digital drawing or traditional drawing?
One of the biggest doubts of beginning cartoonists is to understand what type of drawing technique is the best, traditional or digital. Some people will tell you that digital drawing is cheating, and not real art. Others will tell you that dedicating yourself to drawing with traditional materials is a waste of time and money, since today everything is digital. But who is right?
In this article, I will tell you what are the advantages and disadvantages of both types of drawing, and what you should keep in mind when starting your artistic path.
Contents
Traditional Drawing – What do you need to know?
It is common sense that we all start, in our childhood, to draw doodles on a sheet of paper, with colored pencils or even inks. Some people stop when they get older, but some of us keep learning. And it is this very common act that opens the doors to the world of drawing.
But what are the basic steps to become professional in traditional drawing? Well, you have to know the necessary tools to make a complete work, and start experimenting to find out which ones you like the most.
Materials
The most common materials are graphite pencilsthe pens and the colored pencils. These are the most versatile and accessible materials for traditional drawing. Another type of material that is becoming increasingly popular are markersextremely useful to obtain a uniform and layered painting.
Furthermore, there is an infinity of inks that can be explored. The watercolors They allow you to work with stains, and are often widely used in children’s illustrations. The gouaches they are very similar to watercolor, although they dry a little more opaque. The acrylic they are usually used with other techniques, and are very versatile. The oils they are widely used in classical art, but they are more difficult to work with (also, they have a very strong smell). There are also the nankeenwhich are widely used by Japanese artists for lineart and manga painting.
Medium
The type of paper also greatly influences the result of the drawing. The recommended minimum weight for drawing is 90 grams, but that depends on the material you want to use. For example, if you want to make a drawing in watercolor, and that the paper does not deform, it is recommended that you use a paper with a heavy weight. The good news is that there are papers up to 300 grams, which are suitable for this type of technique. The bad news is that these materials are usually very expensive.
Digitization
One last point to consider is that, if you intend to publish your drawings on the internet, you must have a good scanner or an excellent camera to take good quality photos.
As we have seen, traditional drawing allows us to experiment, improvise and deal with unforeseen events in a creative way. There are many variables to consider: the texture and size of the paper, the various materials, the number of times the drawing will be able to be edited and corrected. Due to these factors, traditional drawing can become very expensive, because quality materials are usually expensive, and sometimes even frustrating, because a small mistake can ruin the work of many hours.
Digital drawing is not magic (I wish it was)
With access to technology, drawing has also become more streamlined, like so many other activities we perform every day. Therefore, many people look at digital art as something easier to do – and in that way, inferior to traditional drawing. If these people knew all the work that digital art involves, they wouldn’t think like that.
Materials
Firstly, it is possible to draw with the mouse. However, it is much more comfortable to buy a graphic tablet. This is one advantage that digital drawing has over traditional: tablets are usually expensive, but you don’t have to buy them often, like traditional materials. A well-preserved tablet can last for many years.
They can be wiredwhich are cheaper and great for beginners, or with screen, and they have different sizes. There are many brands available in the market, but the most famous ones are Wacom, XP-PEN Y huion.
There is also the possibility of buying a portable tabletlike an iPad, or even draw on your mobile. This will allow you to draw wherever you want. However, for this, you will have to download drawing applications.
Drawing Applications
Drawing applications are different for computer and mobile:
• The most popular for the computer are Photoshop, Clip-Studio, Paint Tool SAI Y medibang.
• For the cell phone, ibis PaintX, Infinite Painter Y PaperColor They are very popular options.
My recommendation is that you explore the different applications to find out which ones you like the most, because beyond the interface and the shortcut keys, there are some applications that offer better tools than others, but they are paid.
In the end, which type of drawing is the best?
We can conclude, by better understanding both artistic methods, that both digital drawing and traditional drawing have their merits and difficulties. No matter what medium you choose, if you want to learn to draw, you’re going to need to learn all the fundamentals of drawing, and what will actually make your art good or bad will be your dedication, creativity Y knowledge.
I recommend that you experience drawing both traditionally and digitally, and understand which is the process and the result that you like the most. As long as you are drawing and developing your artistic skills, everything will be fine! 🙂
