as it was
deemed inappropriate to make a painting using photos as an aid.

When did Photorealism start?

As an art movement Photorealism evolved from the pop art movement and as a counterreaction
to the abstract and minimalist art movement in America in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

To give a short primer of the modern art movements, the Modern art era started with
Impressionism, named after Claude Monet's oil painting work Impression, Sunrise, Soleil levant
then came Post-impressionism, led by Vincent van Gogh, Paul Gauguin, Georges Seurat, Henri
Rousseau, and others, followed by the Cubist movement led by Pablo Picasso, Georges
Braque, and others. The cubist movement gave to Abstract expressionism led by Jackson
Pollock, Mark Rothko, Williem de Kooning, and others. The abstract expressionism movement
was followed by an even more extreme form of an abstract art form, called Minimalism, which
developed in the 1960s.

What influenced Photorealism?

Both Pop art and Photorealism developed as a counterreaction to Abstract Expressionism and
Minimalism, which became the dominant styles in the art world during the time. Both the art
movements (pop art & photorealism) rejected the contention of the dominant art view that art
needs to be stripped off its imagery and had to be reduced to basic geometric forms and
shapes.

Pop art used pop culture and advertising motifs, symbols of mass production and consumption
culture of the time, to reflect the exuberance of consumer culture.

By combining popular mass culture objects, kitschy elements of everyday life, humor,
playfulness, irony, and everyday emotions with fine art, pop art transformed mass culture into
fine art.

Photorealism, though influenced by Pop art, went in the opposite direction. Instead of using
consumer imagery, symbolism, and comic book representation like Pop art, it took photos as its
source material and sought to recreate the photographs as paintings on canvas as realistically
possible. in Photorealism, the photograph became the sole arbiter of reality as perceived by the
artist, making a painting from a photo an acceptable art form.
What defines photorealism?
Photorealism defined as a genre of painting where a painting is created from a photograph that
appears very realistic like a picture is called photorealism. In simple terms, making a painting
from a photo is called Photorealism.

Who coined the term Photorealism?

In 1970, the Whitney Museum catalog for "Twenty-two Realists" used the word Photorealism for
the first time, coined by author and art dealer Louis K. Meisel in 1969.

At the request of Stuart M. Speiser, who had commissioned a large collection of works by the
Photorealists, Louis K. Meisel developed a five-point definition two years later.

What are the 5 characteristics of photorealism?

The 5 Characteristics of Photorealism, or the art of making a painting from a photo, as defined
by Louis K. Meisel are:

1. The Photo-Realist uses the camera and photograph to gather information.

2. The Photo-Realist uses a mechanical or semi-mechanical means to transfer the information

to the canvas.

3. The Photo-Realist must have the technical ability to make the finished work appear
photographic.

4. The artist must have exhibited work as a Photo-Realist by 1972 to be considered one of the
central Photo-Realists.

5. The artist must have devoted at least five years to the development and exhibition of
Photo-Realist work.

What is another name for photorealism?

Making a painting from a photo, realistically has been termed Photorealism. Photorealism is
also known as Hyperrealism, Super-Realism, New Realism, Sharp Focus Realism, and Verism

Techniques of Photorealism
It must be clear by now, Photorealist painting cannot exist without the reference photograph.
Photorealists use reference photographs as the source material for making a painting from a
photo and attempt to recreate the image as a painting on canvas as realistically as possible.
Making a painting from a photo is central to Photorealism. These types of paintings are created
as oil paintings on canvas. After receiving the reference photograph, the artist will systematically
transfer the image from the photograph to the canvas. Making a painting from a photo is done
either by projecting the photograph onto the canvas or by using traditional grid techniques. The
resulting images are often direct copies of the original photograph but are often larger than the
original photograph. Creating oil paintings of this type requires rigorous training and a high level
of technical prowess with mastery over reflectance, and angular congruence, and the style
needs to be precise and tight.

What is the difference between photorealism vs Hyperrealism?

Hyperrealism grew out of the photorealism art movement. Photorealism differs from
hyperrealism in that, unlike photorealists, hyperrealists add narrative and emotion to their work.

While photorealists devote themselves to making a painting from a photo faithfully, hyperrealism
adds emotions, messages, and narrative to their work.

Some examples of Photorealism

Photorealistic Memorial Portrait of Susan Wakil,

Australian Millionaire, and Philanthropist (Image Credits: Paintphotographs.com)

Is photorealism relevant today?
Photorealism as an art movement emerged in America during the 1970s and soon spread to the
rest of the world, with many European artists joining the movement.

