... been using Photoshop too much when you're sketching something with pencil, make a mistake, and your fingers automatically move as if they'd be pushing the ctrl+z buttons on the keyboard. Just did that, when I noticed my mistake I was really embarrassed at myself. Don't know if it had to do with me sitting next to the computer (I always sketch sitting besides it) or me seriously having colored too much lately (I don't like coloring too much, so me coloring too much is really rare). Anyone else had these kinds of moments?

I'm personally starting to wonder if I should completely move over to traditional art for a while and get better at coloring that way. I have these wonderful watercolors and paper that just lay there unused, just because I'm lazy and feel as if it takes too much time to actually pick up all the stuff I need to get started. How do you feel about traditional art? Do you think everyone should master both traditional and digital art? Or should one concentrate on either one? I know people always talk about being versatile and that way improving your skills, trying new things and experimenting. But for me watercolors and traditional art isn't THAT new actually. Before I got my tablet I only colored/drew my pictures traditionally. Of course I've gotten better since then, but still...

Hope I posted in the right forum and didn't post a topic you've discussed before, if so, I'm sorry ^^;

Ironically, taht's happened to me before, and I rarely ever CG.

Anyway, as for moving to traditional, that's up to you. Personally, I find color theory easier to execute in additive traditional - like, you can mix complimentary colors better in traditional. Personally, I think there's a large skillset that spans both traditional and digital, so when you're learning one you are learning both. I just learn with whatever media i think fits the choice of my piece's subject matter.

And just to say, I think versatility is a good thing if you're going industry. Like, you want to have a personal trademark/stamp, but you also want to be able to do anything your employer says they want.

hahah i think if you want to go into something professionally you should be good at it in both traditional and on the computer. cause it will more then likely only help you if you can do your art in both ways. though myself, i can only really do traditional. ive tried a few times to color things on Open Canvas, but its.. alien to me?

though (not related to art) for a while there i was using party speak for stuff all the time when i was talking IRL to people. {incredibly tough} {husband} {agro}- {links to sight} >.<;; that was a bit rough until i stoped playing ffxi

I was drawing in a traditional way for whole my life. And that wan't a lose of time :D but now I am trying to do my best also in computer grafic, and that's great too : )

But I don't think it's necessary to master both of them. I think EVERYBODY who wants to be an artist in today's world, should GET IN TOUCH, even onece with all techniques, just to be sure, that she/he knows, what she/he doesn't use at all : )


But - from myself - I recommend both of them. Not everywhere you have a computer to draw with, and sometimes you can't find a set of colouring pencils, so it's better to use both of them : D bigger variety of your choice, you know XD



The other side is - when you try to master more than one technique - it goes slower... but I think that isn't SO important, as the speed of getting better mostly depends not on the number of techniques you are trying to master, but on the amount of exercising. So, aso long as you can add technique together with hours for it to your daily shedule, it's ok : )

Conclusion is - both are great, and it would be a shame not to try to be the best in both of them XD

You have a point there, but at the moment I don't really know if I want to go professional... after all I'm not even studying art. It's maybe just a very very comprehensive and time consuming hobby, something I could consider doing as an side job, nothing more.

Then again currently there seems to such a big demand for digital art, in my opinion it's getting more and more rare to see traditional art.

I do realize they both overlap a lot, thank god, since it's usable in many ways. Somehow I have a feeling I created this thread to try to convince myself I really should pick up those color pencils and watercolors again, haha. After all I would learn some bits and bobs.

Edit: Yes time is always an issue because of work and school. At the moment I have more time than usual, which might be a reason why I'm even discussing this.

Originally Posted by Mou

You have a point there, but at the moment I don't really know if I want to go professional... after all I'm not even studying art. It's maybe just a very very comprehensive and time consuming hobby, something I could consider doing as an side job, nothing more.

oh, well. I don't think of art as a job, too. But isn't it possible to have a hobby with many aspects...? :D

Yes! I was hoping someone would say it was possible to do art, get a little money, but NOT call yourself a pro. There should be people like that out there too, right? If you're an artist like that people commission you because they like a specific style of yours. They commission you because they've for example fallen in love with the way you CG.

Though this still doesn't mean you should limit yourself to only CG, just throwing arguments here and there for fun :3

yep. Seems whe have the same point of view : D

Above everything - the main reason, for which I draw is to entertain myself. So that doesn't matter, what technique it is... : )

well i think maybe in the long run, doing art degitally is a bit cheaper? so if its a hobby maybe you should try to do that? i dunno, i really want to do art for a profession some day, and i know i HAVE to take classes in computer arts but i feel much more at home coloring with my markers or coloring pencils. or just doodling on a piece of black paper with chalk pastels. for me when i color on Open Canvas i find it frustrating? i have horrible control with a mouse and it isnt the same as the calm i tend to get when im picking through my markers looking for a color, or painting with inks ._.

