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Rendered Unreality

image by Veronica V. Jones

Olivier Ponsonnet

A purple-skinned alien woman wears an elaborate headdress. A languid woman with short black hair has a red stain on her lips. A mysterious man with a large facial tattoo stares intently.

Fantasy character creation is a delicate balance between reality and unreality. Too few fantasy aspects in a portrait can result in a drab, mundane creation, whereas too few familiar traits can render the work unapproachable and abstract. Olivier Ponsonnet exhibits masterful skill in avoiding these pitfalls while continuously exploring the interplay between imagination and realism.

His mysterious, introspective creations run the gamut from slightly askew to excitingly exotic, yet are always lavished with the intricate details required to imbue even the most extraordinarily implausible vision with weight and authenticity. Olivier’s seemingly ordinary character portraits are subtly otherworldly, while his fairies and spellcasters are as real as ourselves.

Mr. Ponsonnet provides no easy answers with his works, only beautiful questions.

Written by in September of 2008. Last edited September 2014.

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