CS Skin Showcase: Nova | Ocular, Abstract Surrealism
Today, we’re taking a look at one of the most distinctive skins in The Genesis Collection—the Nova shotgun Ocular!
This skin was a collaboration between its creators, Kattys and CROPE. Its original name was Ocular (eye area), while the Chinese server named it “Ocular” based on the finish’s visual features. So, what was the design thinking behind this abstract, distinctive skin?
According to the creator's description, this finish draws inspiration from Abstract Surrealism and 20th-century artistic masterpieces. Across the weapon's surface, forms and lines enter into a vivid dialogue: minimalist geometric shapes intertwine with realistic details, while lively eyes and ears seem to come alive against the metal... Are you familiar with the Abstract Surrealism style?
A brief introduction to Abstract Surrealism: this school combines the subconscious and dream themes of “Surrealism” with the non-representational forms of “abstract art.” Rather than depicting seemingly realistic yet absurd figurative scenes, as traditional Surrealism does—melting clocks, for example—it directly uses abstract elements such as colour, lines, shapes, and texture to convey deep subconscious emotions, intuition, and dreamlike sensations. One example is André Masson’s Abstract Surrealism work Don Quixote and the Chariot of Death (Don Quixote and the Chariot of Death, 1935).
On this skin, you can see an abstract human figure. The character has a distinctive design, sketched out with simple lines, but the eyes and ears are rendered in a realistic style. That creates a strong contrast with the rest of the artwork and keeps the whole finish feeling suitably abstract.
But if you look closely, the character designs used as focal anchors aren’t the same—for example, the two figures on the stock differ noticeably: the one on the left wears a crown and has a full head of flowing hair, while the one on the right is a short-haired male figure. What they all share, though, is the same mix of abstract forms with realistic eyes and ears.
The creator draws on a 20th-century retro style, giving the design a distinct identity that feels like a bridge across eras, blending historical avant-garde ideas with modern artistic trends. Even with its unusual look, the design work is clearly deliberate: metallic linework has been added to outline the figure, making the character’s silhouette easy to read.
The creators hand-painted realistic eye and ear forms:
The skin’s overall hand-painted process:
In other areas, the creators also paid attention to the details; for example, they added a dotted gradient pattern around the muzzle here
The creators take Abstract Surrealism as a way to explore the subconscious in their weapon-skin design. Rather than depicting dreams through recognizable imagery, the finish moves beyond that framework to capture the subconscious itself—its structure, energy, and sense of flow. The deepest psychological reality they aim to portray may not be made up of concrete images at all, but of a vivid, primordial ocean of shapes, colour, and lines.
The creators are still making pieces in the Abstract Surrealism style, such as the recently submitted MAC-10 | Curiosity.
Let’s take another look at this skin’s wear. The skin is not wear-capped, Wear Rating (0–1), and uses the Gunsmith finish style. Wear mainly shows through in the painted artwork and shifts in brightness. At maximum wear, the metallic painted sections lean closer to brass tones.
Factory New with no wear:
Battle-Scarred Moderate Wear 0.5:
Maximum Wear 1:
In-Game Appearance:
When you inspect it, the large eye on the stock ends up looking right at you.
This skin also has two other color options:
Sand Color:
Red:
Which one do you like better?
The creators’ Workshop also features other surrealist works:
AWP | Orwell
MP7 | Ocular
AK-47 | Winter Offensive
One of the creators, CROPE, also created the AK skin Searing Rage, using detailed artwork to portray the deranged inner world of an arsonist:
So here’s the question: some players might find his abstract work pretty “ugly,” so let’s take a look at his submitted works in a non-abstract style:
Sakura LR300 (RUST)
AWP | Serenity (Serenity)
AWP | RYOKO
This is creator CROPE's Workshop link. You can click the link below to vote for the works you like:
Related Skins:
https://buff.market/market/goods/cs2/Nova%20%7C%20Ocular%20%28Minimal%20Wear%29