Digital vs Traditional art - the pros and cons of each!

Head to squarespace.com/jelarts to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using code jelarts
Digital art vs traditional art... is one really better than the other? In this video I break down the pros and cons of each media!
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Materials
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Music
◉ "Kawai Kitsune"
Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
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◉ Air Hockey Saloon by Chris Zabriskie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (creativecommons.org/licenses/...)
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Chapters
00:00 - Intro
01:43 - Cons - Traditional
04:48 - Cons - Digital
09:52 - Squarespace
10:47 - Pros - Traditional
13:54 - Pros - Digital art
18:15 - Closing thoughts & Final Painting
18:56 - Outro

[@cheesuscrust3719]

Both is better than ai art

[@JelArts]

YES hahaha

[@Afatcatspy]

agreed

[@butter4104]

Amen

[@PucKitt]

When I saw your comment (which I agree with btw) my mind saw the Mr incredible meme “Art is art!” 😂

[@mari-us6zg]

I prefer traditional art because I am so indecisive. I will constantly undo, recolor, or start over on digital. Once I make a decision with traditional, it’s done and I have to move on-which I appreciate.

[@Troupples]

I prefer traditional because i find i accept mistakes more when doing traditional art. I also love the sound/feel feedback from paper

[@VioletSky_Edits]

Digital art is _hard_ I know. I do both traditional and digital and they can both be equally challenging, but neither is inferior than the other ❤

[@JelArts]

Agree! Both have their own challenges/upsides :)

[@DieterPrivate]

It's indeed just another skillset, though when some piece would have been done traditional and digital with exactly the same result, the traditional is way more impressive because there are way more variables at play you need to control.

[@kupotenshi]

After drawing digitally for 20+ years, digital art feels more natural to me than traditional now. I've gotten so used to the friction-less glide of a tablet pen, and the speed in which lines and colors go down digitally, feeling the natural lag and friction of a pencil or brush feels heavy in my hands, plus I have no patience for dry times. The most important part of drawing for me is getting an accurate vision of the illustration in my head, and digital is the fastest way to get there.

[@beatekausch4745]

As someone who works on a computer all day as an engineer, I prefer to create art traditionally. Taking my sketchbook outside into the garden is a great joy. And when drawing/painting on single pieces of paper instead of the sketchbook, it can feel really freeing to be able to crinkle up the paper into a ball when everything goes wrong. There are several more facettes which make me prefer traditional over digital art for my own practice. But I definitely understand that for some people digital art is the way to go. Especially when they have the goal of getting into the industry (f.ex. games)

[@PinkWytchBytch]

As an artist, I admit I prefer traditional. Mainly because it’s in the name, it’s TRADITIONAL, and while I’ve gotten over the whole mentality of disliking digital art, I still don’t want to practice it, I take a lot of joy from following the same sort of process as my predecessors

[@flgin128]

I prefer traditional because 1. I absolutely love the mess that comes with it, something about the mess just brings me joy. 2. I’ve always drawn traditionally, I am not the best on digital and while I do like digital art I just want to focus on improving one thing at the moment, which happens to be traditional and last but not least 3. I like having something physical, and yes I could make a book from the digital art, but I just can’t be bothered lol.

[@StephySketches]

I’m the rare person who found digital art to be more natural to me than traditional, but that’s because I had more experience digitally. I didn’t start drawing until after college and already had a lot of experience with Photoshop, so I didn’t need to learn the tool/software. I just needed to learn drawing. I drew with crayons and such as a kid, but I felt so removed from traditional that learning the tools hasn’t come as naturally to me as it would have then. I definitely want to improve my traditional work though and enjoy both.

[@MusicalRaichu]

I started off digital but didn't get very far with it. When I switched to traditional, I found it a lot easier to learn and more flexible and interesting. I still sometimes combine them.

[@nekosd43]

For me a pro of digital is I don't get the Art Fear about wasting supplies (not that anything i make is a waste, but the Fear is real lol), but a pro of traditional is it feels more okay to leave things in a sketchy, imperfect state (rather than digital which I always feel the need to fully push out and render).

