[Discussion]Traditional VS Digital Art

[Braixen]

I won't be surprised if most of you have dabbed in both formats, but what are you opinions on them? Do you think that traditional art must always be "practiced" before digital art? Does it not matter at all? What sorts of reactions do you get from your digital art compared to traditional? How do you view the art of either format? Do you treat the formats differently?

I, like a lot of people, started out with on traditional art. I spent a lot of time in this medium and I didn't share my art with others. I have sketchbooks filled with drawings and concepts that have literately been viewed by no one. I find it hard to present art to other people to look at in person, although I consider myself a person of confidence there just seems to be a barrier there for me. I don't specifically like being complimented, and I often feel "naked" for lack of a better term, when presenting my art to someone in person. I find it a lot easier to share digital art, mostly because the huge digital art community online is all about sharing art, and learning from others... or just crying over their talents that you do not yet possess/have not mastered. At the end of may I will have had my first writing tablet for a year now, and it's opened up a huge world of joy. I believe I have truly progressed from that moment and it makes me excited about what else I can learn. I won't say that digital art is less captivating but once in a while I miss the "strain" of traditional art. Getting charcoal smudges on my hands, not being able to undo a paint stroke, etc. It takes a lot of skills in practice to do well in multiple mediums of traditional art, I won't say it takes less in digital art but I do think it comes with less complications. Once you've become accustomed with pen pressure digital chalk, charcoal and paint art becomes a bit easier, and the tedious techniques will soon follow. Is this a similar experience to everyone else?

I cannot say I prefer one format over the other... but I do prefer the community that comes with digital art. Traditional art, for me, is a very independent activity. I create, view and work on my art all alone... but with digital art I can share the steps, I can discuss it, and I can present it to others. The act of "presenting" online has a lot less pressure too, people are able to view it and make a choice to respond or not, to give advice, to compliment (sincerely or not) etc... in person I believe most people will feel obligated to respond with a compliment, hesitant to give advice, and will refrain at all costs from saying absolutely nothing at all. In this way I truly appreciate the digital art format.

What are your thoughts on the formats? What is your experience with either, or both? Can you argue that one is better than the other or do they have different uses? :)

[Pokemon Trainer Sarah]

Unlike most people (I think), I sort of started with digital art. I always liked drawing and stuff as a kid, but I was never great at it or anything, and I didn't draw that often. Once I discovered oekakis online, I used to spend a lot of time drawing random stuff, usually Pokemon. It was a great way to get constructive criticism and seeing all the other fantastic art around was great motivation. Plus you were automatically part of a community and it was great to be able to make friends who encouraged you and made drawing more fun. I think I liked digital art because you could easily undo mistakes, it was easy to colour/shade consistently and everything looked so clean. I still find digital art much easier than traditional art for those reasons, even though I have only ever used a mouse. I've always been terrible at traditional colouring, which sounds silly, but I can never get the shading and everything looking nice. After learning a lot from digital art, I have started to go back and try traditional art again, though. I really love watercolour pictures (which of course you can also do digitally, but it's not quite the same), and that is sort of motivating me right now. I've always wanted to try using a graphics tablet to draw digital art, but I haven't got around to buying one yet.

As for which I like looking at better, I do like digital art a lot because of how it can be used, in banners and graphics and such (graphic art/web design and such used to be a big hobby of mine). But I guess I appreciate traditional art more for what it is rather than what I could do with it. xD They're both different but equally good, I would say. I agree with Braixen about the digital art community and I can see how traditional art is something that can feel more personal.

[Nekomata]

I'm a bit of a strange one- my artistic stuff started with spriting. I then began to split up into both traditional and non-pixel digital art from there. Of course- now that I've got my tablet, most of my art is indeed digital these day. Unless you count doodles all over my calculus notes- in which case I still do a chunk of traditional here and there. xD

What I love about traditional art is that I have more control over each stroke I make with my charcoal, pen, pencil, etc. I can see exactly what I'm drawing- with digital, my tablet isn't one with a screen on it- so it's sometimes a bit weird drawing with it. In fact- when I draw with my tablet, I have to draw a bit differently since the touchpad is proportional to my screen- so to draw a circle, I really draw an oval... each time I change my monitor setup I have to relearn how to draw, basically. X_x

Another thing I like about traditional art is having the physical piece of art. It's nice looking at your work on the monitor- but I love being able to hold that big chunk of bristol board and look at whatever I'm working on. It's like seeing famous paintings in person rather than photos on the internet.

