When I was born, Photorealism had become a big to-do in the world of commercial art. A lot of advertising, particularly in video games (ESPECIALLY sports games), and illustration work for magazines took the technique and applied it in a way that helped establish the high-tech aesthetics of the 80s. I was very drawn to this kind of work, primarily because I was baffled at how the work was made. Today, my tastes reflect this influence, however, I've since developed a preference for Hyperrealism as Photorealism is prone to unimaginative and derivative compositions. While I can appreciate Modern Art because I've studied the historical context and principles of its foundation, Representational Art has always spoken to me in a very intimate way that Conceptual Art simply cannot.
The Photorealists I dig are the ones with exceptional technical skill and singular focus on either curves and lighting or weathered textures:
Charles Bell
Rod Penner (
http://www.rodpenner.com/)
Ben Schonzeit
Commercial art took the detailed work of Photorealism and merged it with narrative, and the result was a childhood full of unbelievable book and album covers for anyone born between 1976 and 1983. The specialty of the day was pencil-and-watercolor art to create a bleeding effect of overlapping images that didn't obscure each other. Once again, Atari was the master of this form:
One of the most renowned artists for this kind of work is Michael Whelan, who, along with Bernie Wrightson, pretty much set the tone for the type of eye-grabbing histrionic imagery that exceeded the content of the work itself.
But the ones that really grabbed me were the poster works of the one, THE ONLY
Drew Struzan. Struzan basically drew your childhood dreams, because his posters dominated the 1980s and have created a legion of fans who continue to draw inspiration from, and design Struzan-esque work of their own. Struzan is the official poster artist for both Star Wars and Indiana Jones.
All this makes a fairly loose amalgam of photorealistic detail and rendering with commercial art's tendency for exaggeration, which some people regard as soulless, but I regard as powerful and unforgettable. But to each their own.
Other notable mentions:
Hajime Sorayama:
Renato Casaro:
Boris Vallejo and the irreplaceable
Frank Frazetta (the illustration world's Frank Remington):
And perhaps the world's greatest pencil artist,
Emanuele Dascanio (
http://emanueledascanio.deviantart.com/):
M. C. Escher is great. 
