I like artistic realism. I have plenty of images fav’d on my pinterest and deviantart pages and having done some art in my distant past, I can appreciate the effort and attention to detail that an artist has to master to ensure a photo-like artistic representation of his/her subject. I don’t mind what medium is used, so long as the image is done by hand within reason – i.e. photography as reference only (Duh!) and I am even willing to bend the rules when it comes to tracing an image because a lot of skill is still required to get it perfect… Most of the time the artwork is done in pencil, paints or using digital tools and while your initial response may be that “it has to be a photo”, you can usually find something to confirm that it is in fact, not. The one thing that you do not often see is someone using an iPad to create realism…. Finger painting has its place and I have seen amazing artwork done in the restricted world of a tablet and stubby paw but is this image of Morgan Freeman really “entirely” created on an iPad Retina?
Lance Phillips 