And of course- there's that lovely charcoal disaster that I often create when given the chance. While I usually hate getting messy, I've found that I don't mind getting charcoal and water colors all over me hands.

As for digital art- what I love most about it is the forgiveness it has. I can mess up and quickly undo- or I can use layers to make things more easy to change later on if I feel like it. Overall, I find digital to be more suited for me since I've got rather unsteady hands (ask me to draw a neat line with a pen on paper... then laugh at my fail).

The other major plus for digital art is how easy it is to share. I've learned a lot from the things people have pointed out in my work- whilst my traditional pieces tend to sit away from the eyes of others, never to be critiqued. If it weren't for all the people telling me I'm terrible (okay, they never said that- but they thought it!) in my early years in art- I'd still be just as good/bad as I was before. As much as we all want to think our work is perfect, there's always something to improve on- and sometimes it takes another person's eyes to spot that thing!

As to which I prefer? As I've said, having unsteady hands makes digital art more suited for me since I can easily undo the 100 bad lines I make before I draw one that I like. I also find coloring to be easier since I won't need to mix paints, colors, etc. to get the shades I want- so a bit less expensive if you disregard the cost of photoshop and the tablet (both of which last forever).

I do thoroughly enjoy traditional art though- I just don't make as much of it as I should.

[Coru]

I do a bit of both. I have a bamboo drawing tablet and I am ashamed that I haven't used it a lot lately as I really enjoy using it to do some digital art, however, I have noticed that although I prefer the outcome, I don't enjoy it as much as traditional art. I want to do a job in graphic design so digital art is what I aspire to do, however, nothing can beat the enjoyment I get from some good old traditional methods.

To me it isn't that much of sketching that I enjoy. I used to enjoy that, however, now I have progressed as an artist due to my art course at school, I have found out I enjoy using acrylic paints on canvas and I am told I am really good at it so that is what I enjoy most. I feel that digital art gives a cleaner more technological look to a piece of art, however traditional art gives a more messier and refined look and it depends on the person to which they prefer.

I don't really prefer one over the other as I get enjoyment from both and put a lot of effort into both. I hope to make a living by setting up a small commissions business as a side job with my main job being a graphic designer, therefore I can balance my working life with both aspects of art as I value both, but I feel I could get more from a job in digital art as there is more to do with it these days and it has a higher demand as more technology keeps coming out and there are so many fields such as advertising, animation, set design etc so in my opinion, these days, Digital Art is more promoted in business rather than traditional which used to be the case.

The one thing I can safely say is that I am a perfectionist so Digital Art may be more suited as I can easily undo, however, I am a train wreck when drawing straight onto a computer from a tablet. I just can't. I don't know why but I need to physically draw it out on paper and then scan it in and trace it on the computer. It could either be that I still need to get used to it, which I doubt, or just because I prefer the feel of traditional sketching.

[SassySnivy]

Now that I've had a little time to think about these questions:

Do you think that traditional art must always be "practiced" before digital art? Does it no matter at all?
No, I don't believe that strictly traditional art must always be practiced before starting digital art; however, I do feel as if having a sufficient knowledge of drawing and sketching, be it in whatever form, is necessary. I started with simply drawing and still enjoy sketching for purposes of concept art and/or as a preliminary sketch, but I have never taken traditional mediums much further than that. I honestly do not like how you have to watch out for so many things when using traditional media. Digital media is much more convenient, can provide almost the same effect (ALMOST), and is all there right in front of you, no clutter necessary. However, don't get me wrong: I really admire people who can work with such complicated forms of traditional media.

I have sketchbooks filled with drawings and concepts that have literately been viewed by no one. I find it hard to present art to other people to look at in person, although I consider myself a person of confidence there just seems to be a barrier there for me. I don't specifically like being complimented, and I often feel "naked" for lack of a better term, when presenting my art to someone in person.

