Digital vs Traditional Drawings
What do I like better? Digital or traditional tools for illustration.
Well that’s a tricky question which requires a bit of answering.
First off I have been drawing with traditional tools my entire life and even when I use digital tools, I still tend to start with a good old HB pencil and a sheet of paper. I find it easier to see where I’m going with a drawing when I start on paper and I can get proportions mapped out quicker as I’m rather impatient when I’m working and like to work fast.
I am going to use this illustration, the 57 Chevy Wagon I have just completed as the example for this topic.
I started this drawing on paper with a pencil as I prefer to do, admittedly proportions aren’t quite so important with a caricature type drawing, as half the fun in doing them is to distort the proportions too a degree. Anyway, so I sketched out a basic rough, then tightened up the pencil work a bit before penning it in, finishing up with a clean outline. I have tried drawing the tight pen outline with my tablet but I find it too slow and tricky with my current set up, maybe when I get a draw on tablet I may change my ways.
It was always my intention to create two versions of this drawing for demonstration purposes, essentially just to show two possible results that come from two different sets of tools, and for the client to be able to show me which look they prefer.
Working with traditional media, colour pencils, pens, paints etc in my opinion requires a fair amount of thinking ahead and planning. Why? Because its harder to make a clean alteration to a drawing or painting after the fact. Whereas with a digital painting or drawing you have the luxury of having ‘Undo’s’ and if necessary you can delete an entire layer and start it again. On the downside of Digital drawing or painting you have higher costs for your tools, tablets computers, scanners and so on, also the “technical issues” with hardware and software fighting each other, are sometimes almost enough make me pick the whole lot up and dump it the bin.
Don’t get me wrong, I love this stuff when it’s all getting alone and playing nicely. I mean working in a digital platform for drawing,painting and designing or what ever, for me means I can experiment with my work easily without have to have every design idea planned out fully before hand. Some of the coolest results I have had have been what I call a happy accident. When I am after trying out an idea that’s floating around in my head, and boom!! It goes completely not how I was expecting, but ends up a fantastic result anyway discarding the original plan in favour of the happy accident.
I drew the digital version of the 57 first which I had to admit helped a lot with the pencil version as I had worked out the major details the first time around. I made a time-lapse video of the pencil version 57 I hope you enjoy it
At the end of the day, both mediums have their pros and cons, none of which will put me off drawing with either of them. I have way too much fun.
Cheers
Dave
