Im stuck between digital and traditional...

[Aaron Mandell]

I want to become a better character artist, and I find that sketching figures on my computer with my tablet to be a more comfortable place to start. But I feel as though my latest attempts at drawing with my tablet have either been as good as my past works or worse than my past works.

When I sketch on paper with a pencil, it feels a bit more alien to me. I often find myself reaching for a ctrl-z button that isn't there while I sketch with a pencil and paper. :dad: But I also feel like my pencil sketches end up looking better than my digital ones.

So, I'm just looking for some advice or something to help me resolve this odd issue I'm having. I definitely feel much more comfortable working with my tablet in Photoshop than on pencil and paper, but what I really want is to just become a better artist.

Thanks in advance.

[dashinvaine]

Stuck between digital and traditional makes it sound like you get oil paint all over your monitor...

The best advice is to do an equal amount of each so you don't come to rely on the shortcuts of digital art, and so you can get away from your desk occasionally.

[J Wilson]

Try working in pen or marker in traditional media. To break some of the habits of too many undos, you need to work with something that you can't easily undo. You'll hopefully find that those "mistakes" force you to incorporate them into the design, leading you in directions you might not have gone otherwise. This pushes you outside your comfort zone and possibly opens you up to new ideas.

[LuckyDevil]

My computer recently broke, and i have been doing nothing but traditional and i feel like my art is getting better and better so i haven't fixed my computer yet till i feel like i can't improve any faster on traditional. I also noticed that working traditional forces you to draw better the first time around because of the lack of Ctrl+Z and that translated into digital is less time trying to find the right line and more time in other areas of your work.

But then again its just my experience so far. If you feel better sketching in paper than coloring in digital get yourself a scanner :)

Offtopic: Dragon avatars are badass i gotta draw one for myself now :P

[SoufMeng]

First you should consider yourself lucky to have a tablet and photoshop. :)
Then whether on paper or on a digital canvas, artists have common things, and rather important ones, to deal with; lines, shapes, colors, etc. Takes time, patience but it also has to be fun so if a medium you enjoy more than another, go for it.
Now you said you want to become a better artist and true sometimes, medium related trivia can be distracting to that goal (custom brushes come to mind). But except for that you dont have to choose, just keep your priorities straight.
Also i feel that progress tend to somehow translate from medium to medium. I dont think i ever used charcloal better than now that i've painted a little while in PS.

[OmenSpirits]

"Traditional", god, when the hell did just drawing on paper become something so formal in definition as "Traditional"?

:(

It's like when you see a kid drawing on paper with a crayon, "Oh, he's doing that the traditional way".

*sigh* makes one feel so old in some way...

[Kaycy is tanning]

"Traditional", god, when the hell did just drawing on paper become something so formal in definition as "Traditional"?

:(

It's like when you see a kid drawing on paper with a crayon, "Oh, he's doing that the traditional way".

*sigh* makes one feel so old in some way...

In 2 years from now, kids won't know how to write, won't know what a library looks like and they will be taking notebooks to class instead of books (they already do).

I saw MIT (sic) is already doing online courses on youtube and many schools already give online degrees (real ones, not the fake ones from a few years ago).

[catartxis]

Neither format or tool is good or bad. There are just... different ways to achieve the same goal.
No artist is good because of the medium. Artist are good because they do art, regardless of the medium. Artist are good, because they can get the soul of every medium. And artist are good, because... they simple do art.
My advice is that forget about the medium, and use whatever you feel more comfortable. Nobody is gonna judge your art because you didnt on a piece of paper, or because you use a computer. If you are good, they are gonna apreciate your art. Not your mac or pc, or whatever.
Use whatever tool makes you feel that you do your art in the best way; more comfortable, more effiecient, even easily.
And when you feel that you are becoming better, that you have more experience, try to use other mediums, explore. See what other things can do to your art. Other mediums that may improve the way you work.
Avoid using something, just because somebody else do it.
You may also, try to avoid to have a large history option in photoshop. Like from havin 100 crtl-z, use 5. That way you´ll become less dependant on the crt-z command.
And my other advice would be, that use both mediums kind in the same way. Meaning: sometimes go to a cafe and sketch in paper. Go to your home, draw or paint in a tablet.
And good luck!

[Chris Saksida]

LOL it`s true! even I used to draw on sketchbooks a lot when I was out, away from my computer... but I recently bought myself a netbook and carry the thing around with my old wacom 4x5 wherever I go and I don`t even feel like drawing on the sketchbook!... kinda sad isn`t it?

But I don`t think you have to only use one medium; that would be limiting yourself; use whatever is more comfortable with you; I used to start with pencil drawings because I hated to draw on the tablet, scanned them and then color them on tablet/photoshop, but now it`s almost the same for me so I find it more practical doing everything digital from the start.

[Bushido]

Do 1000 drawings on paper and the problem is gona be solve

[Kaycy is tanning]

Do 1000 drawings on paper and the problem is gona be solve

Already did that, it solved none of my life issues.

[Arshes Nei]

"Traditional", god, when the hell did just drawing on paper become something so formal in definition as "Traditional"?

:(

It's like when you see a kid drawing on paper with a crayon, "Oh, he's doing that the traditional way".

*sigh* makes one feel so old in some way...

That's ok, there's a generation of kids that don't understand "you sound like a broken record".

Nothing wrong with trying more than one medium others have given good advice already.

[nicehighs]

The only thing I use digital for is my environment paintings and thats because so much paint goes into the damn things and thats just too expensive. My characters and props are traditional (pencil,ink, markers) because there really is no point (for me) to draw hard perspectives on a computer when I have a scanner. I also want my sketches to be here when im dead and gone hehe.

[OmenSpirits]

That's ok, there's a generation of kids that don't understand "you sound like a broken record".

Nothing wrong with trying more than one medium others have given good advice already.

Try telling them about having a 45 rpm ep of "Another one bites the dust" by Queen.

They'll look at you funny.

"uh, what's a 45?"

:(

[nicehighs]

omen, i'm 22 and i collect a ton of records man, queen rocks.

[Aaron Mandell]

WOW! I just want to say thank you to everyone who posted!

Great advice here, I think what I'm gonna do is just draw more with pencil and paper for a while and see where that takes me. I've been relying so much on my computer I think I've just become kinda lazy. Haha.