Paintings of still life that at once look real and as a photograph are very often in your mailbox forwarded by friends who cant believe that paintings can be done so realistically. Photorealism is one subject which divides a clear line between those who get it and those who dont. For one side if its skill and tradition, for the others it lacks artists perspective. For such a disputed topic, 'Photorealism: Beginnings to Today" has a great section of Artists Biographies which summarise the artists view of why they do photorealistic paintings.
For one artist, "changing the size of an object lets them explore its reality" like Georgia O keefe's flower paintings, for another, "cropping of the subject enforces tight composition", yet another shows "how people need chrome in a painting to see themselves". One artist convinces himself that he is creating everything he is painting.
The artist statements are very inspiring prompts for creative exercises.
For such a divisive topic, I would have liked more essays than available in the book.
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