I put this puzzle together over three evenings and a Saturday morning, with a little help from a housemate. It helps to calm racing thoughts. Sometimes I can see a piece and know where it goes, and other times I have to collect a group of white sky pieces or patchy tree-leaf pieces and try each one in succession on a particular spot until one of them fits. When it does, it's the best feeling in the world.
The question of realism is a question of focus. If we focus on the frame, that is, the tabletop, the top photo is more realistic because it shows the setting in which I put the puzzle together. But if we focus on the image in the puzzle, the lower photo is more realistic because it shows the truck and tree and flower scene more clearly. The top is a realistic image of an unrealistic scene. The bottom is an unrealistic image of a realistic scene. A picture within a picture.
And what of the flowers painted on the truck? Are they realistic? I guess the question would be, "Realistic as flowers? Or as a painting on the side of a truck?"
