Since my little foray back into traditional media and coming back to digital (and this time was way less frustrating than the last couple times I tried to get back into acrylic paint) I thought Iād say what I think the strengths and drawbacks of digital and paint are. I think itās worth putting out there since often I feel like people arenāt giving one or the other a fair shake, because they have way more experience with one or the other.
Fast, you can set up a digital canvas as quickly as your computer can rev up photoshop or whatever program and be ready to go
Versatile, just about every look is possible with the right combinations of tools and techniques, and once you know how to basically navigate your program of choice, each additional technique doesnāt take much to learn, even if itās vastly different in effect and appearance. Techniques are more like recipes than anything.
No materials are wasted if you make a mistake or just feel like making something stupid, which is freeing
Infinite edit-ability, ability to grab pieces of things and move them, warp them, layer them, mask, etc., makes it easy to fly by the seat of your pants
Sharp, clean, artificial looks that would be a pain in the ass to achieve otherwise are pretty simple and you can mix and match this with more organic effects too
Straight lines are as easy as sneezing, perspective grids can be done without too much pain (especially with something like Carapace)
Time saving techniques like templates, brushes and fonts that save time on otherwise repetitive art-job tasks
Stabilizing tools for digital inking
Works are generally easy to post online or print, they are already in the right format or can be converted easily
Set-ups to deal with visual problems or disabilities are easier - you can zoom in without putting your nose in your work, you can use the color dropper if you have color perception differences,
Lag can kill the vitality of what you are working on
Smaller tablets force you or train you to draw small and from the wrist/fingers which is not necessarily the best
Tablets have less sensitivity than traditional media tools
Disconnect between where you look and where your hand is can be disorienting and difficult to get past and cintiqs are stupid expensive
With so much choice and freedom itās actually pretty easy to get stuck doing the same thing over and over because you already know how to do it and exploring more of your choices is daunting and itās not always immediately obvious what you can do, what options are buried in menus
Grass brush syndrome - people can start recognizing repeating patterns or other signs of artificiality and if artificiality wasnāt the point it can really bring down the quality of the work. Such patterns can also look very out of place or strange
Once you learn the medium, the medium will suggest the look, itās more like dancing with a partner, which means sometimes you can let them lead, instead of always telling it what to do. Very zen!
Happy accidents! When you lose control of the media sometimes amazing things happen, or just nice little things you didnāt plan for. Thereās an element of randomness involved because of all the variables
Infinite variation in minute details, like in texture, how paint was smeared or how it dried, etc.,
Fidelity. Extreme detail of brush stroke or line weight can be achieved because of the control you can have over the toolās position in space and the pressure you apply to it - these arenāt subdivided into exact levels - and it all happens instantly
Tactile feedback - you can feel the materials you are using and use other senses in the process to guide your actions and control the tools
You can see what the materials are doing and take action before things become set - washes can be blotted at, additional paint can be added to a wet canvas, etc.,
Even if doing a 2D painting, there is an element of the third dimension that you can manipulate
Everything can be art materials and everything can be tools. You can paint on just about anything, you can paint WITH just about anything, you can use costume jewelry, plastic swans, bottlecaps, yarn, beads, coffee, whatever you want, you can use it and many media are routinely combined
You can make beautiful useful objects if you want (I crochet so of course I mention this)
The variation that can make it exciting also makes it frustrating - the tiniest changes in how you do things can get different results
The fidelity also can be a problem - things your hand does that wouldnāt matter in digital can translate into undesired effects, so where you might have gotten more control, you can end up with less
If you really get into it, you will be compelled to hoard materials like some kind of dragon hoarding aging tubes of paint instead of gold and you will covet strange tools that your family doesnāt understand and they will try to buy you gas station crayons instead
No going back, no undo (though sometimes you can paint over it, sand it off, etc.,)
Takes planning unless you really know the medium and can think several steps ahead on the fly
Thereās a little less transfer of skills between looks - not none, mind you, but if you know photoshop you can do both watercolor or blocky linocut-esque looks, itās as simple as changing the brush you use, but if you know watercolor youād be as lost as everyone else when handed a block of linoleum and a carving tool
Takes time to learn, and practice uses up materials, which can be scary because oh no I paid 5 bucks for that piece of paper
Takes time to set up and more time to clean up and care for tools and put it all away.
Some media canāt be left unattended once you begin using them (acrylic will dry and ruin your brushes forever, but leaving them in the water will also bend them), so sessions canāt be easily stalled or stopped
Takes space for materials, for working and for the results - and some material require additional space for ventilation
Some media and tools are literally hazardous - you can hurt yourself in more ways than merely getting repetitive stress injuries!
If you want to make prints or post online you have to photograph the damn thing or scan it and clean it up which is a whole other skill
Iām putting this separate because itās not a pro or con of either. With digital, you likely already have a computer, so that cost can seem invisible, but the cost of a tablet, good work computer and software can add up. Thereās a common misconception that you pay that upfront cost and then all the works you make are free - but computers donāt last forever, youāll need to upgrade eventually, so the cost of your machine and equipment is a real cost of doing business. Traditional media can still be more expensive, depending on your media of choice, but not always and not necessarily - the feeling of āwastingā materials is more visceral (which is why I mentioned it above as a con to traditional) but you can easily think of it as the upfront cost you pay toward the work youāll be making in the future, much like the cost of a tablet and good video card. But itās also not uncommon to need a computer for other interests, so it can kill two birds with one stone.
Traditional: You can make things that look uniquely good in person! (iridescence, foil, translucent effects, tactile experiences) ā¦ But that means people will have to see it in person, which may only happen once in a blue moon - whenever you have a gallery showing, have company over, or if the item is wearable, on the occasions when you wear it in public. Still, what an opportunity to make in impression, even if itās not all the time.
Digital: You can make things that look uniquely good on screens or specifically in the context of the internet! But it has to be seen on a screen and outside the context of the website it was meant to be on it may never pack quite the same punch. It may even become dated as the website it was meant for becomes dated. Such works can be pretty ephemeral, though the impact on people can last in their memories for far longer.
amandla
theartofmadeline
titsay
2087
ellievsbear
