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[ Rant - Digital Art IS real art ]
10 years ago
Okay so... I'm here to spill some angry feels after being told that my art is in fact "not real art" because it's digital. Well I have some things to say about that, mister!
Firstly; let's define 'real'.
real (riːl/)
adjective
1. actually existing as a thing or occurring in fact; not imagined or supposed.
"Julius Caesar was a real person"
So the word "real" basically means that something exists... That it is not imagined in any way. So because I sometimes choose the medium of Photoshop or Paint Tool SAI to draw, the artwork created in it suddenly ceases to exist and is not "real"? No. Can you see the finished artwork when it's done? Yes. Therefore it is real. But maybe I'm just being pedantic about your use of the word "real", who knows? Regardless of your poor choice of word, you're wrong. And I will tell you why.
If you've ever picked up a tablet and Photoshop and tried to draw in it, you will see that there is no magic button that says "make art"; we go through the exact same thing traditional artists do when creating our work. We still have to go through hours (sometimes days!) of painstaking sketching to get it right, and hours upon hours of lining, colouring, shading and highlighting. It is a FACT that if you cannot draw traditionally, you cannot draw digitally either(and vice versa), because the talent still lies within YOU, not the medium in which you use to draw.
"But it's easier cuz you can resize, move around and scale artwork if it's not right!"
...so? Does that make the talent used to draw and compose an art piece any less? No.
Is digital art "easier"? NO. Is digital art "just a bit more convenient"? YES. But it doesn't take any less talent than traditional art; maybe just a little less time.
"but you have Ctrl+z!!"
...you have an eraser. It's the same goddamn thing! All digital art does is give us more freedom to make mistakes. It's still a pain in the ass! Just because we can erase a little easier than you doesn't mean we lack the skills! Again, it's merely just a little more convenient... But it's certainly not "cheating"!
If you think digital art is cheating then GTFO my page. It's exactly the same as traditional art, minus a few inconvenient things. We still have to own and build the skills of anatomy, sketching, line art, shading, highlighting, blending, detailing and every other thing artists have gotta build on! It's just our medium is slightly more convenient when it comes to time.
So sit down, shut up, and don't knock an art form if you're too ignorant to even try to understand it.
/rant over!
Firstly; let's define 'real'.
real (riːl/)
adjective
1. actually existing as a thing or occurring in fact; not imagined or supposed.
"Julius Caesar was a real person"
So the word "real" basically means that something exists... That it is not imagined in any way. So because I sometimes choose the medium of Photoshop or Paint Tool SAI to draw, the artwork created in it suddenly ceases to exist and is not "real"? No. Can you see the finished artwork when it's done? Yes. Therefore it is real. But maybe I'm just being pedantic about your use of the word "real", who knows? Regardless of your poor choice of word, you're wrong. And I will tell you why.
If you've ever picked up a tablet and Photoshop and tried to draw in it, you will see that there is no magic button that says "make art"; we go through the exact same thing traditional artists do when creating our work. We still have to go through hours (sometimes days!) of painstaking sketching to get it right, and hours upon hours of lining, colouring, shading and highlighting. It is a FACT that if you cannot draw traditionally, you cannot draw digitally either(and vice versa), because the talent still lies within YOU, not the medium in which you use to draw.
"But it's easier cuz you can resize, move around and scale artwork if it's not right!"
...so? Does that make the talent used to draw and compose an art piece any less? No.
Is digital art "easier"? NO. Is digital art "just a bit more convenient"? YES. But it doesn't take any less talent than traditional art; maybe just a little less time.
"but you have Ctrl+z!!"
...you have an eraser. It's the same goddamn thing! All digital art does is give us more freedom to make mistakes. It's still a pain in the ass! Just because we can erase a little easier than you doesn't mean we lack the skills! Again, it's merely just a little more convenient... But it's certainly not "cheating"!
If you think digital art is cheating then GTFO my page. It's exactly the same as traditional art, minus a few inconvenient things. We still have to own and build the skills of anatomy, sketching, line art, shading, highlighting, blending, detailing and every other thing artists have gotta build on! It's just our medium is slightly more convenient when it comes to time.
So sit down, shut up, and don't knock an art form if you're too ignorant to even try to understand it.
/rant over!
Digital art ain't a walk in the park. Anyone who says it's easy has obviously never done it themselves.
I agree, when watching a speedpaint it LOOKS easy and simple, most likely because the video is sped up and the artist drawing knows the program like the back of their hand. To actually SIT DOWN and draw something is a real challenge, let alone getting it to look good.
Watching a traditional speedpaint looks easy too, they just seem to wave their hand around a bit and an epic drawing appears! But anyone who has ever tried it will know that it is a lot harder than it looks. It's the same with digital art, like you said, when the person is so used to drawing they're just brilliant at it and they know the program inside and out then it will look a lot easier than it is.
It just irks me that people are so small-minded as to think digital art is "cheating"! Grrrr. xD
I say keep on keeping on
Digital art may be more convenient, and in certain aspects easier since you don't need to worry about wasting overly-expensive art supplies. But it still takes a great deal of skill to be good at it. Just because a medium is more accessible than another, doesn't make it any less entitled to be called art.
Good art is about the skill of an artist, not the medium. Any medium can be art in the hands of an artist. Art is the result of an artist's effort, which medium they used is irrelevant.
Want to hear something even more obscure though? Back in school, people told me my pencil drawings aren't "real art". Just because I don't use paint and a canvas and shit. And no matter what I said, they'd never listen.
Honestly, one gets some really narrow-minded people out there.
Some people say that digital art isn't real art because with traditional media you only have ONE physical copy and that's why it's worth so much money. Because digital pieces can be replicated however many times you want, it's (apparently) not worth as much, if anything at all. It drives me absolutely yampy when people say that! So what if you can replicate it.. pretty sure photocopiers exist nowadays so you could just as easily replicate a sketch in a sketchbook! Does that make it any less artistic? No. The time and effort still went into the piece, so regardless what medium was used, it still has worth for the hours the artist threw into creating it.
Digital art is definitely more convenient. You can't crinkle the paper accidentally with the eraser, you can't press too hard with the pencil, you can erase colour and don't have to worry about wasting paper or canvas if you start over. So yes, in regards to the process of erasing mistakes, it is "easier" in some aspects. But the process of creating the art itself? The sketching, lining, colouring, shading and highlighting are no easier than doing it on paper/canvas/board/whatever! It still takes skill and patience.
What the hell, haha! Painting on a ceiling with mayonnaise can be art if you want it to be; so I'm pretty sure pencil drawings are definitely art!
People's narrow-mindedness drives me mad.