[@alchemy3368]

I find traditional art so much more rewarding. Being able to flip through old sketch books and literally see progress or finishing a piece or just a sketch and having it there physically. Also the cost is less intimidating IMO? you can buy cheap watercolour paints then get higher quality if you want to continue using that medium, with digital, it’s a multi hundred dollar price and you may not even enjoy digital all that much (or maybe that was just me😭) Even though there’s technically more set up I feel traditional art is just less hassle, there’s no downloading art programs or installing the tablet to a laptop, and you have to get the tablet and plug it in and have enough room for it and the laptop, traditional can just be you and a pen and paper. I think digital art is more convenient cause there’s unlimited colours and papers and brushes but traditional is just more fun for me.

[@FaroshsFang11]

Your explanation honestly nails it, it's what makes trad. art so much more fun 🤝!

[@annaarts23]

I to could never choose between digital and traditional! They're both such fun and needed for my process. What I like about digital though is I can do bigger pieces with more detail without having to worry about space, getting that ability to redo things and using cool effects (the 'add' layer my beloved

[@MissNoserious]

I think I prefer digital because you can get finished results easier and faster, i don't lean so much on the table, i can fix proportions with a few clicks instead of redrawing an entire thing and i don't have to mix colors (I just CANT get them right ever in traditional)

[@melo9796]

I'm strictly a digital artist and I'm definitely guilty of considering digital to be an easier way out of making art. You can achieve way more with digital, but in my head traditional art is superior no matter what

[@kimbookjoo3797]

I prefer traditional art and like your traditional drawings alot

[@Afatcatspy]

i currently focus on traditional but i still struggle, i sometimes do digital but im not very accurate with colours and lines and find myself looking back on it and deciding to redo a lot

[@ChidoriAlchemist]

(I might have completely missed you saying this, so if so, I'm sorry!) One of the cons with traditional is there is no editing the colors really once they are down on the paper, whereas with digital, you can do color grading and different effects to make the image more cohesive! :) Really loved the video this week!!

[@biggerweff]

those carand'ache crayons look so satisfying

[@csabahegedus1744]

I'm not against or for any of the two, as your video proves, both has pros and cons. With traditional it's easier to 'ruin' the piece - for example the paper gets too wet and crumples up, the watercolor runs into a very weird shape you can't control anymore, you spill something on it or tear the paper, etc., while with digital you can't really mess up anything for good especially if you work on separate layers. It's also easier to make, like, this particular piece, say, you want to change the background into a nighttime setting, or redraw that the mole has the hood pulled off the face, or you want to change the color of the robes, or even make big changes, like, turn the mole into a hedgehog or a squirrel, or add another figure. With digital you have all the opportunities to do that even weeks after you consider the piece finished. For me personally it's another bonus that I can 'hide' my drawings and don't have to worry someone opens my drawer to look what weirdness I draw :D

[@NiceandMean123]

4:21 “If you want to make your traditional art into a print you have to scan the pieces but it’s really not that big of a deal.” I don’t know. My scanner is too small for my sketchbook paper.

[@PiraticalMaid-of-All-Work]

I agree, I can’t choose. I will say I do like learning via digital first though. It gives me room to experiment to learn how to get better. Usually my experiments in traditional media went south. I know I have to embrace “bad” art as everyone says, but why not use digital for extra wiggle room, learn what I like, and then go back to traditional with the guesswork and stress now removed from it? I say this method reduces anxiety for me and supports mental health. Also, one of my favorite things to do is detail work. I often end up straining my eyes during it with traditional, so much so I bought an artist magnifying glass with a stand. Since I had watched videos before I got into digital that warned against doing details on every zoom level that doesn’t matter to the artwork, I avoided that and simply enjoyed the benefit zoom had now given me (strain-free detailing). I think one of my biggest learning curves could be determining which digital brushes I like. I keep testing out a lot of them because they are very versatile, but now I have a lot of options. I suppose it’s better to have as many options as possible, take time (even if it seems like a while) learning which options I prefer, and then go with that. Maybe it’ll help curate my individuality! Plus, they’re all free, and some by great artists. I’d be pretty ungrateful if I didn’t appreciate that.

[@Wowwwwwwwwww]

I choose traditional art over digital art because of the texture of the screen compared to paper, I just find it difficult and find it hard to make a straight line without the ipencil slipping. Another thing is that I just like the feel of the art supplies physically in my hands.

[@linsaraillustration]

The painting looks so beautiful❤

[@lainiwakura1776]

I prefer traditional art. A brush is a brush and I find it easier to get the look I want and the blend colors on the canvas like I want.

