Painting of Tica by Dru Blair
drublair.com
drublair.com
However, when he writes: "This painting of Tica is not just a copy of a photograph, but is a product of many artistic decisions, whereas I deviated from the reference photo for more aesthetic appeal" I have to say, "not so much".
Photos are not 'mere reproductions of reality' any more than his painting is. Paint, print, screen, clay, plaster -- these are not reality; they do not have the fidelity of the real world. When I paint, I must decide to what degree the intensity of light is important, to what degree the detail is important, to what degree the tonal range is relevant to my portrayal. Even more importantly, choosing which part of reality to examine is vital! Can a photographer pay no attention to aperture, shutter speed, composition, crop, focus? Can they ignore the possibilities of manipulating the world before photographing it (arranging, building, lighting, removing components until their "metaphysical value judgment" is satisfied? Sure, they can ignore all that. A camera with a timer can make an exposure, no metaphysical presence necessary. But no artist must do so. And even leaving things up to the camera is a "metaphysical value judgment."
You didn't make art. You used tools to apply pigment to a surface replicating a temporary sensory input; a purely mechanical recording of reality.
Well, perhaps, but it's border-line kitsch.
"What frightens me is that he claims photography is not art."
Lots of people think that way. Often they prefer kitsch and schlock.
Technical skill for it's own sake is pretty worthless. It's impressive, to a degree, but what matters is to what it is applied.
It's the difference between being able to recite the whole of On Lisp from memory and being able to write innovative software.
Bah. I'm not making aesthetic judgments --- I don't care if it's good or not. I do care that he is willing to deny an entire medium the ability to change the way I think, feel, and sense the world.
We live in a time when people think that art is a frivolity; silly at best and a senseless waste at worst. That is not because people have become less intelligent or less capable of culture. It's because artists (a community I count myself within) are failing to communicate, to relate to the rest of humanity. Artists denying each other's work and medium of choice is a pretty vicious act of treachery against the mission of reminding the world that art is vital --- it is both a living field and a necessity of life.
http://www.thetoyzone.com/2009/blog/10-awesome-images-that-a...
Very talented craftsperson.
> As a style, Photorealism has a few detractors, who often dismiss it as pointless, or non-art. They fail to realize that many photorealistic paintings are not mere copies of photographs, but interpretations of reality based on the artist's vision. The act of merely copying a photograph has no artistic merit except to hone one's artistic skills. Most of my aviation paintings would be impossible to photograph, such as Timing is Everything for example. This painting of Tica is not just a copy of a photograph, but is a product of many artistic decisions, whereas I deviated from the reference photo for more aesthetic appeal.
Your "craftsperson" reference is snide. I have a couple of snide opinions myself, I guess. It's obvious that there is a wide variety of compositions just dying to have photorealistic treatment--subjects where, as the author points out, getting a camera shot would be impossible. Unfortunately, being able to do photorealistic art takes real skill, and that skill appears to be consistently deprecated by the art world.
Of course, while many things re impossible to photograph for one reason or another, visual effects artists and compositors specialize in making it credible - as someone with an interest in the latter, I find his airbrush approach extremely interesting.
The system is now that popular artists are management with a crew of lower tier artists who function as manufacturing.
Artisans, including air brush artists, are now by definition not Artists, because to celebrate your technical skills is to be seen only as a technician by the "Ideas are Art" crowd.
Similar enough to the management/programmer divide.
I've seen videos not unlike your F111 ("Timing is Everything").
This artwork undoubtedly takes huge skill - I think that it is deprecated because it doesn't appear to say much beyond the actual image. It doesn't appear to convey deeper meaning, resonating with something of the social climate and the person of the viewer as [I consider] good art should.