Traditional Artists < CG Artists [Language warning]

[Bottled Poe]

BOLD/GREEN= newly added information

[DISCLAIMER: I am not here to put down any CG artists or anything, I am voicing my opinion and whoever agrees or disagrees may do so.]

Okay. I NEED to rant this, because I'm seeing WAY too much of this s**t.

First of all, I am an artist to who roams the R & C (recently changed) and Art Freebies. I am a traditional artist, because those are the materials I have, and I make good use of what I have.

What's my problem, you ask?

Well. I am ******** tired of all the craptastic CG artists in the Requests & Commissions, who sell their art. You know who. They have tablets, they have photoshop, they have all the high tech, super special awesome CG materials... BUT THEY CAN'T ACTUALLY DRAW WORTH A FLYING s**t! Seriously! I've seen people attempting to purchase art from these kinds of artists. Here's basically it.

Artist: LOLOLOL 30k for a fully CG'd [half assed] chibi.
Consumer: WOW UR SOOOOOO GOOD!!

=___= This makes me intensely angry. Not only do these artists use CGing materials to draw crap, they can't do anything with traditional media, they don't know the meaning of ANATOMY, and they charge ridiculous prices for half a**, apparently "HIGH QUALITY" artwork.

This puts a serious dent in traditional artist's, like myself, selling strategies.

C'MON PEOPLE! Don't be stupid! Traditional art IS just as good as CG'd art, if not better. It takes MORE skill to properly use ******** pencil crayons than use a tablet which, with just a click of an "undo" button, you can start over. D< You CAN'T do that with paints, pastels, pencil crayons, crayons...etc. YOU JUST HAVE TO IMPROVISE AND FIND A SOLUTION ON YOUR OWN, OR START FROM SCRATCH. It takes much more effort to be able to colour effectively with traditional means, rather than computer colouring.

I did not mean for this statement above to come across as traditional art is much harder to use effectively. Generally, you can get the SAME effect with traditional materials, as you can with photoshop and a tablet, it just takes a little more time, in some cases. In ALL of these statements, I am referring to the people who CANNOT draw well to begin with and cover it up with crappy CG.


Learn to use traditional media, and when you do, YOU WILL BE MUCH BETTER AT COMPUTER COLOURING. GUARANTEED.

DON'T THINK THAT JUST BECAUSE SOMEBODY CG's MEANS THAT IT IS HIGHER QUALITY ARTWORK THAN TRADITIONAL MEDIA.

I don't think it's fair that we, the traditional artists, have less sales, and less people like our style of art, just because we colour with something that takes more skill, but doesn't look fake. Although, I do admit that CG looks generally better online than scanned in art does. You know, the GOOD CG artists. =__=

And, as always, THERE ARE crappy traditional artists too.

KNOW WHAT YOU ARE BUYING. Know the skill level used in artwork, know what's high quality and low quality, know the amount of effort the artists puts in for you, and I guarantee, that you'll be happier with your purchases.

THANK YOU.


[Yes, the title is supposed to mean CG artists are better than traditional artists, it's a contradiction to what I'm actually saying.]

[Enki]

I, for one, am not one of those people. However, I do like my digital work; and a traditional knowledge of art is needed to give your digital work some root and meaning.

[Bottled Poe]

Enki

I, for one, am not one of those people. However, I do like my digital work; and a traditional knowledge of art is needed to give your digital work some root and meaning.

-nods-

Exactly. But you understand where I am coming from, correct?

[Kaiser-chan]

I disagree with you on the skill issue, but I do agree that it's a unfortunate that CG is valued higher among the general Gaian populace than traditional art. I tried to sell my pencil art once, because at the time I was miles better with pencil, and I was shocked to find that I couldn't demand but a quarter of what I could with my CG, which was so much lower in quality.

However, there's lots of places where CG is significantly undervalued compared to traditional art. It all depends on your venue, after all. And with traditional, you can always offer originals, which multiply the value of a piece by a considerable amount on the right market.

Styles and mediums hold different values in different places. Oil painting realism won't command as much respect here on Gaia compared to CG anime as it would in another place. It all balances out somewhere.


But more importantly, do you mean to have the sign like that on the topic? At first I thought it was backwards, or was that sarcasm? The internet makes it hard to tell sometimes.

