Is digital drawing easier compared to traditional drawing? You might be asking this question as you also want to get into drawing, but you found out that going the traditional route may be a bit inaccessible as well as difficult. So what about digital drawing?
Is the difference between the two really that obvious? Can beginners really thrive in digital drawing?
In a way, digital drawing is easier. You can correct mistakes without changing or affecting too much of your work. Also, some drawing techniques are already at your disposal, with just a click of the mouse. However, it can be difficult when you have not mastered the basics in traditional drawing.
This may be bad news for those who thought that going the digital drawing route is a fun shortcut. The truth is, digital drawing also has a connection with traditional drawing, at least in terms of the skills that are needed.
Once you are familiar with both, it is clearer to see why digital drawing is easier. So read on in order to find out why!
Why Is Digital Drawing Easier Than Traditional Drawing?
Even though digital drawing can be a bit intimidating, it is not as scary as traditional drawing. Armed with that thought, you might be open to starting a digital art project soon. So here are the reasons why your digital drawing life can be easier.
1. Correcting Mistakes
It does not matter whatever digital drawing software you have, but definitely, they all have the erase and undo options. Once you click these options, your original work will go back to the way it was before you made a mistake.
In the traditional drawing, yes, you still have an option to remove or erase something. However, doing so can be tricky as you might also remove parts of your work that already look fine.
This is especially hard if you are working with liquid-based material such as acrylic paints or watercolor.
If you mess up, then it will be hard to correct your mistake. You might just end up putting too much effort into covering up your mistake. What is much worse is that the mistake may be too big that you need to start all over again.
With digital drawing, you are free to do a lot of mistakes (but surely, try not to be too careless) and your work will not be so messed up. With just a single click, you can resume your work without your past mistake.
2. Efficiency
It is undeniable that with digital drawing, you can finish your artwork much faster compared to traditional drawing. You do not have to wait for the colors to develop, set, or dry.
You can simply keep on adding layers without worrying about the fact that the paper may give way or the colors will be too muddy.
In line with the previous reason, once you erase something, it is erased clearly—as if your mistake never existed. Further, you can easily add objects and other graphics in your work in just mere seconds. You can resize them all you want without disrupting your previous work.
More than that, you can also go from one color to another. Definitely, digital drawing saves a lot of time as you are no longer limited to the features that are physical in the material world.
3. Easily Accessible
It can be a bit too unrealistic if we say that digital drawing is cheaper than traditional drawing. However, if you take into consideration the fact that all you have to do is to invest a huge amount in one thing like a PC, laptop, tablet, etc. and you never have to purchase anything again.
What is more reassuring is the fact that you can proceed with your paused work anytime and anywhere. All you have to do is to whip out your tablet and you can draw away!
Comparing that to traditional drawing, you have to buy countless paper, drawing materials, as well as their holders. Not only that, but you have to take all these things with you if you want to work in a different place.
When it comes to your actual work, with digital drawing, you are assured that you always have it, even if you accidentally removed it. Digital works can be backed up into a cloud, drive, etc. As for traditional drawing, you always have to be careful with it so that it will not get lost or wet.
4. Shareability
Now that your artwork is done, it is now time to show off your work!
With traditional drawing, you need to fuss over framing your work and getting people to physically be there to see your work. This is still great, especially if you are a professional artist as you can hold an art exhibition.
But for digital drawing, you can show and even sell your work with just a click of a button. You can post your work on various social media and surely, with the right advertising techniques, a lot of people can view your work.
This also applies to editing and refining your work. With a digital drawing, you can simply share your work with another person in order to critique it. In return, the other person can also show his or her corrections on the drawing itself.
Once it is sent back to you, you can simply edit from there without damaging your work.
Of course, all of those are impossible with traditional drawing. One cannot simply draw over your work as they may ruin it.
5. Mixed Media
In the traditional drawing, it is extremely difficult to mix media in one artwork. A good example of this is mixing watercolor with oil paintings. As water and oil do not mix, the artist will have a hard time to integrate both media.
On the other hand, this is very easy with digital drawing. Depending on the software that you are using, you can switch from one medium to another. You can even mix them without distorting your work.
6. Customization
You can also customize as much as you want with traditional drawing. You may mix a lot of colors or even experiment with different brushes. However, customization is more compact with digital drawing.
You can have as many brush sizes as you want in digital drawing, Also, you have countless options with pen sizes, shapes, and type. All of which are readily available in your chosen software.
In the traditional drawing, you have to customize a lot especially if you need a lot of shading and texture. But with digital drawing, all of those customizations are already there. All you need to do is to use them correctly.
If you click through the video below you can see how many tools the artist uses for her amazing drawing. (Seriously, have a look at it – it is awesome!)
Connection Of Digital Drawing And Traditional Drawing
We have mentioned earlier that even though digital drawing can be easier than traditional drawing, you should first know a little something about traditional drawing in order to succeed in digital drawing.
Of course, we are not saying that if you have not tried traditional drawing, you will fail in the digital one. But the truth is, you can only reap the benefits of the “ease of use” of digital drawing if you have some traditional drawing skills.
Basics
We are talking about composition, color theory, anatomy, perspective and the like. All of which can be learned through traditional drawing.
Yes, it is also possible to acquire these skills through digital drawing, but you will have a hard time as you will not know which brush or pen to use to attain what is on your mind.
You may be able to picture it on your mind, but without the basic skills, you cannot make it look the way you want it to look, in digital drawing.
Although a lot of features are already set in digital drawing, you still have to use a lot of your drawing skills to turn your idea into an actual drawing.
Texture
It may be your choice to just have a flat digital artwork, but if your goal is to make your drawing come to life or make it more realistic, of course, you should add texture to it.
There are texture tools in your chosen digital drawing software, but without traditional drawing skills, you will not know how to use these tools to your advantage.
No matter how hard you try to manually add texture to your drawing, it will still not look right if you are placing them on the wrong area, or using a wrong brush, or even the wrong color.
“The Eye”
Lastly, we come to “the eye.” We simply cannot describe this skill as it is something that is acquired through practice may it be in traditional drawing or digital drawing. It is when you see that something is off.
When you have been doing a lot of traditional drawing, you will ultimately know if something is missing in your drawing. May it be a lack of shading, shadow, change of color, or even outline.
If you start with digital drawing, acquiring this skill can be hard as what is reflected before you, is not an actual thing.
Therefore, there may be times when you have finished your digital art and you feel as if something is still missing. However, you do not know what that is. That is exactly where traditional drawing skills come in.