I'm certainly glad I'm not the only one that feels this way! I feel as if art critiques are meant to be through some form of text / writing. Not only can you put more thought into and readjust things mentioned in a written critique before publishing. That and showing off any artwork in person just feels embarassing for similar reasons you stated!

Drawing came first, pixel art second, then regular ol' digital I started toying with.

Anyways, I honestly respect anyone who can make astonishing pieces of art, despite the medium they used.

[Braixen]

Aww, what a pleasant surprise, some lovely discussion going on haha. I honestly really enjoyed these replies.
@Pokemon Trainer Sarah
That's neat that you mostly got your start with digital stuff! I know what it's like to get used to a mouse, everything you make with it feels like an accomplishment because it takes a lot of patience to be good with a mouse haha. I really encourage you to get a writing tablet, I picked up the cheapest Bamboo one I could find, and honestly it opens up a lot of new possibilities and it's just fun in general. I don't think you would regret it!
@Nekomata
Haha aww, starting with sprites. That's fairly unique as far as I know! I have to agree having a physical piece of paper, or canvas etc to move about it amazing. My tablet also doesn't have a screen on it, and once in a while I find it frustrating that I can't look at my entire drawing (if it's a large piece) at once and continue to work on it. I almost always have to be zoomed in to make sure my lines are straight in such, I'm sure you've had this feeling before!
@Corrupt_Voidlich
I think it's really important that if art ends up being part of your career to have something else involved with it that is still a hobby. When I was younger some people believed I would grow up and become an artist of some sort, but I always wanted to be in the field of Biology and to have art as my hobby. I think it's important to balance work and play and I think that's a good solution for you. I'd love to see some of your acrylic work, do you have any on display somewhere online?
@Speed-X
;_; I made a spelling error and your post highlighted it for me haha, oops! I definitely agree with what you said about a basic understanding! I definitely got that from pencil and paper when I was much younger. As far as written critiques it does seem meant to be! It's much easier for people to be honest and really think about what sort of message they want to send the artist. I think constructive criticism is extremely advantageous, especially in the online art community. It's great to get opinions and learn how others may view your work.

[Nekomata]

Aww, what a pleasant surprise, some lovely discussion going on haha. I honestly really enjoyed these replies.
@Pokemon Trainer Sarah
That's neat that you mostly got your start with digital stuff! I know what it's like to get used to a mouse, everything you make with it feels like an accomplishment because it takes a lot of patience to be good with a mouse haha. I really encourage you to get a writing tablet, I picked up the cheapest Bamboo one I could find, and honestly it opens up a lot of new possibilities and it's just fun in general. I don't think you would regret it!
@Nekomata
Haha aww, starting with sprites. That's fairly unique as far as I know! I have to agree having a physical piece of paper, or canvas etc to move about it amazing. My tablet also doesn't have a screen on it, and once in a while I find it frustrating that I can't look at my entire drawing (if it's a large piece) at once and continue to work on it. I almost always have to be zoomed in to make sure my lines are straight in such, I'm sure you've had this feeling before!
@Corrupt_Voidlich
I think it's really important that if art ends up being part of your career to have something else involved with it that is still a hobby. When I was younger some people believed I would grow up and become an artist of some sort, but I always wanted to be in the field of Biology and to have art as my hobby. I think it's important to balance work and play and I think that's a good solution for you. I'd love to see some of your acrylic work, do you have any on display somewhere online?
@Speed-X
;_; I made a spelling error and your post highlighted it for me haha, oops! I definitely agree with what you said about a basic understanding! I definitely got that from pencil and paper when I was much younger. As far as written critiques it does seem meant to be! It's much easier for people to be honest and really think about what sort of message they want to send the artist. I think constructive criticism is extremely advantageous, especially in the online art community. It's great to get opinions and learn how others may view your work.

Yeah- I love being able to lug around physical stuff. I guess that's why I prefer books over e-books. xD I'm fortunate to have a good monitor setup (with a rather large main monitor) for my digital work- so I can still see a good portion of whatever I'm working on while zoomed in. I still wish my tablet had a screen though- but those are quite expensive. My budget for these things is rather small, so I have to make do with what I've got!