Photorealism

It’s What I Do

Photorealism, or hyperrealism is kind of my thing when it comes to my animal portraits. Different people have different definitions for both photorealism and hyperrealism. Some people say they’re closely tied to each other, but not the same thing exactly. Other people use the terms interchangeably. Some definitions say that a photo reference must be used. Others say it’s not necessary.

Personally, I define photorealism as an artwork that appears as lifelike as a photograph. Generally, I do 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.

Basic drawing skills are necessary of course. But good rendering skills are what really makes a drawing or painting look realistic. In a nutshell, rendering involves adding color, 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

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. There is no shading or texture. (I’m eliminating the element of color here since most of my drawings are black & white.) And technically, I think this drawing has a few too many lines which indicate some amount of texture. But, it’s more line drawing than a rendering in any case, and certainly not photorealistic.

Alligator – rendered sketch

This next image is the same drawing, only slightly rendered. It fleshes out the animal a bit more and makes it a little more lifelike. There’s definite indication of shading and texture, but still not a great example (in my opinion) of photorealism.

Tiger postcard – This is not a photograph!

This last image is fully rendered to the point where, more often times than not, I have to point out that it’s a drawing and not a photograph. And yes, this would be (in my opinion) a good example of photorealism.

If You Can Draw Like That, You Should Be Able to Draw Anything…Right?

My perception of a caricature I did years ago.

Photorealism is a natural inclination for me. It’s how I naturally draw. That’s what makes it extremely difficult for me to do caricatures, which minimize detail and/or exaggerate some characteristics. I remember doing a caricature years ago and thought I did a fabulous job of simplifying the person it was supposed to be. The people who requested the drawing had me revise it four or five more times until I was sure it looked like a cue ball (he was bald) with glasses. Everything in me screamed, “More detail!!”

One of my goals in life is to create a graphic novel. I realize that at some point, I’m going to have to get over the instinct to make all of my stuff photorealistic. This is also why my daily sketchbook was difficult to keep up with. It was meant to be quick 15-20 minute sketches. Not line drawings, but minimally rendered. Some of them however, ended up taking a couple of hours to complete. And keep in mind the book itself is only 2.5”x4”! It’s a tiny sketchbook, so my sketches should have been quick.

Gesture drawing, which is also supposed to be very quick and very simplified, is rather difficult for me. Some of these sketches are as quick as 30 seconds. Yes, 30 seconds. The idea is to only find the main gesture, or movement of the subject. I’ll go into gesture drawing on a future post, but trust me…as of right now, I struggle with them.

So photorealism is my forte when it comes to animal portraits. It works for me and I enjoy doing the work. But I realize how it also hinders me. Somehow I need to detach from things being “perfect” and just get down the minimal amount of detail for concept sketches, gesture drawings, and graphic novels. If anyone has tips on loosening up, I’m open to comments and suggestions!

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