Scary

There is a fine line between realism and surrealism. Sometimes, people have the tendency to argue whether or not a piece is either real or surreal. In rare instances, the piece can also be determined as both. In the deviantart artist pinkertonFX's "Scary," the composition is determined as almost surreal through form, colour, and unity.

The art has a great sense of unity to it. The piece lacks texture, but in return supplies the viewer with an overall similar, yet not boring, tone. The entire piece piece has a look of old to it, as if an archaic scroll was where this piece was conjured, and so perhaps this ancient haze is another contribution to the piece's unity.

A secondary element this piece holds is colour. The artist used a very evident use of warm colours, which dominate the piece; orange and brown are the primary colours seen, even if they are manipulated into separate shades and tints. Although this also unifies the piece, it can also be so that these colours were used to assist the aged look that the artist was going for. In addition, this colour choice might have been applied to adhere to a morbid theme [it is a skull, after all].

Lastly, the form of this piece is crucial. The artist did not create a foreground nor a background to complement their composition, but rather they relied heavily on form and space to substitute. The skull and shirt are very well indicated that they are of three dimensions, whereas the background, although containing value, is not.

This piece is difficult to place in the surreal category, yet it does not quite apply to realism either. Some might argue that it is surrealism for it is a skull with a body and ears. Or, they might ponder that is is realism, for nothing indicates that this open-skulled figure is alive. Nonetheless, this piece displays a cunning mastery of colour manipulation, as well as refined skill with unification and the use of form with space.