Paint in the Realism Style
In the last half of the 19th Century, realism dominated a lot of art, literature and public opinion. Painters of the realism style discarded fantasy and myth for basic, everyday life.
Instructions
Choose Realist Subject Matter for Your Painting
1. Reject the themes and subjects of classical and romantic art. History, religion, myth and literature are not found in realist paintings.
2. Consider only contemporary subjects. The realism art movement is a shift in art away from the past. Realism paintings have a sense of "nowness."
3. Depict a scene of complete normalcy. The paintings should portray something that happens on any given day. People can be washing dishes, eating breakfast or working their daily job.
4. Focus on the middle and lower classes of society. Realism ignores the higher echelons and declares that even the lowest, most unexceptional figure is worthy of artistic portrayal.
5. Keep the themes material or earthly. Avoid emotions like faith, love, hope or fear. Emotions found in a realist painting might be hunger, carnal desire, exhaustion or pain.
6. Avoid cheerful sentiment. This is not a requirement, but there is a general similarity between most paintings of the realism style. They portray hard work at best and tragedy at worst.
Paint in the Realism Style
7. Paint as realistically as you can. A painting in the realism style is a straightforward replica of the naked eye. Make sure that all the proportions, textures and colors are correct.
8. Use more earth tones than bright colors. Browns and yellows are the most common colors in realist paintings.
9. Do not exaggerate or celebrate your subject matter. Do not attempt to beautify any part of the scene, despite the desire to. Simply depict it as it is.
10. Make the actions seem difficult and slow going. Realist paintings do not appear to have much movement. Because of their stationary quality, the scenes seem more timeless.
