fuzzy realism - a new art style

fuzzy carnation

2010-06-13T16:23:00.000-07:00

watersoluble oil pastels on colored Bristol board pad 6x9in.

roses

2010-01-30T13:08:00.000-08:00

not very fuzzy but aiming at it. Watersoluble oil pastels and crayons on watercolor paper 9x12in.

Venetian mask

2009-12-04T12:49:00.000-08:00

tried this mask of Arlecchino but I am not very sure i like it. It is in watersoluble crayons on watercolor paper.

lilac

2009-11-29T13:00:00.001-08:00

watersoluble oil pastels on watercolor pad 6x9in.

nasturtium

2009-11-29T12:23:00.000-08:00

watersoluble oil pastels on watercolor pad 6x9in.

roses

2009-11-29T11:18:00.000-08:00

these are watersoluble oil pastels on watercolor paper 9x12in.Not very sure about the fuzziness.

fuzzy Bali mask

2009-11-26T13:29:00.000-08:00

caran d'ache watersoluble wax pastels on Bristol board pale yellow.

caran d'ache watersoluble crayons

2009-11-24T19:38:00.000-08:00

This is an experiment using Caran D'ache neocolor II watersoluble crayons on canvas pad 6x9in.It works fine on this support only that you need a fine brush and little water but carefully cover all areas. My mistake was to use a plastic brush too big for the job and loaded with water.The crayons have very strong pigment and only a little dot can make a mark by adding water.

bowl of apricots revisited

2009-11-23T17:30:00.000-08:00

and wetted with a brush.

soluble oil pastels dry on canvas pad 6x9in.

hot air balloon over Cappadocia

2009-11-22T15:39:00.000-08:00

watercolor pencils on canson Mi-teintes pad 8x11in.

small geranium pot

2009-11-22T12:14:00.000-08:00

watercolor pencils on stonehenge pad 5x7in.

sycamore leaves again

2009-11-22T11:25:00.000-08:00

This is watercolor pencils on Stonehenge pad 5x7in.

autumn sycamore leaves in a vase

2009-11-21T18:48:00.002-08:00

watercolor pencils on Bristol board white pad 9x12in.

I am not satisfied with these last pieces as they loose their fuzziness and become too obvious for the realistic shapes.Also the colors are too intense instead of being diffuse.I might wish to redo the geranium pot and sycamore leaves at a more stylized level.

potted geranium

2009-11-21T16:13:00.001-08:00

watercolor pencils on Bristol board green color 9x12in.The scan washed out the colors of the the paper which in real life are muted.

the swan

2009-11-21T11:27:00.000-08:00

watercolor pencils wet brush on Canson Mi-teintes white pad 8x11in.

green apple with reflections

2009-11-20T19:55:00.000-08:00

watercolor pencils dry and wet on Stonehenge pad 5x7in.

fuzzy ladybug

2009-11-20T17:02:00.001-08:00

this is in watercolor pencils on Stonehenge pad 5x7in.

from real life

2009-11-20T11:07:00.000-08:00

"Rose in a vase" is a drawing in colored pencils from real life.

Here it is the version with one realist element.

after Picasso's Child with Dove

2009-11-19T20:28:00.000-08:00

this is an interpretation in fuzzy realism of Picasso's oil from the blue period, Child with Dove, 1901.

Dry and wet versions in watercolor pencils on canson Mi-teintes pad 8x11in.The only realistic element kept in this painting is the dove. And here it is my oil pastel after the master's work.

2 pears in fuzzy realist style

2009-11-19T15:24:00.000-08:00

watercolor pencils dry version on drawing pad 6x9in.

and watercolor pencils wet brush on watercolor paper 6x9in.

