Here's the second week of this (hopefully weekly) collection feature! Every week or two I'll be putting together a collection of underlooked abstract and surreal artwork and photography (I'm defining "underlooked" as "less than 300 views at the time I viewed them," because if it was overlooked the views would be higher, right? ). I will collect a few pieces every day, if possible, and from now on I hope to spotlight an artist specifically each issue. If you see something good this week that fits the definitions I list below, doesn't have more than 200 views, and makes you want to see it featured, send a note to me with a link to the deviation - but please do not submit your own work.

This week, there were so many examples of good abstract and surreal artwork! Wow! I tried to winnow my choices down, but I finally gave up. There's so much good art out there and I want to make sure it gets noticed! Congratuations to this week's featured artists!

This Week's Spotlighted Artist: ~PetrifiedMoon!

~PetrifiedMoon's abstract pieces do exactly what abstract art is supposed to do: evoke various moods based on color, shape and stimulation of the imagination. Her digital abstracts evoke every mood from merriment to melancholy, with a skillful execution that escapes being mechanical. Without further ado, here is some of the best of ~PetrifiedMoon's gallery:



Abstract Art
Abstract art is intended to evoke a feeling by the use of shape, color and imagery. The best abstract art will not represent actual objects such as candlesticks or rocket ships, but instead let the viewer's imagination run free and interpret what they see as they wish. When looking for good examples of abstract art, I think of Miro, Mondrian, Kandinksy, and Klee. Also, when I look for good abstract art, I look at framing and arrangement of the elements, color choices and contrasts, and - because this is dA - whether the thumbnail gives a good impression of the larger piece.

Abstract: Digital
"Digital" doesn't mean "easy!" (It also doesn't mean fractal art, or wallpapers - both of those are represented fairly well in other dA features.) My main criterion for this category, as well as for traditional abstract art, is that it is actually abstract, and not just random.



Abstract: Photography
Some of the best abstract photography makes you continually wonder what the heck the photographer was looking at. That's my main criterion for this category. There was quite a bit of it this week, too! I was impressed.



Abstract: Traditional
Again, my main criterion for this category, as well as for digital abstract art, is that it is actually abstract, and not just random. Like the Photography: Abstract category, there was quite a lot of really good traditional abstract art this week; I was impressed!



Surrealist Art
Surrealist art is also intended to evoke a feeling, but unlike abstract art, it uses juxtaposition of often familiar objects to create a sense of unreality, or dreamlike feelings, as surrealism is heavily into exploring the subconscious state of mind. In my opinion, the definitive surrealist works are by Dali and Magritte, and that's what I'm looking for here as well. I also look at the same secondary considerations: framing, arrangement, color choice, and whether the thumbnail gives a good representation of the piece.

Surrealist: Digital
This seems to be the week for surreal and abstract art; there was so much good stuff that it was hard to choose.



Surrealist: Photography
Surreal photography can be achieved by either juxtaposing familiar objects in unfamiliar ways, or doing camera tricks such as multiple exposures or variance in shutter speeds to achieve a dreamlike effect.



Surrealist: Traditional
There was also quite a bit of good surrealist traditional art this week! Wow!



Honorable Mentions!
These are pieces in my favorites that I wanted to make sure got a chance to be seen by others. I didn't put them in the debut feature because, well, there were quite a few pieces in that one and I wanted to make sure they didn't get lost in the crowd. However, it looks like there's always going to be quite a few pieces, so here's the surreal and abstract pieces that I've collected for my own enjoyment over my year at dA. Enjoy!



Latecomers!
These are pieces that are more than a week old, but fit within the parameters I've defined on the day I collected them. Enjoy these as well!