Now, I noticed a lot of people mentioning in another thread that they find digital to be somewhat lifeless. I admit, I have noticed this before - mainly in drawings that have been pencilled traditionally and then inked digitally. However, in my opinion, drawings pencilled digitally lose 'life' when inked digitally too... I think it's an interesting idea, trying to define this 'life' that an image may have or not have! But I have a challenge for you all - I think there are programs out there that emulate traditional media so thoroughly that you can't tell the difference.

And I think I can prove it! :D

I know, cocky, huh? Bear with me. I'm gonna show you a bunch of paintings and drawings. Some are digital, and some are traditional. I want you to guess, without cheating, which are digital and which are traditional.

Preferably, you should do this without looking at other people's answers! :D It's supposed to be a test of what you can tell about the artworks, not what everyone can collectively tell through a process of elimination! XD

Here we go!

1 -

2 -

3 -

4 -

5 -

6 -

7 -

8 -

9 -

10 -

11 -

12 -

13 -

14 -

15 -

Hint - At least one of these is digital. At least one is traditional. Think you can guess which is which?

I'll give the answers later (together with links), when everyone seems to be done guessing. :D

Note: I don't think either medium - traditional or digital - is superior. I work in both, for different things, and find them different, not better than one another. So please don't think I'm criticising either kind of artist in this thread! I just thought it'd be a fun game!

I'm not going to guess ^^
Ya, personally I think the "lifeless" idea, as applied to any specific medium, is utter F*****g nonsense. I work in all media too. It just depends on what you do with the final image. Digital work lends itself to a greater level of perfectionism, a far higher degree of finish than it's possible to get with other media. And that's a trap, because THAT is where you lose "life".

The "life" quality is simply roughness. Nothing more. It's like smiling eyes- it has nothing to do with the eyes, it's the muscles underneath and at the outer edge... People are looking in the wrong place for this "life".

And it's not actually a desirable quality either, it's just something that you may, or may not want in your artwork. If you do want it; rough things up a bit and don't be such a perfectionist.

I have absolutely no idea what is meant by 'life'.

Maybe that's why I'm such a sucky artist.

1. Digital
2. traditional
3.digital
4traditional
5. digital
6. digital
7. digital
8. traditional
9. digital
10. traditional
11. digital
12. traditional
13. traditional
14. digital
15. traditional.


How'd I do?

I agree entirely, Oz! I have to admit to having no time for ultra-polished digital paintings. They show an incredibly high level of skill, sure, but they lose something in it - they have a certain plastic quality, something like ultra-airbrushed models. They're not real. And I don't like them!

This is just my opinion, though. It has lead me to pursue, in my own art, a more rough-and-ready style which I think suits my own tastes better. I much prefer suggestion over dictation in my art.

But... but, don't you want to play? Don't you think it'd be fun? XD

I think it's fun! I also think digital vs traditional is a silly debate. Both mediums are capable of almost anything - the limit being only the artist's imagination. I've heard people claim, in the past, that digital is 'too easy', as if in Photoshop or Painter or Illustrator there's some sort of magical button you click that reads 'MAEK GOOD ARTZ! LOL!'. No, it's not like that. Digital is just as hard as traditional, it's just different - it feels different to work with, and requires different disciplines. And that's all. :D



:D Was it fun to guess? I had a lot of fun digging out these examples. I won't tell you which is which just yet... maybe some other people would like to guess first. I think it's interesting exercise.

I will tell you, though, you got... eleven out of fifteen! Which is pretty good! Only fooled by four of them!

Oh wait, I forgot to actually guess:

1. Digital

2. Traditional

3. Traditional

4. Digital

5. Digital

6. Digital

7. Traditional

8. Digital

9. Digital

10. Traditional

11. Traditional

12. Traditional

13. Digital

14. Traditional

15. Digital

Heheheh. I'm guessing you just wanna know how well you did, comparatively. XD Well, you got three out of fifteen right. Sorry, dude!

Three.

Good god I am the worst guesser ever.

Nah, not the worst guesser ever. I was actually pretty surprised that Skullbie did so well!

Of course, I deliberately picked borderline pictures - ones that would be very hard to tell one way or the other. Half to make it more of a challenge, and half to demonstrate all the incredible things digital media is capable of these days. Not better (or worse) than trad., but capable of producing almost identical effects at least.

Evidence, I hope, that the gap between digital and traditional is merely one of preferred working practices and has nothing to do with end result!

I work both ways - I do my comic fully digitally, but I'm in love with pencils and acrylics, and some of my best work is acrylics on canvas board. There are pros and cons to each way of working.

As for things inked digitally losing life... You're right. For me, it's very, very hard to retain a sense of looseness with the characters when I ink digitally - but on the other hand, I have to ink, because my sketches are an utter mess of chaotic lines.

Now, for my guesses! I'll be ecstatic of I get half of them right.

1. Digital
2. Traditional
3. Digital
4. Traditional
5. Digital
6. Digital
7. Digital
8. Traditional
9. Traditional
10. Digital
11. Digital
12. Traditional
13. Traditional
14. Digital
15. Traditional

Awesome! More guessing! Well, you got more than half! Best guesses yet. You got 13 out of 15. Not bad!

.... Did I really? o.O Well, damn. That's pretty good.

I admit, I actually recognised two of these - I've stumbled across them before. I hope that doesn't count as cheating?

No, course not! I don't imagine you are capable of censoring your own memory!

...I'm cheeting because I'm going later

1. Digital
2. Digital
3. Traditional
4. Traditional
5. Digital
6. Digital
7. Digital
8. Traditional
9. Traditional
10. Digital
11. Digital
12. Traditional
13. Traditional
14. Digital
15. Traditional

Did I mess up?

Sigh, Oz! Cheating! I'm very disappointed! XD

And it didn't help you that much, either. You still didn't get 'em all right. 13/15! :P