Is digital art “real art”?

Digital art is a field of art that has been under heavy scrutiny by traditional artists. The question is whether it is genuinely a real art form. Traditional artists underrate it, and hostility is shown toward it both in schools and businesses. Even though digital art’s acceptance used to be a bigger issue in the past, it is still prevalent in many other cases. To put it bluntly, people are judging this art form without any real experience in digital art. As the world continues to modernize, why are we refusing to accept a new way of making art? Why don’t we just treat it like any other form of media?
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Due to the countless features in the drawing programs, drawing becomes too convenient. As a result, many people think that digital art is “fake art.” One big misconception about digital art is that the computer does everything, and the artists don’t require any skill. The brushes are all set beforehand, and if any mistakes are made, a simple press of buttons on a keyboard will solve the problem. Even so, with all the features of digital art, the art itself does not become “fake.” Those features are existing to help the artists to create artwork more comfortably, not to draw artwork itself. The process of innovation does become more convenient on a computer, but the difficulty remains. There are specific techniques that need to be explicitly learned for digital art just like the fundamentals necessary in drawing. Artists still have to learn anatomy, shading, and everything that a traditional artist need to learn to become a digital artist.

“I don’t have an opinion on which one is better because both have its upsides and downsides. It’s just based on your preference, and what you are trying to go for in your art.” Robin Ren (9A) commented Robin, who is a great artist in both traditional and digital fields.

“At one point I would have said ‘it’s easier, and the people who do it are far less skilled than people who do traditional [art]!’ I do not think this anymore. I’ve only just started doing digital work, and it is essentially like learning to draw all over again…” (@Allie Peusch) This artist on Quora comments on the discussion about whether digital art is easier than traditional art. There are also lots of other conventional artists who try digital art and find it to be surprisingly tricky.

“You [can] buy a tablet once, and that’s all you need to use for another ten years,” explains Julia Park (9A). Julia, a digital hobbyist shares that, “As a student, not a lot of us could provide expensive art supplies. A tablet that can do almost everything would be the best option available.”

Digital art can be a lot more convenient than traditional art, but many artists who are used to the textures on actual paper find digital art’s platforms such as Adobe Illustrator harder to work with.

According to Doudou Cun, ninety percent of the art for commercial use is digital. The average income of a digital artist is usually higher than a traditional artist. The working process is quicker and more comfortable. And no space is going to be taken up by all your canvas and supplies. So if you still doubt digital art, why not give it a try? You’ll for sure find out something new about it.
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Featured Image – Bottle full of paint brushes Photo Courtesy of Pixabay.com