What do artists mean when they talk about rendering?

Question

I hear the term “rendering” thrown around in both traditional and digital art communities like it’s some sort of buzzword, but I’ve never gotten a clear explanation as to what it means.

In: 37

Answer 1

Rendering just means adding more detail to make the piece more realistic (or more accurate to the image in your mind for abstract pieces)
So photorealistic paintings represent the peak of rendering. You cannot render beyond real life.