What do artists mean when they talk about rendering?

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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.

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Anonymous 0 Comments

Rendering means: to make something look 3D, or as if it is “real” and has mass. The artist is translating what they see (in front of them or our in their mind’s eye) into an arrangement of forms in the art. In painting, objects are rendered using lines and shapes of color and value (dark and light). In sculpture, objects are rendered with 3D materials, shaped into a form such as clay.

To render is to “give.” The artist is taking a blank canvas and “giving” something which was not there before. So if the artist simply paints the canvas one color with a roller like it’s a wall, that may be “art” but it’s not “rendering.” It’s the act of creating what looks like a “thing” and also of sharing the thing.

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