Is Traditional Art...Falling Out of Style?

[Night Visions 624]

Well, earlier today, I was searching through the people who do commissions and it came to my attention that there was nothing actually pertaining to traditional art.

 

This made me wonder: Is traditional art not as popular anymore?

 

Certainly, with advancements in technology and whatnot, it's much more convenient for artists to do digital art, but has it come to the point to where traditional art is a thing of the past?

 

I mean, the way I see it, traditional art is special and unique in its own way. Now, this isn't to say that digital art is neither special nor unique, but it's something more commonly seen these days.

 

As a traditional artist myself, I find that actually having people who want something from you is...rare. Most times than not, they're looking for somebody who does everything digitally, because it's probably more convenient and of higher quality than something that is hand-drawn.

 

Compare digital art to traditional art. Both have pros and cons. Digital art is definitely a way to produce higher quality images and quite frankly, there's not much wrong with it. Traditional art on the other hand may produce lower quality images; however, the artist puts quite a bit of effort into the work because they want it to look as good as they possibly can. Again, this isn't to say that digital artists don't put time and effort into their drawings.

 

Honestly? I don't know whether or not traditional art is going out of style. That's why I made this topic: to get your guys' honest opinion on whether or not traditional art is going out of style.

 

- Night Visions

Edited February 12, 2016 by Night Visions

[Dark Qiviut 22,445]

No, it's not going out of style. There will always be a demand for traditional art, and the demand can be high or low depending on where your live and who your clients are.

[Ashen Pathfinder 16,162]

@@Night Visions

 

As this doesn't relate soley to bronies or the show it has been moved to General Discussion.

 

Thanks.

[EverEverOn 346]

I've noticed this as well. My school even offers a digital art class now.

I guess this is all because of convenience. Creating something on a computer is easier, and often faster than working with physical objects. I see a lot more 3D printing rather than sculpting with clay, too, so it's not just flat artwork.

When someone is doing commissions, of course they're going to need to work faster to get multiple things done in a single time slot. Technology makes this possible, and we don't have to wait ages for a painting as often.

But there are still traditional artists out there who prefer working with a pencil and paper. I still use my sketchbook, but I'm slowly moving to my tablet since I find that it's somewhat easier.

[Guest]

No, it's not going out of style. There will always be a demand for traditional art, and the demand can be high or low depending on where your live and who your clients are.

Exactly, and the demand on the internet is always going to be low because the internet makes transferring digital goods fast, so physical goods are naturally going to be in lower demand because people want instant results.

 

My wife still does traditional work.

[Lexamena 391]

No I don't think it is, neither are traditional books, film photography, or movie making.

[Comic Sans 401]

* nah, i don't think so. i see a lot of people on my twitter who do traditional art. my best friend and her boyfriend do quite a lot of it too.

 

* i think the reason why digital art seems more popular is simply because it is easier? i know at least when i'm doing art digitally, i find it a lot easier to sketch things out. the convenience of hitting ctrl+z or quickly clicking on an eraser tool makes the whole process quicker and easier in my opinion. there's also that you can resize things, make the canvas bigger if you run out of space, etc. just stuff like that.

[3k932jd22328jdsf 113]

When working for commissions you get paid for each finished artwork not by the hour so in order to make a reasonable amount of money thats worth the time you have to manage your time carefully and digital art can be made much faster making it much more profitable. In addition, its less risky if the person youre making it for wants the physical traditional art and it gets damaged in the mail you wont get money but with digital art youre just selling intellectual property because its just 1's and 0's you can just email it no damage will happen to the art while its being given to the buyer with digital art.

[El Duderino 879]

It is absolutely not going out of style. I just went to an art gallery today, and there were a lot of people there. People will always be attracted to traditional art, but traditional art is more appealing to view in person, rather than online.

 

Nothing will aver replace traditional art, but it now has more types of art to compete with, and digital art is more convenient to access.

Personally, nothing can replace traditional are for me. My mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother are all painters, so I've grown up around art. Not much beats standing in front of an actual painting or sculpture and admiring it in person. Reminding yourself that someone created that with their hands. They put a thought into every brush stroke. You can't say that about digital art.

[EpicEnergy 23,224]

I doubt it is, it's probably still popular. Technology has changed the way you make art, but I'm sure there are still numerous artists out there who do traditional art.

[TBD 17,256]

hm.. yeah I think it's not as popular as it was honestly.  Technology for arts has advanced and artists would find ways to make their art more efficient and fast. Mainly for the sake of running their business workshop or whatever. While I too started some digital art work, I'm still sticking to my old guns, traditional. To be completely blunt.. I think digital art seems less authentic. If I were to compare my time and efforts between digital and traditional, I would say I put the most time and effort on my traditional work than my digital work. Digital art work feels like a cheat to me. Doesn't feel real to me like I feel I've let the tech do all the work and coloring for me. While on the traditional side, I use real tools to make my art comes to life and that to me feels more real than ever.

