Being members of DeviantArt, we've probably all heard the "traditional vs. digital" battle being waged at one point or another (though I do tend to think there's a lot of digital artists on this site, based on the artworks I see).

I've done a lot of drawing with pencils, pastels, and charcoal, a little work with acrylics, zero oil painting, and a whole lotta digital. Digital painting is what works best for me right now, for a variety of reasons. So it irks me a lot when I see comments like these, both of which I saw posted in the comments sections of blogs featuring digital artwork by myself and others:

"It’s amazing what you can do on the computer these days. The only talent you need is an eye for good pictures and most children have that. I wish they would come up with a tennis racquet that would never let me miss a serve or a return of serve."

"Looks pretty but hardly drawn or painted, it's all digital! I would be much more impressed if it were actually hand done."

Not hand done?!? It just shows how many people out there just don't get digital painting. It's not - oh, I let the computer do everything for me, all I need to do is press a button. The digital painters I know put hand to pen to tablet just like a traditional artist puts hand to brush to paper. They apply the same artistic principles - knowledge of anatomy, composition, perspective, color theory. If someone can't draw their way out of a paper bag and has the color sense of a box of melted crayons, then their art will suck, whether or not it's traditional or digital.

And the other comment is a big - huh? An eye for pictures? If he's saying it's bad to use photo reference, well, there are loads of traditional artists who do so too, Norman Rockwell being a well-known example. If he's saying people are just painting over photos, well, yes, that does sometimes happen - but people who do that are a thankfully a very small minority.

Now I will admit - digital is faster than traditional. With digital it's easier to spot and rectify mistakes. With digital it's easier to be more free and experimental, rather than having to be disciplined. I don't think that lessens the value of digital art or digital artists. Hopefully one day the rest of the world will think so too I guess I was just surprised at this perception, living in my little digital bubble

And, speaking of perceptions...

I had a rather rude awakening recently. I discovered that my art is strange and possibly offensive to - most people? I guess this should have been obvious to me. But honestly it was something I just never really thought about, me all wrapped up in trying to capture color and lighting and generally hot anatomy... But what interests Del in her little Del bubble does not interest everyone else. And if I ever want professional work, I need to think differently, to think about more compelling stories with more universal appeal and subject matter.

So once again, I need to decide, do I ever want to attempt a career out of this, or just keep doing what makes me happy? Are you tired of hearing me complain about this? I seem to do so every 6 months or so, so I guess it's my bi-yearly periodic art identity crisis.

And I hate it.

The past week my artwork has slowed from a trickle to nothing. Every idea I have seems lame, weird, offensive, or has zero commercial potential. At night when I close my eyes, I see this weird continuing parade of elves warriors mechs pretty girls robots armor sexy girls giant guns explosions - all the things that are "hot" right now, all things I SHOULD be drawing. And I'm not.

I've always told myself when this becomes more frustrating than fun, time to stop. And I've reached that point. So it's time for me to take a little break and sort it all out. For the past few years improving my artwork has been a consuming passion of mine. But now I think I need to back off and re-evaluate what I want.

Anyways, would love to hear your thoughts, especially if you suffer from similar crises

Take care,
Del