Truly Surreal

The reality we exist in is set by hard laws. These laws we grow to understand throughout our life, and upon leaving childhood things that seem wrong, feel so utterly and disgustingly wrong. But at the same time, it feels so interesting. It’s so freeing to be experiencing something outside of the norms of reality, so freeing to see something that so utterly makes no sense. That is Surrealism. The Surrealist art movement began in the aftermath of World War 1, when artists sought to create and release the thoughts of their unconscious, through the use of irrational juxtaposition of images. They are trying to tap into pure creative thought. A jumble of their thoughts being put into visual form. Truly dreamlike in appearance. But not the wonders and beauty of dreams, the strangeness of them, the wrongness, something not quite whole, something incomplete. And nothing feels more utterly juxtaposed of these is its place of origin. It took the second most brutal war of all time to inspire such forms of creation. Suffering creates expression. All great art movements are a reaction to a change, mostly from war. Art is expression, and when you lack a way to describe your own expression you build it up inside. Political control during the war is one thing, fighting a war is another. On top of all that, you think of the horrors these people saw firsthand. Before the days when we understood mental illness, they experienced some incredibly traumatic events with no easy outlet. So what do these people do? They create. They make what their mind cannot comprehend into something their eyes could, their hands could, what anyone could. Connecting to their most basic instincts, they create something that defies all logic. And that is what war felt to them, the horrors, the pain, and its aftermath. 

DIY on How to Make a Truly Surrealist Painting

Step 1: Go through the brutality of World War 1. This war was the major inspiration of the Surrealist movement and is important for you to develop trauma to display a greater weirdness.

Step 2: Stay in the post-war era of the period and start painting. Very important step. If you do not do this, people on Reddit will make fun of you and refuse to call it surrealist.

Step 3: Dream. This might be difficult. Maybe a few nights of sleep. Make sure to constantly try to connect to your subconscious.

Step 4: Brainstorm. Both metaphorically, and literally. If you do not put a storm cloud in the shape of a brain on that piece of paper you are brainstorming on, you have failed as an artist.

Step 4.5: Materials. Every great surrealist artist used the strangest ways to create depth and wrongness in their painting. Max Ernst, a surrealist, scraped his canvas to create partial images for the mind to complete on its own. Be creative, and do what the deepest darkest part of you desires. 

Step 5: Sketch. You are almost at the finish line. You have your idea, but what will it look like, or at least close to it? 

Step 6: Create the Rest of the painting. It's really that simple. Just paint. I don’t know what to tell you. Just draw the rest of the owl already. Come on. Do it. Paint the owl. I know you want to. Why are you hesitating? It's literally the simplest thing ever. Just do it. Do it. DO IT-

Step 7: Feel accomplished at creating your painting

Step 8: Become a renowned enough artist to be featured in museums and history books about the surrealist movement.

Step 9: return to the present, to unpack your World War 1 PTSD. 

Step 10: relish in all the royalties your work has acquired over the years.

Step 11: Success!

-Austin

I apologize for interrupting Charlotte’s scoop, but I have an important announcement that I’m eager to share with all of you.

Since the launch of our website, www.keirasnewsnetwork.com, we’ve been delighted to see a growing number of individuals expressing their creative ideas and suggestions for our paper. In light of this encouraging response, we would like to extend a heartfelt invitation to you, our valued readers, to take a moment to fill out this form! 

If you’ve ever dreamed of becoming an honorary member of the KNN Team, now is your chance to shine—go ahead and share your writing with us! We’re also eager to hear any innovative ideas you may have for new sections or themes that could enhance our publication. Whether you have a unique concept in mind or merely wish to provide us with constructive feedback or a kind compliment, we genuinely welcome your input!

Your support means the world to us, and we are truly excited to hear your suggestions and insights. Thank you once again for being such an amazing community!

- Keira