[@Hunterdoesstuff2023]

This artwork is so cute! I love the mushrooms! I mostly do traditional art but have tried digital a bit, i find it much harder than traditional but i hope to get better at it!. The colours for this artwork are lovely btw!

[@DMarie_0]

This is so relaxing to watch. ♡ Makes me miss doing art.

[@IllusionKittyy]

both traditional and digital art can get expensive, but you don't need to spend money on supplies to be good at art. I do digital art on my school laptop (free) with my school stylus (free) on kleki (free). I certainly would prefer having a laptop with a bigger screen and some other, better drawing software, but my art is still decent. you dont need to spend money to develop your skills. infact- I would recommend not spending money, because not being able to access certain tools can help you learn useful techniques / skills (for example kleki doesn't have a liquify tool, but that just means you get better at drawing your lines right the first time)

[@CoffeeCat1609]

I've done more traditional overall and am just recently experimenting with digital, so I cant say too much for that side other than the lasso tool is amazing and I dont have to desl with pencil smudges. 😏 I think I'll still always prefer traditional, though, just because it has a more personal feel and you can have a lot more precision with a pencil than a pen on tablet. Also, you can never replace the glorious feeling of thick paint being applied and moved around on a canvas. 🤩

[@ChantelleArts]

this is so fascinating, both are wonderful ☺☺

[@maewitchmagik5021]

[@user-vz2nx5kz7f]

Thank you!

[@alexandragregory7061]

I find when getting supplies for traditional art, it can lead to a lot of impulse buys. While with digital you have to think about it because it can be pretty expensive.

[@jannyapinoherrera9735]

the videos of JelArts and her art is so amazing i ove your art

[@Oh.Maro_moru]

I lOVE your art so much ❤😭

[@mushlii]

With Traditional I feel like I can add more detail and lines to my work without it feeling awkward but with digital (which I draw more in) I feel like I can better put my thoughts into a drawing. I feel like my style shines more in digital. Both are great and They both are respectable art forms :)

[@max_ishunter]

I primarily enjoy tradtional art a lot more as the messiness is really fun for me and feeling the texture of whatever I'm using. The main thing that really gets me annoyed is the set up like you've mentioned. I enjoy doing acrylic painting (either on canvas or in my sketchbook) but MAN the setting up and cleaning process often makes me not want to paint.

[@nicholewade8233]

I love your videos! What type of masking fluid/applicator is that? I struggle so much with finding one that won't rip paper or leave a stain.

[@JelArts]

It's similar to this: www.amazon.ca/Ku-CMP30A-Masquepen-30ml/dp/B00KNT6EN0/ref=asc_df_B00KNT6EN0/?tag=googlemobshop-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=341829478777&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=12418059731330114801&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9000873&hvtargid=pla-423314512548&psc=1&mcid=00af88d68b9a3a9ebc05cbe5194cf8cd But I was actually struggling with the applicator a lot, it just kept getting clogged lol. I think it's cause the masking fluid has dried chunks in it since this is a few years old now.

[@CreativaArtly]

Yeah. Legit can’t choose either tbh.

[@IntrepidInkweaver]

Digital art kind of exacerbated my perfectionism, I think. Like, the ability to layer sketch over sketch over sketch over sketch made it so instead of doing multiple sketches I was just doing the one and trying to make it perfect. I would end up freezing up and unable to start on the final product. So that was the biggest issue. Otherwise, I just really like the tactile feel of traditional art. I like my sketch books and feeling the paper under my pen or pencil, I like watching the paint spread over the page from my brush.

[@JelArts]

Yes I totally feel that with digital art! Almost too easy to fix every little "mistake" 🤭

[@sodaswirls]

*All the cons to traditional are what makes it so great. In today's day and age everything we see is digital so looking at something that's traditional is a lot more appealing to our eyes*

[@JelArts]

A lot of the cons of each can actually be a good thing for sure :) just depends how you look at it!

[@fuzzydragons]

I have thrown out so much traditional art in 40 years lol, it would have been a BIg fire hazard if I had kept it lol

[@foggy_mourning]

yo, first!!!!

[@SunArts918]

Digital doesn't spark as much joy as traditional. I feel like I am so unfamiliar with digital, and can't really render as good as traditional. And I know it comes with pratice, but while I do digital, I don't do traditional and it means less joy

[@maewitchmagik5021]

first! 1

[@semeistvo]

I prefer traditional art ! That’s all