[zaMmaP]

That's the fault of the clients not the artist.

[Enki]

Braindead Kappa

-nods-

Exactly. But you understand where I am coming from, correct?

Yes. Yes I do. Though... there was this one guy who drew digital art with his tablet. Anatomy like mastered. Style was like wow!

And the thing is... he did not study art at all! He wasn't even serious about it.

Blew my mind sad

[setsunaTT]

I dont think that is quite a true statement. There is just as many people who do traditional artwork who suck at it and make horrible crap. XD

I'm not the most amazing CG artist in the world but I think I am pretty good at what I do and I consider my art at a high caliber. Not really because of the content or the technique but mostly because of my commitment and dedication to making a great piece.

Yes, there are a bunch of kids out there that dont know how to draw for crap, but you have to remember, we all started somewhere. BUT there is always someone out there who has no skill at all or is much crappier and will find these people to be amazing. And really, theres nothing wrong with that b/c no matter how good you get, you will still have people who hate the hell out of your art.

Honestly, I wouldnt get too work up about it. Just think of them as a bunch of schmucks who are paying way too high for something that is not even worth it. Then take pride that you can sell some of your stuff and that they are getting a good quality product.

In my case, I charge $75 for a full body/full color commission. Yet, I see people who dont work nearly as hard and make a mediocre image for someone but sell it for over $100. It sucks, but you cant get too upset b/c thats just the market and every person is looking for something different.

I dont really dabble much in selling my art here, because it is fake money after all! XD so in the end, why care?

[Lady Sensibility]

I once found this quite upsetting.
I'm not on here enough to care anymore.

But still. I feel your pain. I finally broke down and got a cheapo tablet recently, it's helped me very much with my anatomy. But I'm kind of compulsive about my art.

It's probably in part because digitally made art reads cleaner online. Traditional art looks better offline though. And usually sells at a higher price (that I've seen) since the artist is generally unable to make another copy without a lot more work.

So take comfort! The law of the the pre-teens online is Not the law of the land. smile

[Empuska]

The cold fact is, that what is done with digital medium, will be shown better in digital format.
I'm not saying that traditinal art can't be transformed to digital format that way it looks good, but it's hard. I have seen pros to fail scanning or after touching their works and then the works looked awful.
Of course, I think that the main reason, why Gaians are so gay with the CG is because it provides more likely a tidy out look than traditional mediums*. You have to be quite pro to get good look with color pencils or watercolors. Pencils are own case, because I have rarely seen any pencil work scanned and after touced properly so it can be said that it is pencil.
The best thing is just to let those CG maniacs be and do your own things. That what I did, when I thought I had to learn CG.

*Except alcohol based markers.

[Hermit of the Hills]

EmpuskA

The cold fact is, that what is done with digital medium, will be shown better in digital format.
I'm not saying that traditinal art can't be transformed to digital format that way it looks good, but it's hard. I have seen pros to fail scanning or after touching their works and then the works looked awful.
Of course, I think that the main reason, why Gaians are so gay with the CG is because it provides more likely a tidy out look than traditional mediums*. You have to be quite pro to get good look with color pencils or watercolors. Pencils are own case, because I have rarely seen any pencil work scanned and after touced properly so it can be said that it is pencil.
The best thing is just to let those CG maniacs be and do your own things. That what I did, when I thought I had to learn CG.

*Except alcohol based markers.

Hear hear.

Also, being an anime community, and a lot of top-range anime being computer generated (or so I presume as I'm pretty ignorant of these things), maybe more people here are just geared to accept CG over traditional stuff?

[Invisible-Elephant v2]

I understand where you are coming from, but honestly it's nothing to do with skill level and more to do with i have NEVER seen a quality scan on gaia. I'm sure you could pull one up if you really wanted to, but for the main part, just like Empuska brought up, traditional does not translate well to digital purposes.
Also... you're not selling to artists but little kids, in their early teens, who grow up on shiny shiny cg anime. Get used to it. You're also buying, from little kids, in their early teens, with no prior drawing experience, who grew up on shiny shint cg anime, and think the sun shines out of their a** when it comes to drawing. Sadly people worse than them think so too. Get used to It.