I think traditional are falling out of style just because artists these day (not all but most) just like to get their work done faster to make a quick cash, thus they need to depend on tech to do the extra work for them.

[Steve Piranha 29,432]

On 2/13/2016 at 9:57 AM, EverEverOn said:

I've noticed this as well. My school even offers a digital art class now.

I guess this is all because of convenience. Creating something on a computer is easier, and often faster than working with physical objects. I see a lot more 3D printing rather than sculpting with clay, too, so it's not just flat artwork.

When someone is doing commissions, of course they're going to need to work faster to get multiple things done in a single time slot. Technology makes this possible, and we don't have to wait ages for a painting as often.

But there are still traditional artists out there who prefer working with a pencil and paper. I still use my sketchbook, but I'm slowly moving to my tablet since I find that it's somewhat easier.

Don’t forget cheaper. You don’t get colored pencils and others stuff for free 

[ShadOBabe 19,011]

Traditional art will never go out of style.

Digital art is convenient because the materials, while expensive, do not take up much space, do not need to be constantly replaced, and do not make a mess.

However, not everyone has access to digital materials, and traditional media is commonplace and can be dirt cheap. You can make traditional artwork out of a napkin and a pencil you found lying on the ground.

Not to mention the snootier members of the art world will need “real art” to hang in their galleries. Unlike you, they are the types that will absolutely say that digital art is not special or unique. Like how one of my art professors in college that deemed any kind of non-traditional art to be “not real art”.

[Starry Moon 51]

Definitely isn't, while technology has certainly made it a lot easier to create art there's still tons of people out there making traditional art. I never see it anymore for MLP related art but as a furry I've seen tons of traditional art of furries. I think for most smaller artists it's just easier to use technology. Getting past the differences of traditional and digital (mainly for those who get a graphics tablet without a screen, as in figuring out how to get use to the pen in your hand and placement on screen), as well as making it to afford a tablet and all, it's a lot more convenient as supplies to do traditional really adds up. But there's still tons of people out there who do traditional work whether it be as a small artist, freelance, or professional. It might be hard to find nowadays but people are still doing it. uwu

[Splashee 28,566]

Traditional books will get out of style before traditional art. And getting rid of physical books will take a long long time. So don't worry!

[TBD 17,256]

12 hours ago, ShadOBabe said:

Like how one of my art professors in college that deemed any kind of non-traditional art to be “not real art”.

I would disagree with your professor there. There are some digital arts that are nice and well done, hence the beautifully made 2D animations. While I do think to myself that while I was doing digital art, I do feel that I'm not doing art at all but I wouldn't say that for the other digital artists out there who actually feel they're doing art through digital. Art is something you create based on what you reflect, there's no limits to that. But knowing most of my own art professors, which I do grew annoyed with, they tends to want their students to draw the line in what's art and what's "not" art. Which is completely nonsense. Let alone making students thinks that by buying the most expensive art tools could make your art work look good. which again, not true. 

 

On 2/11/2016 at 10:43 PM, Night Visions said:

As a traditional artist myself, I find that actually having people who want something from you is...rare. Most times than not, they're looking for somebody who does everything digitally, because it's probably more convenient and of higher quality than something that is hand-drawn.

 

 this reminds me back in college when I actually have one person interested in me because I told him I can draw. He needed an artist who can work on a banner for this event he was running. We exchanged emails and he asked if he could see some of my work. I send him my work and this is what he said. "Can you do something like this?"  He was referring to a digital art style. Unfortunately I never worked on digital art back then, so I told him "no"  and with that he turn me down. I don't think it will make a difference if I can hand-draw it compared to digital draw it. But apparently to him it does. This doesn't make me hold any grudges against digital art itself, but what I think people should remember is there's no such thing of which style or ways are better than other. Both can contribute something for the community and one shouldn't be discarded just because one seems to be far "superior" than the other.

 

 

[Brony Number 42 10,072]

By traditional I assume you mean on paper or canvas. Digital art is still done by hand. I guess the techniques are different. But aren't there computer programs that do a good job of simulating the way paint, pencils, and pens behave?

I like fantasy art, and I definitely prefer the old paintings and drawings. The new art looks like video game snap shots, and it doesn't look real. But this may be because of the style, and not necessarily the technology. 

[Dreambiscuit 10,091]

People may gravitate more toward digital art these days because more people are into technology. Personally I'm a traditional artist 100% I have difficulty trying to use a stylus to make an accurate drawing on a tablet because the tech isn't accurate enough. There's little point to having an electronic middle-man interpret my pencil or brush strokes and then reproduce them where it thinks I want them. I far prefer to have direct contact between my hand and the art I'm creating. There's no need in adding an extra step unless you want a 'perfect' smooth piece of art with a commercial sheen to it. I respond best to art that shows the style and imperfections of its creator; that's what gives art life. It's easier and more fun to create art by traditional methods; that way i only have to learn one discipline without wasting time on another.  

[ZiggWheelsManning 10,929]

Perfect explanation Dreamy