How I Achieve Photorealism

My #1 Priority

Before we get into how I achieve photorealism, let’s define what photorealism is. Photorealism started off as a movement in the late 1960’s, primarily in New York and California. Photographs were used a visual reference. This allowed artists to capture everything about the subject matter, including imperfections. The goal being a finished piece that is so highly detailed that a viewer would think it was a photograph.

These days photorealism still encompasses work that is meticulous in detail and incredibly realistic. Artists use a wide variety of mediums and methods vary from artist to artist. And the ultimate goal is still to produce a finished work that looks as close to a photo as possible.

Personally, I always use a photo or reference of some sort. But sometimes, a client’s photo of their pet awkwardly chops off part of the animal’s body and I end up having to ad-lib a bit.

The method that I use to achieve photorealism is probably pretty common. I start off with a very light, basic line drawing. The line drawing stage looks closer to an image you’d see in a coloring book. Just the outline with little to no details other than the outline. Granted, mine has a little more detail, but you can see what I mean in the alligator drawings below.

To achieve photorealism, good rendering skills are needed. This is what really makes a drawing or painting look realistic. In a nutshell, rendering involves adding color, value (shading), and texture to an image. A line drawing for example, won’t have any rendering. One of my finished portraits however, is highly rendered.

For Example…

Alligator line drawing (Artwork: Myra Naito)

Alligator – rendered sketch (Artwork: Myra Naito)

To illustrate the difference, I’ll use three of my own drawings. As you can see, a line drawing is only comprised of simple lines and very similar to a coloring book. It is very flat because there is no shading or texture. (I’m not discussing the element of color here since most of my drawings are black & white.) And technically, I think this drawing has a too many lines which indicate some amount of texture. But, it’s still more line drawing than a rendering, and certainly not photorealistic.

This next image is the same drawing with some rendering. It fleshes out the animal a bit more and makes it a little more lifelike. Rendering takes away the flatness of the image. It’s important to accurately indicate highlights and shadow. Working with value in this way helps to indicate volume and depth in a drawing.

This is what helped to create the bone structure in the alligator’s snout. Compare it to the line drawing which lacks any sense of form or structure. At this stage, there’s definite indication of volume with shading and texture. And with the shading and texture, your mind starts to tell you what this beast might feel like if you were to touch it. But this is only about the halfway point to my photorealistic portraits because it still looks like a drawing.

Tiger postcard – This is not a photograph! (Artwork: Myra Naito)

This last image is fully rendered to the point where, more often than not, I have to point out that it’s a drawing and not a photograph. I have actually had several people who asked where I photographed the tiger or if they could hire me to take photos or their pets. This is why I had to add “This is not a photograph” to my postcards.

My Method of Rendering to Achieve Photorealism

Different artists have different methods of rendering. Some of those differences depend on the medium they’re using. For example, rendering in pencil is very different from rendering with paint. Rendering with pencils can involve stippling, cross-hatching, or scribbling to name a few.

My particular method with pencils is similar to circular scribbling. I draw tiny little circles to fill in each area. However, scribbling indicates some level of haphazardness. With my drawings, it’s not haphazard at all. It’s extremely precise. I prefer this method over cross-hatching because it’s much easier to get a smooth even tone and not have to worry about the hatching lines.

In order to achieve photorealism, I have to constantly refer to my reference photo where I’m primarily checking to make sure my values are accurate. This is a number one priority. No matter which medium you’re using, value is the most important element to get right. It creates volume, depth, shape, and also indicates the direction of light. If your values are off, your drawing won’t be believable. You have to make sure that your darks are dark enough and your brights are bright enough.

In many cases, with fur, I also end up using a blending stump to create the softer illusion of fluffiness. I will also use an eraser to “draw” in lighter fur or highlights. Often, it’s a lot of push and pull, give and take. I’ll add graphite and then erase, add just a little back and then erase again.

Tiger fur detail (Artwork: Myra Naito)

This is the way in which I get fur to have depth. Fur doesn’t lie flat all on one level. It overlaps. So the fur closest to the body is the deepest and therefore, mostly in shadow. Then, there are middle layers of fur, which are still in shadow, but not as dark as the bottom layer. And of course, the top layers of fur catch the most light. The only way to represent fur (or hair) accurately is to pay attention to your values.

But even though I am constantly referring to my reference photo, my drawings are not 100% identical to the photo, whisker for whisker. There are small differences. But to look at just the drawing alone, or even side by side, you’d still think it was a photograph at first glance. And that’s what I’m after. It’s also what my clients are after when they commission me.

As I mentioned earlier, different artists have different methods. There is no single “right way” to do this. Different mediums, different methods. There are even different methods of working with the same medium. This has been my method, in a nutshell, for how I achieve photorealism. It’s worked well for me for the past 30+ years. While I may pick up new tricks here and there, I always fall back on the basics for all of my work.

If you have a different number one priority for achieving photorealism in your artwork, please let me know in the comments.