I agree with you for the main part... until i read this.
(yes, i'm gettting baited by it, silly old me)

Braindead Kappa

It takes MORE skill to properly use ******** pencil crayons than use a tablet which, with just a click of an "undo" button, you can start over. D< You CAN'T do that with paints, pastels, pencil crayons, crayons...etc. YOU JUST HAVE TO IMPROVISE AND FIND A SOLUTION ON YOUR OWN, OR START FROM SCRATCH. It takes much more effort to be able to colour effectively with traditional means, rather than computer colouring.

This is the most common, naive, response given by the majority of people who have No. ********. Idea. when it comes to digital art, seriously. You CAN use the undo button in real life, you've just got to have a greater understanding in what you're doing. Most people will tell you, that it's completely different when holding a tablet compared to using a pen/pencil and it's harder to become accustomed to the use of a tablet. And the last point is simply laughable If you actually think that's the case. Grow up a little please before reciting the same crap that every other person has ever tried to do with little to no knoweledge of what the ******** they were talking about.

kthxbai and preparing for incoming rage.
(p.s. i for the mainly work traditionally at home, bar for the stuff i upload due to aforementioned reasons.)

-----------------
TRUMPET!!!

[Uronoro]

I'll agree at the part that some people think that just because their work is CG is can sell highter.

But I highly disagree that it takes less skill to do work on the computer.

I had a friend who was so-so at drawing on paper, and kept moaning if he had a tablet and a photoshop program his art would look so much better. You don't know how many times I told him that computer programs don't make you good, you use the EXACT SAME SKILLS as if you are drawing on paper. But apparently I wasn't worth listening to.

So finally, after I hunted around for a decent intuos 2 tablet on ebay (he was too lazy to find it himself and would rather moan about the prices) I finally found one that he could buy that also had the Photoshop Elements and Corel Painter Essentials pack.

So he got it.

It had to be about a day later that he said he wanted to throw both his new wacom and software into the trash because he didn't understand it and it was stupid and "magically" not making his artwork fantastic. Actually, it was making his art look worse because he was new to the tablet and programs and was unwilling to learn how to use it. I had a good "told you so" moment, but was pissed to hell that he'd really consider just dumping such a nice tablet (that I [********] searched out for him to quit his whining) in the trash.

So please don't assume that it takes less skill to do computer work, ******** no confused . Sure, my prices are high, but that's because it can sometimes take me nine hours to complete a decent piece. I have to worry about anatomy, and color, and composition as much as the next traditional artist. Not to mention Gaia gold is fake money. Everyone who orders from me is getting art for FREE. Same with the people ordering from you. If your not satisfied with what users are paying you then jack up your prices.

Oh, and I CAN use traditional mediums. My classes at the moment are wanting us to stick with traditional for now. I suppose another thing that's nice about doing avatar art on the computer is that I don't have tons of drawings of other people's avatars cluttering my dorm room. I have a traditional sketchbook that I draw in with traditional pencils and traditional watercolors.

So, we're not all the same.

[Black Pu]

Uronoro

I had a friend who was so-so at drawing on paper, and kept moaning if he had a tablet and a photoshop program his art would look so much better. You don't know how many times I told him that computer programs don't make you good ...................

lol XD that story made me laugh.. but it's also "sad".. i also know people thinking computer is just so easy.. stare




anyway Braindead Kappa, look at what community you're talking about.. XD do you really believe people here (exception made for very few) can really understand what is really a good piece of art or the value of an artist effort?
Don't take it so bad.. i think the fact that traditional art scanned is not so good looking (often but not always) really influences the idea of CG being better.
I agree with you about the 'undo' thing..! but there are several positive things about CG art approaching.. just to say some, traditional media are very expensive! Hard to get all the better ones you need. CG is rather 'free' (you just buy the tablet, about the software, there are plenty free ones).
An other good thing is that with CG an artist can experiment and improove "easier" since they can try more times and they don't have to spend for the tools.. ^^'
Anyway i know very good traditional artists on the internet whom drawings look way better than cg artists cos they're gorgeous! XD so everything is relative after all

[Bustah Wolf]

CG'd work usually looks nicer because traditional artists have to scan their pictures in, and it always causes quality loss/colours not showing up properly etc etc.