SL Homestyle

Art comes in all different flavours. Whether you like sweetness or sourness, or bitterness is not a matter of right or wrong. It is a matter of differences, you may have a preference at any moment at any time. I remember when I was young, it was my bestest most favourite thing to rush to the local model shop, to look at model railroads, battleships, cartoon characters etc. I'd press my face against the glass in absolute amazement, wondering how on earth is it possible that people can do such things.

Much like some painting, fine scale modeling sometimes are meant to be "realistic". Think about it, by the very nature of their existence, they are meant to be fake, perhaps virtual. Much like the word "moon" in a novel is not the actual moon. They emulate, they simulate and if you pay attention to your own thoughts and feelings you are probably astonished by how "real" they look. I.e., how similar they are to the real thing. Or more accurately - how much of the same emotional and mental responses are stimulated from an entirely different medium.

There is no exception in CG. In fact, 3D Graphics is at least partly intended for such purposes. There have been people trying to imitate real life since the cavemen era and we are just more advanced. There has to be something of human nature to capture and express his/her interpretation of the world around them. What it meant to them, and to share that interpretation by means of expression and communication to others.

Making things from the imaginary is pretty much designing. You create something purely out of the imaginative. This is very different from people who model and express their interpretation of the world around them. It is a different mode of function and yes a very important one as it tends to bring more new stuff into the world than to imitate something that already exist.

Design and creation from the imaginary often have a reference or a basis in the Real World too. Your design of a new table is probably built upon existing ideas of a table at least, no matter how different it is from existing tables. There is always a source of reference -

"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources" - Albert Einstein.
"Good artists copy, great artists steal" - Pablo Picasso.

Perhaps both these great minds were referring to the nature of creativity being sourcing references. In fact, both these men suggest (rather directly) that creative people are more deceptive in nature by "stealing" and "hiding". Of course, this also suggest that those who are less skillful in this deception will result in being caught and hence be branded as less of a creative person.

Nonetheless sometimes we just want to outright advertise our sourcing just like a fine scale modeler would do. In this case it is about realism, it is about capturing, it is about interpreting and expressing that very personal interpretation. It is also about skills and knowledge about your tools, as well as your medium.

How do you make it real?
WHAT makes something the way they are?
Why is it that it is meaningful to you?
How is your interpretation different from that of the others?
WHat is the technology that enable you to create realism that has not been done before?
Can you push the technology further to create a new level of realism?
Can you use the exiting but limiting constraints of the medium to create effects that is beyond the imagination?

Think about it - When you are purely creating something from your imagination, you might not necessarily subjected to the same amount of vigorous and intensive assessments a modeler goes through. Why? Because you have hidden the reference! there is nothing to compare to but what is in your mind.

This shows the fundamental difference between the two approaches in artistic expression. And I would not argue either one over the other in terms of its value in existence. As a matter of fact, I know many people who actually lack the skills and patience required to make something realistic. As much as they try they simply cannot make things look right. And they give up. Sometimes these people find it easier to actually create things that doesn't have to look real - i.e., from the imaginary. I personally think there are intrinsic value in this as well and I think the world needs both type of expression