Realism

I was trying to decide if there was any ultimate merit in real/naturalistic painting endeavors. Isn't there an inevitable desire and opportunity in veering off to more abstract or conceptual ideas? This seemed true but I realized that in the act of painting there are many way to invent or unearth some tactic to support at the end was a lie as much as a statement or interpretation of something.
For example the contour of a truck hood's front corner. There is no good way to just say "truck hood's front corner", it had to be expressed some less literal way. There are many ways to engage that bit of paint application and in this there are chances to find new and better ways to communicate some idea or feeling.