HA1 Task 2 – Artistic Styles

Photorealism
Photorealism is a style of art in which an artist tries to draw/paint an image as realistically as possible. This art form began in the late 1960s - early 1970s. Photorealistic artists are known as 'Photorealists', and use actual photographs to gather the information needed to do their paintings. Video games have been getting more and more photorealistic in recent years, and a good example would be 'The Last of Us' (TLoU). I have played this game, and everything looks and feels like an interactive film, because everything is so realistic. The story of TLoU is quite dark, and I think the realism of it makes it much more immersive.

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Cel Shading
Cel shading/toon shading is a style of art that is designed to make computer graphics appear flat, like in comic books and cartoons. This art form uses less shading color instead of a shade gradient or tints and shades. Cel shading is recent, as it came about in the early 21st century. 'Borderlands 2' is an example of a cel shaded game. The whole game looks cel shaded, and is known by the gaming community for using this art style. I think the art style makes everything feel less serious, which works well with the story (which is quite silly sometimes).

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Abstraction
Abstraction is a type of art which involves colours, shapes/lines, and movements. This art style shows a departure from reality, and has little to no story. Total abstraction means there is nothing in the image that is recognizable. 'Super Hexagon' is an example of an abstract game. This game is all about colours and shapes, the shapes being what you need to avoid, and the colours change with 
each 'level', and amount of time that the player has survived. I feel like the colours in this game make it more challenging, because when the colours change it can mess with your head. The music and colours work together beautifully, so the player feels pumped and willing to try again no matter how many times they fail.

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Exaggeration
Exaggeration is a type of art which involves over-the-top graphics that can make the game look not very serious. 'Asura's Wrath' is a good example of an exaggerated game. This game is full of crazy exaggerated action, with every boss fight being as epic and over-the-top as possible. Every part of the game is exaggerated in some way, the sounds are quite loud and insane, the music is intense and makes the player feel pumped, and all of the animations and artwork are extremely over-the-top. Although the story of Asura's Wrath is quite serious, the art style of the game makes some things seem funny or silly.

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