Digital Drawing

[El Roacho]

i knew i'd regret saying that.

[IVARTON]

Its a tool. I met a guy a few years back that worked at Reebok who could do an airbrush illustration that looked so perfect it looked fake (digital). He could also do an illustration in Photoshop that looked like it was done on illustration board with an airbrush. Digital art is a medium. It doesn't GIVE anyone talent. I grew up with a lot of the old school illustrators too. I remember airbrush art getting a bad rap because you never actually touch the canvas. I bet some of you experts couldn't tell Johnny Craps digital paintings from his oils if put to task. Talented people use the skills they have and apply it to digital mediums. Hacks use gimmicks (See Kais Power Tools).

[Badlydrawnbas]

Oww... it's just the same as when they started to make animations digital. First, to me, it was all about showing off how 'wonderful' they could make things look.. but when time went by, they actually started to make decent movies... What I want to say, and I really like the 'human touch' of original handwork, there's definitely talented people who do digital... and do it good too... and both digital and traditional are used to make a lot of crap too (have a look on that LJ-feed).

[El Negro Magnifico!]

I bet some of you experts couldn't tell Johnny Craps digital paintings from his oils if put to task.

Pretty much what I was going to say. Johnny slays in both analog and digital.

[Mark McCormick]

i do almost all my contract work digitally with a wacom. for what its worth, the extent of brushes and such i use in photoshop is a 9 pixel circle eraser and 9 pixel circle brush. thats it, heh. its easier for me to think about it if i keep it simple within the program, an analog to the way i use ink on clayboard. i dont buy into textured brushes and such. its CERTAINLY not faster (my hand still has to make every single motion, 1:1), it just allows me to fix mistakes and make revisions quicker, which is important in this era of nitpicky 'just photoshop it' clients with shallow pockets. drawing digitally is sort of a must for me if im doing ANYTHING where someone else has a final say, ie any contract work. if im a week into a pen and ink drawing, and some client says "this single element needs to be bigger", i cant just start an original over.

i mean, anything can look soul-less. thats just bad art. the medium isnt that relevant if the artist puts honestly himself into it. ever see those guys who make portrait images out of cheetos?

My thoughts exactly. Also, the digital brushes are overrated and sure to give the art much more of that soulless digital feel. Nothing beats the feel and look of ink on paper, but keep it simple and as close to the original process as possible and it's not likely to look digital at all.

[Steve Chanks]

It comes down to creativity, talent and time. Art programs can not compensate for that the same way a really expensive set of oils or brushes can't.

I love my Wacom but I also feel it limits my line, something I feel is a bit of my trademark. Do any of you Wacom dudes have any advice on the brush types that you use to get clean lines with tapered ends? I seem to get rat tails when I try to feather my line.

[eyepeace]

It comes down to creativity, talent and time. Art programs can not compensate for that the same way a really expensive set of oils or brushes can't.

I love my Wacom but I also feel it limits my line, something I feel is a bit of my trademark. Do any of you Wacom dudes have any advice on the brush types that you use to get clean lines with tapered ends? I seem to get rat tails when I try to feather my line.

I hate those rat tales. One thing that I felt helped was changing the physical tip of the pen. There is this spring loaded one that I think still comes with all of the wacom ones. It gives a much softer cushier feel that ALMOST feels like a brush tip ink pen. It's not going to totally eliminate rat tales showing up now and then but I felt it helped a bit.

[Steve Chanks]

That's the one I've been using but I'm a bit heavy handed. I might need to retrain myself a bit.
Down with Rat Tails!!!

[Mark McCormick]

think i know what you mean, but to be sure, can you post an image showing these rat tails? the brush sometimes seems to work smoother if you set the mode to 'dissolve', but then your resolution should be higher.

[eyepeace]

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