Digital Art Is Not Art!! (Part 1)

For all my digital artists out there, do you ever get this? And for everyone else, are you one of the ones that agrees with this? I seem to see this a lot and I was finally pushed over the edge when one of my favorite artists, Ryan Ottley, posted on Twitter "What's worse, burning original art or drawing digitally?! Haha!". For those who know, Ryan has been doing his layouts digitally lately. Which I assume is why he asked that. It's the response from fans that got to me. Most of them replied saying that drawing digitally was WORSE than burning original art. Being primarily a digital artist as of late, I was a little offended at how many people don't consider digital art to be art.

I've gotten this multiple times, "This would look great as a real painting.". Uh.. So does it not look great as a digital painting? If I painted the exact same thing with oil paints and it looked exactly the same, how would it look better?! It'd look the same. The difference: I didn't make a mess and I didn't waste my time or money. I've also gotten "What medium is that?", I'd say Photoshop. Then silence. "I'd be much more impressed if you used real paint." WHY?! Most people can't answer why. And the ones who do usually say "it's harder to paint with real paint". Is it? It takes longer yes, but is it harder? Are you not using the exact same skills? Ok so some people, a lot of people, will cheat when doing digital art. It's just a fact. Cuz they don't want to take the long hours it takes to really learn. But for the real artists out there, most of us learned to draw with pencil before ever even knowing what a tablet is.

Tell me this. Is watercolor not art? It can't be. Because oil painting is much harder than watercolor. And oil painting is real art. So watercolor can't be. Doesn't that sound stupid? A tablet is a tool! Just like watercolors, crayons, colored pencils, charcoal, ink, oil paints, acrylics, clay, etc. Some are easier than others. Some are harder. THAT is all based on opinion. Doesn't dismiss it from being art. It's just another medium. My too favorite mediums are ink and digital. Though I've tried almost every medium there is. And because I have the skill, I can produce decent work with each. Give me some oil paints and I'll paint something and make you think it's digital. Give me Photoshop and I'll fool you into thinking its traditional. Because it's the end product that matters. Not what you used to get there. It's art. The end product is art. Whether it's a logo design, a photomanipulation, a painting, a sculpture, a 3D rendering. It takes skill and creativity. And the end result is enjoyed by people. Anyone who questions the process used to make the final product needs to reteach themselves what art really is. It's creating. That's it.

Continued in Part 2