Digital Art vs. Traditional Art

Digital art: an artistic work or practice that uses digital technology as an essential part of the creative or presentation process

Traditional Art: any art created through the use of real media.

I started off with a bookish definition in case you like me didn’t know the literal meaning of both these styles. These two styles comprise a world of their own and each has its own pros and cons which we will be discussing.

This may sound clichéd but this is one of the oldest arguments in history and thus it requires for us to go in depth.

To begin with, People may often question if digital art may be considered as art. The answer that could be presented is that art is means of expressing ones inner creativity regardless of the material they use. That being said, both styles are still classified as different methods. Both have their pros and cons. Paint spilled on a canvas is not something you can fix but a million wrong strokes on a computer can be undone. A physical brush allows you to create more depth as to apply more pressure accordingly but you can experiment endlessly on a computer without wasting materials. You may never achieve that perfect curve you want on a screen through a tablet but you can’t achieve that perfectly straight line on a canvas either.

Coming on to the differences. The major difference observed from digital art may be the extreme abundance of colors it has to offer. Sharp and vibrant along with the option to undo or erase any error you may seem does not match up with your object. Classical art still holds its place as being the main and traditional method of presentation. Both styles deserve their own recognition but concluding which method is superior or more efficient is entirely a different argument.

As it came first, traditional art can be seen to carry more emotion and depth rather than a computer–generated image as the artist needs to take his time to avoid mistakes that lead to completely starting over. However the lack of colours available bottleneck the abilities of the painter, whereas computers hold the option to choose the perfect colour from a series of 16,777,216 colours (thank you Google for that information).  Digital art may come across as “fun” and easy but as everything requires skill, this is no exception. Digital artists sacrifice time, sweat and money to fulfil their goals. As not only does digital art require skill, it requires a hefty wallet as well. That being said, traditional art is not cheap either to some extent. The need to constantly buy more equipment for both styles is where we can draw the line ;). Although the upfront cost for buying the hardware may be scary, you may not realize that it will last over a very extensive period of time and that the total cost of constantly having to buy new paint and brushes and canvases may sum up to the same but who are we to judge.

All in all, both styles are unique and comprise of totally different styles and methods to employ them. Each has its pros and cons and one opinion of a single person cannot really determine if ones better than the other.

The artistic process in digital art is very much the same as for making other kinds of paintings ~  Buffy Sainte-Marie