On PhotorealismWritten by Nashville
American photorealist Audrey Flack has once said and I quote, “There is an instinct for realism, a powerful drive to reproduce oneself. The fascination of photorealistic paintings lies partly in their apparent replication of life, but these are not merely replications. These paintings are often out of life scale, varying from over life-size to under life-size, from brilliant, heightened color to pale, undertone hues."Flack’s thoughts sum up what Photorealism is all about. Known as a painting movement of mid-20th century which began in late 1960s, scenes are painted in a style closely resembling photographs in Photorealism. Artists painted from photographs or depicted objects and people as close to real life as possible, including every minute detail. However, true subject of a photorealist’s work is way we unconsciously interpret photographs and paintings in order to create a mental image of object represented. The movement’s center is located in United States. Among most highly-regarded American photorealist painters are Flack, Richard Estes, Chuck Close, Charles Bell, and Ralph Goings. Estes and Close are leading members of Photorealist movement. Estes specializes in street scenes with elaborate reflections in window-glass while Close does enormous portraits of neutral faces. The Photorealism movement was also strong in Europe from late 1960s into 1970s, where his type of illusionism is known principally as Superrealism. The style is tight and precisionistic. Some of renowned Russian photorealists include Andrew Abramov, Soryn Codytsa and Arlette Steenmans.
| | The Worn Out EffectWritten by Maricon Williams
A lot of people are fascinated just by looking at a photograph with a distressed effect. Perhaps they feel melancholy that it wants to convey. Perhaps they are amazed on how it is done. Perhaps they wonder what makes it special….I once visited an article by David Nagel entitled Photoshop Compositing, I can say that it was awesome. The transformation of photograph of a girl is striking - it was as if girl was struck by a subtle light on face. The transformation of an ordinary photo to a glazing one is truly worth knowing. Nagel simulated two photolab processes which are pushing film and bypassing bleach stage. A bleach bypass, according to him, is bypassing bleach stage in development process, leaving silver on negative. The result is akin to overlaying a black and white image on a color image. "Pushing" is when you set ISO on your camera to a higher speed than film is rated at, resulting in an underexposed image. In development stage, pushed film is processed to correct exposure, resulting generally in an image with more grain and a higher contrast. When we simulate these two processes together digitally, we can create that oft-sought nostalgic feel and turn a mediocre photo into something worth looking at. If you are eager to know what’s behind transformation here is how it is done courtesy of Nagel. After you have selected a photo, deal on this: 1. Color mode. To begin, make sure you're in RGB color mode rather than Lab.
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