Noticed everyone renders skin like plastic now

I was flipping through the showcase last night and half the portraits look like they were airbrushed with a spatula. Where did all the texture go, the pores, the little red veins around the nose? I've been painting digitally since 2009 and we used to fight to keep that grit. Has anyone else seen a piece lately that actually leaves skin looking like skin, or are we all just polishing everything to death?

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jakejones22d ago

The 2009 crowd had it right, but I think some of that grit went away because of how people paint now. A lot of the newer brushes blend everything into one smooth layer and folks just drag that soft round brush over the whole face. I remember using hard chalk brushes and then erasing little strokes to fake pores and tiny blood vessels, it took forever but looked real. The problem is everyone wants that clean Instagram look now, and the clients ask for it too. I saw one piece last week where the artist actually put texture on the nose and cheeks, just little speckles, and it stood out like a breath of fresh air. We need more of that, even if it means going back to zooming in and doing the slow, boring work.