Click, flash and captured. Less than a millisecond is what It takes to seize the moment and freeze it forever. Then why, someone would ask, does realism as a style of painting exist? Why spend all that time, and put in all that effort to create a very true resemblance? Why invest so much into achieving a goal that could have been achieved another way easily?
For us artists, the time spent, the effort invested, are the certificates that authenticates a piece of art. In the words of Jono dry, a hyper-realistic painting or sketch is a “Certificate of time spent”. The strokes don’t just show you the details, it shows you how much energy and time went into creating that masterpiece and that’s what makes it priceless. It doesn’t just capture a memory, it stores within it’s strokes the emotions of the author, and they shine through, making it priceless. You can have a photograph that depicts the same scene, but it just won’t have the charm of a hand drawn, time devoted, energy dedicated vibe that the painting or sketch will have.
Gustave Courbet (1819-77) is usually regarded as the father of European Realism. As a prime example of Realism, the painting, “Burial at Ornans” sticks to the facts of a real burial and avoids amplified spiritual connotations. It depicts a burial as it is, without accentuating anything unnecessarily to support any sorts of myths or connotations. Gustave wanted to show the normal people, the realistic world, with all it’s imperfections and flaws, and wanted us to appreciate it. It’s like he’s saying, ‘Don’t superfluously crowd your mind with notions that aren’t there. Just see the world as it is, and you’ll find that there is so much to admire and respect.
“The meeting” or French “La rencontre” (Bonjour, Monsieur Courbet) is another painting by Gustave Courbet in the style of realism depicting his arrival in Montpellier to meet his patron, Alfred Bruyas. In this painting, he also depicts the reality of the situation, without enhancing any aspect, and just showing the characters, that is – Himself, Alfred, his manservant and his dog. No added flair to the sky, or the persons, he has just shown everyone as they were, just to commemorate this first meeting with his patron, with the sole purpose that it remains immortalised in time.
The kind of art I am interested in is something that depicts honesty and the rawness of life. There is so much to learn and contemplate from the exact moment that it has been captured. The trueness of life is in itself a piece of art; a divine art that has to be appreciated. And as an artist I get the chance of pondering into the minute details of the creation around myself.
Another facet into appreciating realism has to do with comprehending the lack of our ability to truly imitate the creator. In realizing that no matter the detail of our stroke, no matter the time we spend, no matter the unbeatable the skill we possess, the more we ponder into the creation, the more we realize we know nothing. That for me is the crux of realism. All the while that I paint, my thoughts revolve around the creation that I am painting, hence giving me an opportunity to contemplate.
Creation according to Fatimid philosophy is a divine act and thus us humans, when creating, we imitate the creator in the humblest manner and try to achieve proximity. However, the more I create such artworks, it makes me realize that the distance between the creator and the creation is infinite. Art to me is therefore a physical representation of my inner faith.
An example from one of my artworks is the one titled ‘A MOMENT SUSPENDED IN TIME’. I found the image on Unsplash.com and was in love with it at FIRST SIGHT. The scene where the cub is leaning towards her mother (lioness) struck me and I decided at that moment to capture this moment on paper with pencils. The dependability which the lioness confirms through her posture, the cubs comfortable stare, and his reliance on his mother which he conveys through his paw being laid on his mother’s leg is striking. The connection I could build with the scene through countless hours of poring over the sketch and detailing was inexpressible. As an artist our aim is to build that same connection with the audience and the subject, allowing them to connect with the subject. It builds a numinous link within us that is difficult to express in this temporal world.
"The trueness of life is in itself a piece of art; an art that has to be appreciated" couldn't agree more with this. Sometimes things are exaggerated to make them special but I feel the normal is quite special in itself if one succeeds in seeing it.