As the topic states, lets discuss the choices made between Creativity and Realism when chopping.

What do you value most?
Why do you think it should be valued most?
How does the current state of the chopping scene fit that image?

Sidetrack: Would you like to see additional sections opened up on the forum, aimed at more abstract and concept-like automotive art?

design / creativity , inovation, revolution, etc, I dont praise " realism "as much as I appreciate creativity and concepts a lot more =)

glac

Realism is great if you can achieve it. I personally am a creative artist . So concepts and uncommen things are what i like.

i want it all

Realism without creativity its just another photo

creativity without realism its just .... incomplete haha jk

but i would pic creativity first as some "artistic" chops can be pretty bad ass

for me its important the concept and creativy , the realism isn't so important for me

Creativity 70 | 30 Realism

Many choppers think they adopt this 70|30, but many don't know they actually do 30|30.

Both. I admire creativity in a chop, and if the concepts and ideas are good, I can sometimes prioritise this over the realism of a chop, especially if 'realism' comes from heavy reliance on donors and references.

However realism also includes the feasibility of the modifications in my eyes. Some chops I see with virtually every body panel redesigned, and while it may be extremely creative and look quite nice, it's just daft and I honestly don't see the point.

What I think we all notice however, is that what makes the real difference between the ranks of choppers, is not the creativity, but the amount of detail and realism that is injected into the work. In my opinion, a realistic paint job is the hardest thing to achieve in chopping, and personally, even if I have what I consider to be an epic kit design on my chop, I cannot continue it if there isn't that element of realism there.

It's all very well being creative, but if it looks like a mess drawn up in paint, regardless of how incredible the design is, to most it's not a nice piece of artwork to view. The same can be said about realism. It could look perfectly realistic, but if it looks like a boring crappy piece of photography, it's again not that enjoyable.

The key is to bring them both together, a powerful original design, that will not only stand out, but seem believable, coupled with realism, that not only looks like a photograph, but has interesting lighting and scenery. This is where the true skill lies, bringing it all together. Visualising realistic lighting in crazy conditions on an unusual kit shape is one of the most difficult things you can do.



But for those who are new to chopping, the execution is the most important, not the number of modifications or how crazy they are. I personally drew a lot more satisfaction from this, and to many others the end result is a lot more pleasing too.

I think creativity is of utmost importance even though realism adds that "wow" factor to the artwork.

But essentially there has to be a good mix of both so that the end result is not only eye pleasing but is original or genuine piece of art. Though I feel sometimes people go overboard and almost refuse to acknowledge the creativity just because the stuff looks a little toony. I think it is this attitude which makes people to go for c/p more.

I guess finding the right balance between the two is very essential and to be honest this can be very subjective.

However, as I have come to realise with some experience in chopping that if you are willing to give it time and observe things carefully, realism is not that hard to achieve.

Alright, time to add my 2cents. I think there is a general misunderstanding that if it doesn't look real it wont be appreciated. I think it's one of the reasons people resort to using large amounts of copy paste. But they're afraid to even adjust anything they've copied by as much as a smudge.

I think quite a few potentially awesome chops fall in the water early on, because whatever people would like to do doesn't fit the resources they have. So they just dont do it. The result is a chop that might look semi-real from a picture perspective, but from an automotive perspective makes no sense whatsoever. And a lot of it really is a shame too because some parts they've copied or rebrushed are instantly recognizable as from another car (manufacturer).

I like to think you chop something to make it look like how you imagine yourself or somebody else building it for real. Well no one would ever even think of screwing a Mercedes front end on a BMW for example. But with some relatively minor alterations you could remove what makes the Mercedes bumper so obviously a Mercedes bumper and have it fit the general lines and style of a BMW.

Creativity and Realism CAN go hand-to-hand. But perfecting it is something reserved for those with Elite-like chopping skills. For anyone else choosing creativity carries the risk of lowering the realism, and vice versa. And I feel people play it on the safe side of realism currently.

But the thing is, when we go through the chopping showrooms, we cant just promote people based on endlessly repeating things that are already there. We sometimes forget that this should also be a place for car enthusiasts. And while the automotive sector grows more and more innovative lately thanks to new production methods and developments, the showrooms are stuck repeating things for realism sake, and playing it safe. I want to think the chopping scene can evolve right along with the innovation. But to do that we need to put more emphasis on creativity. This is the reason I added that question in the end, maybe adding sections where things can be intentionally unreal will help bring back creativity?

Sometimes it seems "realism" is seen only as the visual style for a work and if it's not photorealistic in style it would be "unfinished" to some people.

If the design is well thought-out with details that make it look believable it could might as well be, at least to me, done by using two colours with minimal shading.

I personally value creativity and design (and realism in that) a lot more. However, technical execution is important in a way that it looks finished and consistent through-out the whole image. Visual style is completely another thing.