Renaissance Realism Goes Digital: Creating Classical Portraits on Your iPad

Renaissance is not gone! Painters are trying to master the classical outlook in modern times through digital painting.

The Renaissance painters created timeless masterpieces that transcended Romanticism to delve deeply into an era where realism was celebrated wholeheartedly.

Thanks to technology that stole the spotlight with powerful features. These tools welcome boundless possibilities, translating art into an easy affair.

This blog will guide you through the realism in Renaissance art, what digital painting is, and digital renaissance, as well as provide useful tips for incorporating Renaissance features into digital art.

Finally, you’ll come across the tools for creating Renaissance portraits on your iPad.

Realism in Renaissance Art

In the simplest of terms, Realism in Renaissance Art reflects the world as we see it. The art form eliminates the implausible to showcase real-world manifestations in their truest form.

This art form is not limited to one style and branches into several themes and techniques, realism being one of a kind. Realism in the 19^th century discarded the ideals of Romanticism that swept away reason and order with emotion and imagination.

The Renaissance, meaning "revival" or "rebirth," ushered in significant changes in architecture, literature, religion, ideas, and painting styles. Realism in Renaissance art also painted a sordid picture of life, representing the social life plagued by poverty with life-like accuracy.

Unlike the Romantic artists who painted the bourgeois class, the focus of realism in Renaissance art was to sketch life in its barest form.

What is Digital Painting?

Digital painting

Digital painting is where art meets modern technology to create enriched masterpieces. Computer software with a stylus replaces the pen and paper in digital art, a trendy avenue for modern artists.

The ease and convenience of painting with modern tools make it a popular choice for the broader art community. Apart from 2D artworks, artists can also use 3D modelling for that perfect, realistic touch.

These 2D or 3D artworks open up endless possibilities as an artist, illustrator, or designer that promise flexibility, sharing of experiences, and maximum output. Combine traditional artwork with iPad painting, and you can have the best of both worlds.

Classical Influence in Digital Art

Art on canvas vs Art with technology

The classical legacy is repeating itself through this artwork, illustrations, and designs in the modern era. Renaissance painters like Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, and the colors of Johannes Vermeer inspired modern-day generations to be guided by the treasures they left behind.

It was Giotto di Bondone’s (the father of Western painting) revolutionary approach to painting that heralded realism, where life-like expressions and artistic accuracy paved the way for all Renaissance artists.

In a world that thrives on technology, digital art can bring back the classical period in contemporary times by crafting beautiful artworks of realism with exceptional appeal.

This is known as the digital Renaissance. Recreating portraiture and oil paintings representing anatomical perfection via contemporary artwork is ideal to reinvoke the distinct style of paintings.

Important Tips to Create Digital Renaissance Portraits on Your iPad

Mona Lisa Painting

Here are some important tips to create digital Renaissance artworks with digital technology:

1. Emphasise Realism in Your Artworks

   
   

iPad artists creating classical portraits must integrate realism elements by making accuracy a salient part of their paintings.

The classical paintings still fascinate viewers as they were masters experimenting with key details, light, and shadow to make their creative manifestations realistic enough.

So, artists eager to create a classical portrait must stick to these simple and basic principles.

2. Paint Backgrounds that Highlight Your Portraits

   
   

Emphasize your portraits with dark and undefined colors as backgrounds by shifting the attention towards the subject.

Using muted colors will help maintain the focus on important areas rather than scattering the viewer’s attention all over.

Minimizing details in the backdrop is important if artists seek to perfect their digital Renaissance artworks.

3. Make Your Digital Renaissance Art Enigmatic

   
   

Popular figurative paintings like Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci or Girl with the Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer left people wondering about the subject’s thoughts and emotions.

Mona Lisa’s enigmatic smile and the Girl with the Pearl Earring’s turban and facial features envelop them with a sense of mystery.

Therefore, craft your digital realism paintings by following the typical Renaissance style, prompting viewers to be curious about the unknown context surrounding the subject.

Also Read: 10 Interesting Facts About the Mona Lisa Painting

4. Use the Imprimatura Painting Technique

   
   

Imprimatura, a distinct style of the Renaissance painters, involved using warm colors or earthy tones as a primary foundational layer where additional layers could be applied.

In digital art, the layering option is a popular choice among artists that can be used for artistic iterations.

The classical paintings reflect a smooth appearance, and modern artists today can effectively use blending techniques for a wider appeal.

5. Use Soft Light for Softer Shadows

Painters of realism in the Renaissance art era used soft lights to cast a glow in their portraits by eliminating harsh shadows and excess light.

This is exemplified through the luminous earring of Vermeer’s masterpiece, whose shimmering light against a darker background naturally pulls the viewer’s gaze towards the shining pearl.

Digital painters can successfully create an aura of softness by following this important tip.

6. Engage Viewers with Attractive Portrait Features

   
   

The facial features of Renaissance portraits steal all the attention, and painters can explore this specific style to innovate.

Create an enigmatic expression in your digital paintings and leave it open for varied interpretations.

How to Create Classical Portraits on Your iPad?

The best way to create digital Renaissance portraits on your iPad is to use the popular tools that make painting easy and simple.

Digital Tools for Creating Renaissance Portraits on Your iPad

Procreate

Procreate is a powerful digital tool for the iPad that is perfect for artists willing to create stunning digital artworks.

With Procreate, there’s a lot to explore, giving you the freedom to build layers, blend colors, and 3D-paint artworks.

Classical paintings follow the layered and blending techniques for adding depth and creating smooth appearances, made easy by the iPad app launch.

Procreate gives artists an endless choice of completely customizable brushes for that perfect, desirable brushstroke.

Photoshop

Photoshop is another way to fulfill the aims of a digital artist eager to make realistic portraits on the iPad.

By catering to the details and textures, the artist can recreate the Renaissance style in digital art.

The classical realism painters were masters of light, and the Photoshop app on iPad permits light manipulation effects that artists can use to their advantage.

Overall, the result is photorealistic enough to inspire a wider audience and specifically appeal to Renaissance realism art lovers.

Conclusion

Realism is at the heart of Renaissance paintings, and digital media can successfully launch the classics into a modern era that respects all art forms.

Following certain important tips welcomes classical realism to penetrate the current scenario, where digital Renaissance art is championed by all.

Procreate and Photoshop are idealized versions of modern technology to revive realism in Renaissance art with ease.

Digital artists must not only unite realism with contemporary art but also bring other styles to the foreground so that the historical and artistic legacies keep on illuminating creative adventures.