# Digital Art



## Rsyk (May 22, 2011)

Iâ€™m not an artist. Iâ€™ve always been fascinated by art, and definitely interested in creating some of my own, but I really donâ€™t have any skills to speak of. That said, I still sketch quite a bit, and Iâ€™m taking an actual art class next year to try and see if I can get something decent onto paper. But, Iâ€™ve been wondering something for a while now. Is it worth getting into digital art? 
  For me, itâ€™s not an issue of not having the resources to do so. Iâ€™ve already got most of the programs one would use, (I have on of the Adobe CS series installed.) itâ€™s just a matter of whether or not I should. While I often like the look of digital art, Iâ€™m not sure if practicing that particular style would help or hurt my current efforts, or if itâ€™s even worth getting into at the point Iâ€™m at. Can anyone offer some advice?


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## Zenia (May 22, 2011)

Eventually it is nice to get into... but since you say you don't have any skills (yet), just stick to traditional stuff until you have some experience under your belt.


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## Arshes Nei (May 22, 2011)

Start Simple. You can't get much more simple than pencil and paper. If all you can think of is digital art and thinking it will help you, then really this may not be the thing for you. 

http://philintheblanks.com/blog/?p=546


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## Rsyk (May 22, 2011)

Arshes Nei said:


> If all you can think of is digital art and thinking it will help you, then really this may not be the thing for you.


 I'm not sure what you mean by this bit.


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## Zenia (May 22, 2011)

Rsyk said:


> I'm not sure what you mean by this bit.


Some people think that going digital will make you awesome right away. XD


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## FireFeathers (May 22, 2011)

Just go traditional. When you get to art class, they'll tell you the same thing. Traditional skills transfer well into digital art, the opposite does not succeed as well.


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## Arshes Nei (May 22, 2011)

Reasons why I tell beginners to go traditional over digital.

Portability. 

There's nothing worse on this forum full of threads telling users to use Posemaniacs and other sites, when there are so many objects you can study from right in front of you. I really haven't seen that many good artists that became that way solely using photos from google. They at least took SOME life drawing class and/or drew from life. Which means they observed people outside, instead of hiding behind a computer screen all day. 

*Go the fuck outside, stop sitting in front of a screen all day trying to learn how to draw* It's also better for your eyes too.

*When we say draw from life - we're not just talking about looking at naked people all day*

Drawing from life means, inanimate objects too. Take some crap around your house, like your wii-mote, xbox360, or ps3 controller, put it under a lamp to get a certain lighting condition and DRAW IT. To learn people's moods, googling stocks of faces don't always get what you need. Go out there, start observing people and look at their posture. If you can't draw it well, then take some damn notes! Even if you draw it well, take some notes. Write down some rules you learned or write down what mistakes.

*Going outside expands your influences and inspiration*

I like my entertainment and video games too, but inspiration shouldn't be every episode of Family Guy. Don't just look at pop culture references to be "Cool". Go outside and watch how people interact, walk around and look at a neighborhood. What caused some things to be that way? What way can you spin that into a story you can tell through your art? It doesn't mean what you see = what you have to put on paper, but rather....that old building would be an idea of a story of a fantasy building that somehow went into decay or developed into something different over time. Ever see rubbish being blown around in mini wind tunnels? Maybe the wind tunnels are spirits or creatures with their own motivation and goals.

You can try lugging around an ipad, laptop or whatever mobile device it is to use how to draw, but you're fumbling with a lot of stuff and trying to get the program to work while you finger paint, or set up your tablet/waiting for the program to launch.

With a pencil and paper it's a bit easier, and even if you don't know how to draw well, at least you already have a jumpstart on how to use a pencil because you've been using one for years. It beats trying to sit down and calibrate constantly for pressure sensitivity or learning about layers and other crap.


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## Rsyk (May 22, 2011)

Zenia said:


> Some people think that going digital will make you awesome right away. XD


 Oh, I didn't expect that at all. If anything, I'd think I'd be worse. I just wondered if it was worth getting used to now. But the definitive answer seems to be no, so I'll stick to my crappy sketches for now. ^^


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## Jw (May 22, 2011)

Rsyk said:


> Oh, I didn't expect that at all. If anything, I'd think I'd be worse. I just wondered if it was worth getting used to now. But the definitive answer seems to be no, so I'll stick to my crappy sketches for now. ^^


 
Word of advice: you ever heard of the concept of a "self-fulfilling prophecy"? Essentially, you go in with a certain mindset, and you will tend to perform towards that mindset. Saying your sketches will be crappy is defeatist and will tend to make you dumb down your skill. After all, if they're going to be crappy, why should you try as hard?

Not saying you should go in and think "I am going to draw the best freaking picture ever", but don't subconsciously set yourself up for failure. Go in with an accepting but positive mindset and you'll tend to work better. 

Anyway, I would recommend you start with the basics. At this point in your artistic career, you should probably look into reading "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain". You can find a picture-link on this thread's OP, so check it out:
http://forums.furaffinity.net/threads/99262-Book-Spotlight-Post-your-fave-art-books


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