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03-25-2015, 04:50 AM
Hello everyone,
Just wondering what the preferred media of choice for most active users here at CD is? I have been using digital almost exclusively since last October and I want to start showing some of my work around my town BUT they really only want traditional work on display. I really love the freedom that digital offers, but from time to time I do miss certain aspects of traditional work.
Also on a side note. Do any of you use local printers or online services like Shutterfly to print out your digital work? Shutter fly is one of my favorites and the always offer plenty of sales too. Whenever I finish a piece I can't wait to get it printed out on my printer to see what it looks like. There's something about holding the completed work in my hands that helps make me feel like I can move on to the next piece.
Have a good one...
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I prefer digital personally, but i'm trying to force myself to study more in tradition pencil due to it being much harder for me to erase my mistakes and not concentrate
(not painting traditional though, too much setup for me and my room is like the size of a closet XD).
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Yeah all the crazy space and time needed for painting were a few reasons I wanted to learn digital. Plus it is so much easier to not worry about mistakes digitally too because I burn through erasers when drawing. And when I use graphite it's very very light and it seems to take forever to get the correct gradation even with the darker B pencils.
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For me personally, I much prefer traditional media to digital. I just feel there's more variety in the selection of mediums you can use when working traditionally. For example, I've done paintings on VHS tapes and book pages before, something that can't quite be replicated digitally in my opinion. I do understand why people can prefer digital, as it can be quite costly at times and can take up a lot of room (my bedroom is littered with canvases I've worked on). Not to mention with digital it's easier to correct mistakes, where as traditional can be much more unforgiving, depending on the medium.
Maybe I'm just being hedonistic, but I guess my love for traditional is also to do with the fact I love the sensation of pen to paper or brush to canvas. Nothing beats that, in my view!
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When I first started messing with digital a year ago I would have had a different opinion than I do now. I was telling people Im only ever going to use digital from now on. But now Im thinking limiting myself to only using digital is a serious handicap to skill building along with any future career as an artist. When you learn the thought process needed for a certain medium you gain a new perspective which adds new layers to your over all thought process for all other mediums. Digital for all its advantages I think hampers your learning process on top of that due to all its safety nets. You need to develop the ability to see an image come together in a controlled step by step fashion without so many options of layer management, undoes, history, image adjustment tools ect. Also you'll never be able to sell prints at the price you can sell an original traditional painting for.
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I started training traditionally, and love all of them greatly. I admire digital a whole lot, and am struggling to get familiar with it. A lot of the underlying theories flow through both traditional and digital. The technical parts are like a field of bramble to wade through sometimes, and can let you forget all about the amazing connected-ness that threads through what makes art touch people's hearts.
If your digital art is printed on sturdy paper, then framed and mounted like a photography, will your local art gallery display them?
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Adam: I have not come to the point that I feel that digital is limiting me. At the moment it's quite liberating to use, but I do feel that using any medium or approach for that matter can lead to stagnation. So I will keep it in mind to keep track of my work skills so that it does not create harsh handicaps for myself. However, I have brought over several traditional techniques when coloring digitally. While coloring I tend to keep most mistakes on the page and just add more color over top of it. It's not quite the same as painting but close. I imagine Painter would be a closer example if I used that program. As for your other points like layers, image adjustments I do use quite a bit and I love them. Might as well use the program fully. As for selling work I have not quite gotten up to that point but valid concern.
Meat: I feel the same that digital and traditional have very similar roots just different outputs with each having their own strengths and weaknesses. I had just assumed that the gallery would not take my digital work, so I did not even ask the question. I will look into it. Thanks :)
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About using layers and image adjustments. I have nothing against them other than getting too reliant on them. If you can't paint without those tools then it's much harder to paint traditional I would think. If you don't care about ever doing anything but digital then who cares? I see traditional starting to become less common in the future which is sad in one way. At the same time that will make traditional painters a rarer commodity and drive the price up on their paintings. I'm excited to see where art is going in the future in any case.
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True true good point. But yes the future of art will be interesting either way. One thing is for certain..I need more time to master both :P
