Blurry paintings?

[Alexandria_]

I've heard something about the 'artistic blur', but why and when does it occur?
I thought it strange that the Sims with the artistic trait made incomprehensible portraits whereas other Sims make clear ones.
Is there any way around it?

[Anushka]

Not that I know, same with other traits which give specific style such are genius, evil, neurotic and computer whiz (can't remember if any other trait make a change). Some claimed that painting outdoor will give you clear paintings, but my artistic Sim made them everywhere, so that didn't work for me. Also, some claimed that stir crazy moodlet makes paintings blurry, but not the case in my game. My painter is almost always elated with tons of positive moodlets and it still randomly spawn some of those blurry paintings.

As for why artistic Sim is making blurry paintings, well, several famous artists made those blurry incomprehensible paintings and it is now kind of stereotypical that talented painters do that. It just adds to diversity in game.

[Alexandria_]

Oh, I understand.
Thanks a lot for that detailed answer

[Schipperke]

I've been paying attention to this in my Otokrak dynasty too, because some of their paintings are so blurry that it's really hard to tell what they were painting.  If I shut down the game while they have a painting on the easel and then restart a day or two later, I don't always remember if they were working on a portrait.  Then I have to zoom in and try to figure out what they were painting.  I have noticed some of my painters have gone through phases - their paintings will be blurry for a while, then suddenly they will be clear again.  It seems like they try out different styles.

[Saltypaws]

Just like with Agnes.  She paints in dark reds and blues, probably because she has the grumpy trait.  In my last dynasty, no one else ever painted those paintings like Agnes did, so it just depends.  My least favorite painting is the tiles.  I think someone said genious trait fires those, but I have all kinds of sims paint all kinds of paintings.  Ya never know what those little sims are going to paint next.

[Schipperke]

Just like with Agnes.  She paints in dark reds and blues, probably because she has the grumpy trait. 

Yes, I'm pretty sure that's the grumpy trait.  I had Mortimer Goth in the Clan Douglas Dynasty, and he painted very striking paintings in moody blues and purples. 

[Alexandria_]

Is there a trait that makes Sims paint in lighter or brighter colours?

[TheChronicR]

Maybe party animal? Well, in my case the neurotic Sims paint more clear than the others.

[Schipperke]

Is there a trait that makes Sims paint in lighter or brighter colours?

Possibly Childish, although I'm really just guessing.  A lot of the "base" paintings are light and bright in colour anyway, so I think it's different traits that alter that.  The blue paintings Mortimer did were the same paintings I had seen done by other sims using very different palettes.  There are examples of his paintings in the earlier pages of Clan Douglas Dynasty, if you're interested.  It was fun seeing the paintings he came up with.  I found his blue-based palette quite striking.

[Snooty]

Shamelessly copied from Maty:

Artistic: Gives a water-color effect to the painting, though with highlighted border effects on the object of the painting.
Can't Stand Art: Darkens the painting with higher contrast and heavier, thicker brush strokes.
Computer Whiz: Gives the painting a square-tiled effect, obliterating any detail.  Useful for decorating bathrooms.
Evil: Tints the picture heavily towards red, most details are left intact.
Grumpy: Tints the picture heavily towards blue, most details are left intact.
Genius: Tiles the picture into small white-bordered hexagons/pentagons.
Insane: Obliterates detail, makes colors more flat and contrasting, shapes become jagged.
Neurotic: Turns the painting into a bright neon mess.
Virtuoso: Adds a white flair effect to the painting, most details are left intact.

Note that if your Sim has 2 or more of the above traits, the painting may become normal. That's probably why these type of paintings are pretty rare.

[Hosfac]

Note that if your Sim has 2 or more of the above traits, the painting may become normal. That's probably why these type of paintings are pretty rare.

Actually, they're not all that rare.  I see them all the time.

But I like the Artistic trait for raising the skill, but once the sim maxes the skill I usually use Midlife Crisis to get rid of it so they will paint normal paintings lol.

[Veldmuisie]

Interestingly, my dynasty portrait-painting sims have all had different traits (none that Snooty mentions - except artistic eventually) and about every third portrait is blurry anyways.  The skill level does not make a difference at all.  For me the "paint still life" or "memorize scene" and painting it later almost always produce paintings that should be viewed from another town, it's so blurry. If you prefer the clear close-to-life paintings, you can scrap it if you notice the blotches before they finish.