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Realism...have we reached the limit?
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Posted
A few days ago, I lifted out an unused tin of Polychromos coloured pencils. Must get around to using them, I thought; and that evening I went onto the UKCPS site, plus Pinterest, to see what was ongoing in that sector.
So many pencil-works are now at perfection level that it's hard to tell a drawing from a photo....well, it is possible, but you know what I mean. The rendering done by people is now so accurate that it led me to wonder...where do we go from here? I don't totally dislike realism or hyper, it all depends on the subject; but at the end of it, why try and produce a photographic result? Lots of beautiful animal portraits, for example, lovingly crafted right down to the last hair...my emotional test though is, do they capture the animal's spirit? Has it "stepped up a rung" from the original photo, or whatever was worked from?
I began to feel that the physical precision aspect of coloured pencil has perhaps been achieved by many folk now....so what's the next step? Personally I prefer to see some of the pencil-lines, hatching or scribbles....and I'd respond more to a spiritual element in the work (e.g the capturing of a pet cat's gestures and character) rather than physical exactness.
I can't shout....it's a few years since I used my last set of col pencils and that was for flower drawing. Does anyone feel we've reached a "pencil peak"?
Posted
I enjoy using coloured pencil but somehow I don’t take them seriously , they do have a place ...I tend to use them to get instant results and a bit of fun.
There is some remarkable work displayed and as you say almost too perfect.
I was part of a painting holiday at a super place called Plas Tan y Bwlch here in north Wales .
Our group had been out and about sploshing paint about , mountains and lakes , sheep and cattle boots on and wet weather gear .
Another group were also staying at Plas , they were called the coloured pencil group. They sat for hours drawing petals and leaves to perfection taking hours over perfect detail. They didn’t go out all week just sat and produced perfection.
At the end of the week we held a joint exhibition just for the hell of it. My jaw dropped when I saw their work. It was incredible, and very beautiful.
Ours...well , it was lively , colourful, great mark making and joyful....
I still know where I want to be in the coloured pencil debate.
Edited
by SylviaEvans
Posted
After many years (of those I have plenty) my aims in painting, drawing etc are generally to be as unphotographic as possible. I fully believe (as others do) that perfection without character or "soul" is hard to understand in terms of art, which unless it's about the artist, what point does it have.? I really, genuinely want to paint as simply as possible, using as little detail to say what I want to say as I can. All forms of art are individual and unique to the artist and, as we are all different, surely that difference needs to stand up and speak? Anthing you create must surely have a voice and say something. On a few occasions I work from reference photographs when painting portait type work (in my case, I'm not a professional so I don't have to conform to rules as someone making a living from it might do and it's generally nothiing more than practise) , but generally I make little or no effort to "photograph" what I see. The thought of someone sitting for days reproducing a paint-perfect copy of someone else's work it little short of hilarious time-wasting to me. Do it with a personal slant, fine, nothng is unique or new, but to slavishly reproduce a Mona Lisa that even Da Vinci couldn't fault or a Hay Wain that Constable would blink at proves what exactly? For me, something with half a dozen lines that speaks is of just as much value as a work that takes days. A personal view, granted and just an opin ion, but it's what I aim for. Perfection, pah, who needs it, who even defines it? Not guilty your honour....😆