Originally Posted by Jitsumi1221

well i think maybe in the long run, doing art degitally is a bit cheaper?

It depends on, if you use tablet XD they are worth a bit....

but of course, I couldn't afford buying myself all that wonderful traditional-ways stuff....
so you are right there XD but traditional also mean a pencil from a shop nearby for 0,25 euro XD so that's my main base....

Yup true, traditional art can be very very expencive, just look at the prices they charge for decent paper! Not to mention copics.

I've got a crappy tablet with close to no pressure sensitivity, but for the moment it's enough. I can't afford anything more expencive and think I can do just as well with this one, it just takes a little longer and demands a tad bit more patience.

I do understand how digital art can be frustrating, it was very much so before I got the tablet.

true true (about the wacom tablet) however, think of how much paper, ink, and all the like your saving for in the long run. for example.. im pretty sure Luciole uses paper that is made for watercolors. and when i worked at the art store a sketch pallete for it was about $9 for 10 pieces of paper. then of course she has to buy watercolors.. which lets say are $3 a piece per color. + good brushes (which tend to be quite pricey) . all of these which you go through fairly quickly. and im sure there are numerous other things that i failed to mention that a traditional painter uses.

for me i have 3 sketchbooks i use very often. one with specific paper for markers, one for a bit of everything, and a pad of tracing paper so when i draw some design i like i can make it even on both sides. then my markers.. which all run out (fairly) quickly. and the pens i use to ink (which run out faster then the markers) *shrugs* it just seems like you can put down several hundred for a good art program online and a erm.. tablet (lets say $600 for the program and $580 for the tablet) and still in the long run pay much much more for traditional.

Not to mention when you use acrylics. Well haven't seen that many manga artists use them, but oil paint + canvases are truelly expencive!

Though we shouldn't let all this put us down, amazing artworks have been created on pieces of old cardboard... and can still be born on other cheap materials. It's (almost) all up to the talent. Wouldn't recommend watercolors on printer paper though, like ever :P

my pentagram tablet was like, I dunno, $150? and frograms are sometimes free to download :D so everything depends on, what stuff you are buying.... for both traditional and digital art.

Of course it does, but I have to stand on Jitsumi's side here. If you take two artists of the about the same level in skill, both starting from scratch, who are about as dedicated to art and thus are willing to spend as much time and effort on creating pieces, the traditional artist would have to spend more money on creating an equal amount of high quality art.

Hope you understood what I meant ^^; Found it a bit hard to explain.

simply because the fact that if you do traditional art the stuff is more like a "consumable" it'll eventually run out and in order to continue you will have to buy more.

you never run out of a certain tone of red on photoshop ^^;; or your paintbrush never goes bad and you have to replace it.

But, in the event that something does go wrong, computer things are much more expensive to replace.

And to buy the computer, software and tablet in the first place costs a bundie.

In contrast, having to buy a Bic biro and a wodge of Tesco Value printer paper every so often doesn't seem so bothersome!

Personally I like painting both in real and digital media. If the process is painting, I don't see that there's much of a difference between the two. It's when you get into other software mediums like 3D that it becomes a whole different ballgame.

In short, I don't think it's possible to divide "real" and "digital" media into just those two categories.

For example; you have the category "painting", and in that category you have the mediums of oil, acrylic, and digital.

XD Trad can be expensive, but don't get the most expensive items in the shop. Even the lower end items are marked up so much. Whenever I go to an art shop I never buy anything except paper.. everything else I get from cheapo stationery shops, terrible brands and don't last very long, but cheap and they do work!

I recommend doing traditional if you want to have a clearer idea on how to use CG. Without trad, one's CG could easily run outta ideas to be boring, flat and totally airbrushed, shiny and lots of special effects. With some trad experience, I find that one knows when to create texture, organized mess, lighting, etc etc to make a painting interesting and have a realistic quality to it.

But of course many artists opt for CG these days and trad is kinda dying.. but it won't hurt to invest a little and have some experience of getting your hands dirty, mixing colors for real and playing with water and paint <3 the experience, i have to say is a few thousand times more exciting thatn CG.

I actually loved doing traditional art when I still had art class in school. Then I had wide areas to work on and really great materials (I so loved their paper). Also I somehow found the environment inspiring, with all my friends and the possiblity to socialize while messing around with the colors. The immediate feedback was also nice. When I mess around with color at home I don't feel as free. This is just me though.