American painters like Richard Estes, Chuck Close, Audrey Flack, Charles Bell, Robert Bechtle,
Ron Kleemann, John Salt, and Tom Blackwell were among the first-generation pioneers of the
Photorealism movement. With many European artists joined the movement. Contemporary
artists, like Clive Head, Raphaella Spence, Bertrand Meniel, and Roberto Bernardi are
considered leading artists of the Photorealism movement.

In a letter to Lois K. Meisel, artist Geroge D. Green, a leading painter, and theoretician of
abstract illusionism acknowledged the debt of today's realist artists to photorealism thus:

'The battering ram of Photorealism has had a hard charge at the status quo and take back
intrinsic aesthetic values. Values not tecniques. Old master technology was always been with
us. For some artists, it offers personal utility. But the technique is not what this is all about. The
photorealist recovered and resurrected many of the values of the so-called Old Masters, but
they did so by introducing new/revolutionary techniques and processes some of which harkened
back to the past times and many of which depended on new technology and products. When my
work is fully understood and accepted it will be the Photorealists and you to whom I will be
indebted.'

Photorealistic Family Oil Portrait Painting( Image Credits: Paintphotographs.com)

Beyond the art world, photorealism's real contribution has been in taking the movement to the
masses through technologies like the internet. In the earlier days, if you wanted to make a
painting from a photo, you would need to find an artist, check his quality of work, and
commission him to make a portrait. After giving him the commission you will then need to pose
for the artist for several hours, while he makes a draft sketch of you. Once the draft sketch is
ready, the artist will then take it to his studio and start the work of making your portrait from the
draft sketches. Which may take several days or even weeks. Thereafter once the painting is
ready, you will need to visit the artist for the final sitting and approval. The entire process of
making a portrait painting was rendered cumbersome before the advent of photorealism.

The advent of photorealism, making a painting from a photo, has transformed the entire process
of making portrait paintings. All that an artist needs now is a high-quality reference image of the
subject to make an oil painting portrait. The artist will then work with the reference image and
create a portrait painting based on the reference image.

Photorealistic Single-Person Oil Portrait Painting (Image Credits:

Paintphotographs.com)
Using the techniques of Photorealism, the artist makes a painting from a photo. The paintings
are oil painting portraits, that depict various types of portraits like individual portrait paintings,
couple oil portraits, children oil painting portraits, religious and devotional oil paintings, family oil
painting portraits, memorial portrait oil paintings, composite oil painting portraits, pet portraits,
old masters handmade oil reproductions, creating new paintings from old photos and even
handmade contemporary fine art reproductions.

The entire process of making an oil painting portrait has been simplified and effortless by the
advent of the internet and social media. The portrait can be commissioned over the internet by
sharing a reference image. The artist makes the portrait painting from a photo and shares the
image of the painting with the client over email and WhatsApp for approval. Once approved the
painting is delivered to the client.

Photorealism and the internet have expanded the commercial reach of artists worldwide earlier
localized to their neighborhoods. A client can be based out of the United States, or in the Middle
East like in Turkey, UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, or Oman, and commission a portrait artwork while the
artist will execute the commissioned art based in India or Asia. It is like having an artist always
near me or you whether you are based in New York, California, Los Angeles, or you are based
in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha, Riyadh, or Muscat.

Conclusion:
Thanks to the internet and the techniques of photorealism, which enable an artist to make a
painting from a photo, now dedicated websites like instapainting.com, paintyourlife.com, and
paintphotographs.com, that create custom handmade oil portrait paintings and oil paintings on
-demand. The paintings produced by these sites are used by patrons as elegant anniversary
gifts, wedding gifts, birthday gifts, housewarming gifts, retirement gifts, and Mother's day gifts.
Photorealism continues to be hugely relevant to the world today.

To order a custom handmade oil painting or a portrait painting you can visit our order now page.
To know the prices you can visit our pricing page. To see our work you can visit our gallery
pages. To connect with us ping us on our chat messenger on the website or ping us on
Whatsapp or call us at 918291070650 or drop us an email at support@paintphotographs.com

For further reading, you may refer to the notes and reference section

Notes & reference section

https://www.google.co.in/books/edition/Photorealism_in_the_Digital_Age/Zf-4DwAAQBAJ?hl=en
&gbpv=1&dq=photorealism&printsec=frontcover

https://www.google.co.in/books/edition/Photo_Realism/phIRAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0&bsq=in
author:%22Louis%20K.%20Meisel%22

Louis K. Meisel Gallery

George D. Green Art Institute

Photorealism and the Camera: A Conversation With Louis K. Meisel — Online - Don't Take
Pictures