For a comparison with traditional realism I will add my watercolor pears and an oil pastel with the same theme.

watercolor

oil pastel

fuzzy realism - towards a new esthetics

2009-11-18T18:09:00.000-08:00

Fuzzy realism can be described as a reaction to photorealism, but it is more than the fuzziness of contours and shapes, it's an esthetics of open forms in the realm of visual arts. The idea of open form is not new and maybe the best example of defining open form has been presented in Umberto Eco's work Opera Aperta published in 1962. With reference to literary text and linguistics, Eco defines the open form internally dynamic and the fields of meaning open.
In fine arts fuzzy realism creates open form by strings of color, strokes of pencil, crayon, pastel in fascicles instead of unequivocal lines. Lines string along generating fuzzy patches of color out of which you are invited to imagine, recreate an image, the subject of a painting, drawing.
Form as meaning is open, left to the guessing and from this derives the esthetic pleasure of the viewer.Contours are diffuse, shapes and volumes suggested rather than imposed on the viewer, yet there is a place for order into chaos and fuzzy realism is not confusion since there is light and shadow.
Take a look at this watercolor called "still life with plums, pears and sycamore leaves".

You can see on my chart the highlights, shadows and contours of the fruit and leaf.

This painting is a good expression of the new style as long as stylization of form is all about in fuzzy realism.

Another illustrative piece is "bird in hand" with both dry and wet version to testify for the new style.

There are a few seeds in the open hand holding the bird and you can even guess the eye of the bird especially in the dry version.

On a philosophical level, fuzzy realist art is a response to an elusive reality, that escapes clear definition, has open answers and leaves room to imagination, dreaming, recreating meaning according to one's own abilities and needs for esthetic harmony. The title of a work as well as scatterd realistic elements in an artpiece can provide clues to the respective work but the viewer can see more or less according to external or internal factors(mood, education, artistic disposition, time, place).
As in this piece, the geranium pot is in the eyes on the beholder.

fuzzy realism in oil pastels

2009-11-18T13:35:00.000-08:00

This is oil pastel on Canson Mi teintes pad 8x11in. It is called "still life with African violet" and here it is not blended.

And the blended version using turpenoid and over it again oil pastels.

even more blended.

still life with african violet and quince

2009-11-17T22:50:00.000-08:00

the suggestion of shape is very obvious in this fuzzy realist painting and this could be just the ideal way of painting fuzzy.

still life with plums, pears and sycamore leaves

2009-11-17T17:34:00.000-08:00

watercolor pencils on watercolor paper 6x9in.

I placed an order with Blick art Materials for caran d'ache watersoluble crayons, portfolio oil pastels also watersoluble, a set of 50 pieces pentel oil pastels, canvas pads and watercolor paper.They are supposed to arrive on December 2, 2009.
These new media especially for being watersouble will give a watercolor dimension to my fuzzy realism and I can hardly wait to experiment with them.

bird in hand

2009-11-17T13:50:00.000-08:00

the definition of volume in this painting is less fuzzy and the effect is more suggestive, more evident of the realist scene.

watercolor pencils dry

watercolor pencils wet brush on Bristol board. 10 minutes for the dry version + 5 for the wet.

crayon and watercolor pencils fuzzy art

2009-11-17T12:31:00.000-08:00

"Four apples" watercolor pencils wet brush on Bristol board 5x7in.

"Four Apples" watercolor pencils dry on Bristol Board 5x7in.

This is an enhancement of my initial crayon drawing "geranium pot".

first fuzzy drawings

2009-11-16T14:38:00.000-08:00

My first attempts in this new style are dated November 15, 2009 and what i explore at this stage is the level of stylization I deal with. From pure fuzzy realism I move towards a more suggestive form of retaining a few elements of realism as clues to the piece.

wet version of watercolor pencils on drawing pad 9x12in.Still life with teapot, roships and lemons.

watercolor pencils dry

crayola crayons on canvaskin

this collage is an idea to keep a few elements of realism as clues to the art piece.

bowl of apricots

geranium pot

what is fuzzy realism?

2009-11-16T12:11:00.000-08:00

Fuzzy realism is an art style in which contours, shapes,volumes are created by fuzzy strokes of color.My first artwork in this style was inspired by the photo illusion obtained with the program Microsoft Picture it, an effect called Vegas.Here is the computer version of Vegas illusion of my reproduction in oil pastels of Vermeer's Girl with a pearl earring.

And my hand drawn crayola crayons version on canvaskin with enhancement of the pearl earring. This artwork was created on April 27, 2009.