Latest posts by michael wilson (see all)
- JORDAN RIVER - February 5, 2019
- Inspired Art - August 2, 2018
- Waiting for Inspiration - July 31, 2018
- The Bridge between Painting and Photography - July 31, 2018
Defining realism is about as difficult as putting a cat in a sack, or neatly categorizing jazz. There are however several helpful key parameters. These are helpful if you are wanting to stay a realist or wanting to move over in to expressionism. One of the defining parameters of realism is that you as the artist must commit to being consistent in the message. If you paint a tree very realistically and then paint a barn in an expressionist style the viewer becomes confused. The painting lacks cohesiveness. Several years ago I painted three large water towers when I wasn’t real sure of my style. Water towers typically have a wide band at the top and one at the bottom. I painted the bands not truly on contour with the cylindrical towers. This would seem a subtle enough mistake but it rendered the painting as being inaccurate because the bands in a realistic painting would of course follow the contour of the water tower, circular, as seen by the eye. At the time I was trying to move away from strict realism and towards expressionism. I had one foot in realism and one in expressionism and the overall effect was watered down. 
Realism then must not try to fool the eye. It must attempt to represent nature and that effort must be considered a key parameter. Winslow Homer developed a style that rendered natural scenes in an expressionistic manner. Critics had a difficult time categorizing his work. It looked fresh and spontaneous but it was a formula which took him years to develop and refine. He was successful because he painted the entire painting in the same manner. There were no conflicts of impression to the natural eye.
Expressionism takes liberty with sunlight and perspective. Realism must consistently render sunlight from the same angle and perspective must be believable. This is not to say that realism cannot be very dramatic – captured correctly nature can be wonderfully dramatic. Expressionism is when the artist attempts to stylize the natural impression through his or her own personality. Realism tends toward universalism or the relative negation of personal interpretation.
